by Rachel Hurd Anger Photos by author After weeks of expecting our chickens to lay eggs any moment, and day after day of walking out to the coop and walking back to the house feeling disappointed, Tuesday afternoon I plodded out there thinking it’d be just another eggless day. I’d been taking it a little […]

by Meredith Chilson Q: After enjoying eggs from our three hens for the past several months, we decided to increase our small flock by two. After reading up on introducing new hens, we decided to put the two in after dusk, when all had settled down for the night. For the first several hours the […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author. For as long as I can remember, there has been an ongoing battle over the meal Chicken and Dumplings in our household. There is my mom and my brother who like the biscuit-shaped ones that are plopped over the top of an oven-baked meal and which soak up the […]

by Jennifer Burcke During the last few months, I have found myself in a chicken conundrum. After tending to the needs of our seven chicks all week, they force me to do the unthinkable. I shudder to tell you of my poultry-keeping horror. This terrible deed requires me to gather my inner strength and do […]

by Meredith Chilson Q: Is there anything I can feed my chickens over the winter when they are not outside to get the yolks of their eggs that nice orange color? – Ruth A: I was thinking about the same thing just the other day, Ruth. In the summer when my hens are filling up […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author. This is a delicious Sunday dinner that fills the home with the mouthwatering smells of garlic, rosemary and onion. A hearty chicken dish with rustic root vegetables that caramelize and meld, to flavor each other and the roasted chicken. Any of the vegetables can be eliminated or changed. I […]

It’s our second year raising chickens in Minnesota and I have figured out a few strategies to make chicken care during the frigid winter a little bit easier. When it rarely gets above freezing, the biggest challenge is providing water for livestock. In the summer, I use both metal and plastic poultry founts for watering […]

by Susan Waughtal Our colorful rooster, Knickerbocker, ended up on our farm by accident. Two summers ago we raised 200 mixed-breed, heavy-body heritage breed roosters as broilers. When we took the last batch of 50 to be processed, one of the holding cage doors at the processor did not latch properly and six chickens escaped. […]

by Margaret E. Kellogg Photos by author. I have had great experience with incubating some eggs. I had the delight of having a duckling, a chick and then a batch of chicks. With the first couple, I tried something new to me: I put them in with a companion. For the duck, this worked well, […]

Midge crows, now that he’s top roost by Nancy Farrell Q. My father has a 6-month-old rooster that shows all the sexual characteristics of a beautiful, full comb and tail, but he does not crow or mate. Another rooster in the yard is dominant, but that hasn’t stopped other roosters. Any ideas? — Bettina A. […]