Jennifer Burcke Photos by author Chicken coops are like snowflakes:  no two are exactly alike.  They come in every imaginable size, shape, and color.  If you don’t believe me, visit the Coops and DIY Pinterest board for Community Chickens.  There are over 230 coop and coop related pins there and the number seems to grow […]

Rebecca Nickols Photos by author This past week, my husband and I headed for our local county fair, the Ozark Empire Fair. My main objective was eating lunch at Rudy’s BBQ; a family operated restaurant that’s been a regular fixture at the fair for over 60 years. This is not your typical fair-food; it’s slow-cooked authentic barbecue that’s […]

Jennifer Sartell Photos by author Disclaimer: This post is filled with cliché puns, and terrible jokes that certainly need no drum roll introduction, but will most certainly have you rolling your eyes. Consider yourself warned. Whenever I think of proverbs, the film So Dear to My Heart comes to mind. It’s an old Disney classic […]

Meredith Chilson Photos by author Two days of cooler weather! The early morning sunshine coming down our valley burns off the fog, the humidity is lower and it begins to feel a bit like fall. Children are gathering school supplies and just around the bend in the road, a family is preparing to send their […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author My husband Zach and I recently took a weekend trip down to Ohio to visit the Lehman’s store which is nestled in heart of the largest Amish settlement in the United States. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Lehman’s merchandise and catalog, but if you ever get […]

I normally crush up all our eggshells and feed them free-choice to our chickens as an economical way to provide them the extra calcium they need to lay eggs with nice hard shells.  But there are other practical uses for eggshells. 1.  Supplemental calcium source for your chickens This is what normally ends up happening […]

by Meredith Chilson Photos by author   Some years ago, we had a lovely neighbor who could grow anything.  I would take my babies to visit with her, and we would come home with the back of the car filled with cuttings and clippings of various herbs and pots and buckets of perennials.  I think […]

by Jennifer Burcke Photos by author Earlier this summer, I shared with you Five Features To Incorporate Into Your Coop.   It was easy for me to decide which features I would be sure to include in the design of a new chicken coop if I ever found myself constructing one.  While I don’t have any […]

It happens time and time again, but it is heartbreaking to me every time I hear it.  Readers too often tell me that they brought home a new chicken from a swap or got a few pullets from a friend or neighbor to add to their existing flock and now all their chickens are sick […]

It is generally good practice to spend time with your flock on a regular basis (as if you don’t already!), apart from the regular feeding and cleaning, but really observing them, so that you know what is ‘normal’ and immediately notice any changes in appearance or behavior.  The faster you can identify a health issue […]