Chicken Farm House

Even if a feeder is already full, adding one more scoop or offering the day's kitchen scraps will lure them home. Scoop her up, carry her to the coop, and gently place her inside. Continue taking her home each night if necessary.

Once spring arrives, I'll start seeing the abundance I'm used to getting from my flock. Help please!” Angela, generally, a young hen younger than 1 year (known as a pullet) begins laying eggs around 20 weeks of age.

The Internet was crawling with novices just like me whose aspirations in sustainability led them to a seemingly sudden chicken obsession. We had more questions than answers. Folks used to keep chickens on city lots before grocery stores and factory food...

It's easier to prepare for winter when it's always the same. In many parts of the country, winter is cold, blustery and frozen through for months without relief. (Just ask my dog.) Relief from the bitter temperatures is nice, but mud is a lot cleaner...

This will help you keep track of the eggs' ages. Usually, fresh eggs sit in a small ceramic egg container on my kitchen counter. Rotate stock, using the oldest eggs first. Because hens lay eggs that are already contaminated, scrubbing and refrigeration...

I tried to coax the flock out a couple times early in the week, but they wouldn't budge. Despite the below-zero wind chills overnight, the hen spent two days up in the tree refusing to come down.

Let's crack it open and find out. As a newly laying pullet is maturing, her hormones and her reproductive system are trying to work together as best they can, churning out eggs rather suddenly, and sometimes missing a beat (or doubling it).

By the end of the feathers' year, chickens look a little rough around the edges, so they molt to replace the old, tattered feathers with new thick coats to last them through the coming winter.Starting winter with last year's feathers would be so last...

One issue for me with many of these models is that they don't really seem like they would prevent rodent theft. If you want to make your own, there are several different methods. I was also a little concerned about the frequency of chickens getting bonked...

Quality chick feed comes in medicated or non-medicated formulas and organic or conventional. Their yolk sacs sustain them for that long, but they should never take that long to reach the brooder.

Chicken keepers love raising a menagerie of breeds, whether for beauty, oddity or egg color. Common-sense cleaning practices keep chickens and their living quarters free from offensive odors and disease.

Read more of Chicken Quarters » Tags chick , Chicken Quarters , chicks , pasty butt I prepared myself for losing her through the night. After she'd had another nap—and I'd cleaned my kitchen—I found Peace joining her flockmates for lunch, stumbling...

Bacteria growing on old food are not good for us, and they're not good for our chickens, either. Chickens are omnivores and voracious eaters, but they don't actually know your leftovers are chicken.

Chicken Wire Isn't Predator-Proof Chicken wire won't stop an animal from getting into your coop. Frankly, the stuff deserves a name change, because it should never be used in a chicken coop.

She is happy to offer chicken-keeping advice, however counterintuitive it might seem because she also raises chickens. Fortunately for the kids, the woman in the film proved that farm dreams could be successful with hard work and the desire to improve...

I melted some butter in a small saute pan. A vendor at my farmers' market was selling little tubs of livers from his beloved, free-range flock. If you, too, want to give this recipe a try, talk to a chicken farmer that you trust to find out if he or she...

Some dust-bath recipes call for diatomaceous earth as an ingredient, but I don't recommend using this natural pest control in a dust bath. Wild animals don't have access to the feed while the chickens are confined to the coop and run, but when the flock...

Owners will sometimes refer to them as banties or a single banty. Rachel Hurd Anger Whether you're a current or future urban chicken keeper, here is the modern chicken terminology you need to know: Bantam A miniature version of a standard breed.

No matter how perfectly I feed them and otherwise care for them, some of my chickens will succumb to health problems I can do nothing about. All I know is whose eggs they're not. Prolific Egg Laying In general, a hen will lay an egg every 25 hours or...

Unfortunately, there are so few slaughter facilities that urban farmers may decide that raising chickens for anything other than personal consumption is not economically feasible. Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds use their website to recruit volunteers to...

Dust-bathing and foraging are necessary to dull boredom, reduce bullying and promote general sanity. Stress Happy, healthy hens lay more eggs. The molt can be a stressful time for some chickens.

Go Slow Mimic the days getting longer by slowly working up to 12 to 14 hours of total light per day. Here are five ways to provide extra light safely and respectfully: 1. More specifically, a light bulb (especially a high-wattage bulb, like those used...

Despite the cold that nudges us toward cozier, heavier foods, we are […] INGREDIENTS 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 /2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2...

They are killed after one year of egg laying, becuause their maximum egg laying potential is spent. Because they range and get all the yummy goodies they love, their eggs are full of Omega vitamins and are safer, healthier and tastier than store bought...

Read more of Chicken Quarters » Tags Chicken Quarters , chickens , coop , Lists Chicken keepers and experts spend a lot of time promoting the aesthetic benefits of raising chickens and swapping advice about keeping a coop clean, but we rarely put the...

It happened at dusk while I was busy inside cooking dinner—before I had the chance to button up the coop for the night. In those early days of chicken keeping, our small yard didn't have a predator problem.

Very little sodium ends up in the drinking water. Consider that if you're giving your chickens any kind of electrolyte products, that it contains more sodium than they will consume from softened water.