by Jennifer Burcke Photos by author We’re having a heat wave and the animals (and farmers) living at 1840 Farm are not amused. Come on Mother Nature, we chose to relocate more than 1,400 miles away from our original home in Kansas to our farm in New England because we wanted to avoid days of […]

by Cortney Cogswell Photos by author Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed personalities develop in the flock. We all know that there will be one alpha male and female, as well as one or two that will be “henpecked.” But nothing much is said about the other personalities that may show up in a […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author Japanese Beetles … they’re every gardener’s nightmare. These pests (similar in appearance to a June bug) have been in the United States since 1916, supposedly carried into our country inadvertently on plants from Japan. Since their introduction, they have been slowly making their way across the United States. I […]

By Cortney Cogswell Photos by author Summers in Texas can be brutal for everyone, including chickens. Last week was no exception, so we gave the kids a summertime treat. Now, normally when we are done with a watermelon, I scoop out any red flesh that’s left and use the rind to make pickled watermelon. But […]

Michelle Tullis Photos by author If you have chickens, you have a battle with poop. And if you’re getting chickens, you’ll soon find out. I found that out last year when we bought our first mature laying hens … The first thing they did when we got them into the kennel to take home was […]

By Eric Guel Photos by author After a bantam hen and random pullet went broody a few weeks ago, our little farm had another round of chicks hatch last week. The foster moms did famously, sitting on their respective clutches with religious devotion, despite the string of 100+ degree afternoons we’ve recently had (welcome to […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author We are always looking for ways to strike a healthy balance between natural care for our animals and using something a little less natural, but perhaps more effective. My method tends to fall into the pattern of using natural products and clean habits as a preventive, and then trying […]

by Jennifer Burcke Photos by author Original birthday cakes are a tradition at 1840 Farm. I sometimes spend weeks preparing a cake’s blueprint and gathering the tools, both edible and not, to assemble the masterpiece in time for the big celebration. I’ve made three-dimensional poodles, polar bears, dinosaurs, and even a Flying Ford Anglia inspired […]

By Cortney Cogswell Photo by author Last Monday, Jim and I brought our chickens out for their first full day in their new house. Because the kids had grown so much, it was getting crowded in the brooders. That could have led to all sorts of bad things: sickness, injuries or, worst of all, a […]

by Rachel Hurd Anger Photos by author   Animals are simultaneously more wild than I, seemingly helpless, and tug at my heart like a lost kitten, an injured dog, or even a sad elephant. Now, a broody hen joins them. Our Australorp, Helen, went broody on us, and even though I’d been collecting the eggs […]