That's pretty special to me. The Internet was crawling with novices just like me whose aspirations in sustainability led them to a seemingly sudden chicken obsession. Today, my brother and I both keep chickens: his rural and mine urban.
That's a gardening win! The hens and the pullets have been taking turns turning it all morning. It's easier to prepare for winter when it's always the same. That's a win-win! Warm day make for a happy flock.
I use both methods—washing and not washing. Fear of illness from legitimate salmonella outbreaks has certainly influenced the evolution of our food system over the last century, but once manufacturers scrub off the egg's protectant membrane, aka the...
She was the only chicken to leave the coop that day, but she avoided the snow. Did winter storms affect you this year? My dearly departed Red Star Mabel would have trudged through the snow like an Arctic explorer, but since […]
Will I find a yolk missing? And it sure doesn't take much to shock you when your hens produce something that looks like it came from a bird you didn't know you had, though that's not to say that something is wrong either.
The flock will show its truest colors after the first molt, and each chicken will look fabulous. While molting, chickens divert their protein energy away from egg production to produce new feathers.
This photo shows a side-by-side comparison and design for a homemade model. Trigger Feeder Rich386/BackyardChickens.com Ultimately, we found that a trigger feeder worked best for us.
Had the Lavender Orp lived, I would have found a way, but after they were all buried, I projected my grief onto that lamp and threw it away. For me, the safety around my kids makes the investment worthwhile.
Because of our modern daily egg expectations, vintage breeds that still have value are now in danger of extinction. Buzz words like ‘cage free' and ‘vegetarian fed' and pastoral images of sunny, green farms can encourage consumers to spend more, without...
My kids named the little gal Peace, and her beefy sister Love. I secretly hoped Peace didn't get any more peaceful than she was, unable to keep her peepers open for more than a few seconds at a time.
Cannibalism is a learned behavior that can be instigated by a number of different factors, including overcrowding, abrupt changes to their environment, poor nutrition, inadequate nest boxes and the sight of blood.
Hardware cloth is so tough that you can use it to make your coop completely predator-proof. Thanks to social media and chicken keepers who like to show off their innovations, we can all be inspired to build our own coops for much less than the cost of...
Holding a rainbow of eggs of all different sizes with a hen's name attached merges the two worlds, putting chickens and eggs back together, and piquing curiosity. Excited, my city kid (and my biggest supporter) told me she'd love to help.
Add livers and saute gently until no longer red and cooked through. She writes from a still-bucolic but ever-more-suburban town in the New York City ‘burbs. Wednesday, July 2, 2014 Chicken Liver Pate The Hungry Locavore: Chicken Liver Pate – Urban...
Some plants and flowers are edible and healthy for chickens to eat. The healthier and happier they are, the less likely they'll be affected by parasites and illness. Instead of focusing on what might bring pests to your flock, focus on what will keep...
Fryer A meat chicken of either sex between 12 and 14 weeks old, weighing 3 to 4 pounds. Rooster A male chicken older than 1 year old. They won't know the difference, but I can give you a lot of information about my entire flock by calling them hens.
Age With four hens nearing their fifth birthday, one could simply be declining in health. When the pullets eat, walk by her, cluck in her direction or breathe, Sookie doesn't play fair.
It's small enough to be pulled by a standard 6-cylinder automobile. Training and licensing are required. And urban farmers can ensure that humanely raised birds are also humanely slaughtered with minimal stress.
Many chicken breeds were developed to lay an egg every 25 hours or so. Production might not be down—you just might not know where the eggs are. Egg laying is ovulation, and hens are only doing what their biology dictates in order to make babies.
Use the timer to wake them up early for morning egg-laying, and then set it to turn off once the sun is up. Welcome to the lean months. People who are afraid of low returns on their feed investments and think feathers aren't warm enough for average winter...
More spices (cloves? This sweet bread is a treat for breakfast but is especially welcome at an early sunset with hot tea or milky coffee. Wait a bit for the loaf to cool well so it will slice better.
They are killed after one year of egg laying, becuause their maximum egg laying potential is spent. Free-range eggs, brown, blue, green, cream & white, $3 per dozen Monthly (4dz) subscription $10
My chicken coop is almost 5 years old. After my husband built it from plans we purchased online, I painted it white, a choice I've regretted ever since. Garden Plant perennials, edible flowers and even pest-deterring herbs around your coop or in your...
Neighbors were suspect about our chickens from the get-go, so I always felt silly that my Polish roosted on the fence every night. It's been two more years since we started mandatory night lock-ups, so I thought Sookie's fence roosting days were over.
This will rinse out many contaminants that could have leached into the water left sitting in the hose. Clean water keeps hens' reproductive systems working the way they should, and some chicken keepers, especially newbies, worry about water quality or...
Also, wear a dust mask when cleaning the coop. It's best not to keep chicks indoors at all. Katie Hickman writes, “I oppose strongly with chicken kissing, especially on the beak.
(Pity the poor mouse that finds itself surrounded by chickens.) Typically, chickens are fed mash, finely ground feed and scratch—grains that have been coarsely chopped. About the Author: Carol Ekarius is author of How to Build Animal Housing (Storey...
