Excited about new chicks, but nervous about introducing them to your existing flock? Elizabeth Mack walks you through bird dynamics to keep everyone safe. Bringing new chicks home can be a stressful time, but it’s especially nerve-wracking when you have an existing flock. The old girls are set in their ways, know their place, and […]

Summer was warm, the days were long, and you got used to having lots of eggs. Then your hens stopped laying. Michele Cook looks at the many different reasons your hens may (temporarily) have stopped laying eggs. Why have my chickens stopped laying eggs? Ugh! This is a common complaint from chicken keepers all over […]

Michele Cook shares ideas for getting a broody hen off the nest. We have a hen around here we call ‘Broody Betty’. She is a Rhode Island Red hen and she seriously wants to have some babies. I don’t want any more chicks but she doesn’t seem to care. Starting in spring and going until […]

Chickens are not always kind to each other. Learn how to keep your hens safe and solve some flock problems with this excerpt from The Chicken Keeper’s Problem Solver. PRIMITIVE BEHAVIOR Newcomers to the chicken-keeping hobby are frequently surprised—and often shocked—to discover just how vicious their feathery friends can be. Anything smaller than they are […]

Blogger Sandy Cryder shares her adventures with her very first flock of chickens. The four Buff Orpington hens in my first flock were beautiful! Large bodied; warm, golden, buff colored feathers; heavy, feathered breasts; full, downy Fluffs; Red wattles and single combs. They lay large, brown eggs starting between 5-7 months of age. Buffs are […]

Blogger Elle Pugsley from southern England shares with us how to introduce chickens and dogs. Chickens rescued from industrial farms probably haven’t met many animals of a different species.  If you have other animals, you will want to introduce them all slowly and safely. Three Dogs, Three New Chickens I have three large dogs who […]

Need (or want) to add some new hens to your flock?  Elle Pugsley gives us some hints. When merging different flocks of chickens or introducing new flock members to an existing flock the transition needs to be done with care. Clean. Start with a deep clean of the run and coop before mixing the birds […]

They are extra Roosters. Time to give them a chance.  Everyone has an opinion on them. Some love the classic image of a handsomely plumed boy strutting around the barnyard while others will get out the stew pot as soon as they hear the first strangled crows from the most recent batch of chicks. The […]

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about companion planting. It’s a gardening technique in which different species of vegetables and flowers are planted together and they work as a group to benefit each other. In the Mother Earth News article Companion Planting With Vegetables and Flowers, the author Barbara Pleasant gives an example of the […]

“If you know somethin’ well, you can always paint it, but people would be better off buyin’ chickens.” —Grandma Moses Grandma Moses was right with the second part of that quote.  People would be better off buyin’ chickens. So, say you listened to Grandma Moses, and you have your chickens.  Congratulations.  Enjoy them every day.  […]