by Rebecca Nickols On a very cold morning about a month ago, I went out to see how the chickens fared in their unheated coop. It was the coldest night yet this winter and it was still 4 degrees when I bundled up and reluctantly went out into the winter wind … I opened the […]

by Meredith Chilson Q: I’m wondering if one can get a hen to go broody and hatch eggs that one might order online. Does anyone know?— Rachel A: This is a great question, Rachel, and one that others might be wondering about on these “thinking about spring” days.The most honest answer to this is, however, […]

by Don Schrider, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy — Illustration by Georges Louis LeClerc Buffon On Feb. 25, 2008, about 70 people congregated at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, Va., to take part in a blind taste test comparing one variety of industrial turkey and eight varieties of heritage turkey. All the food professionals, chefs, food connoisseurs […]

by Karla T. Q. I have 10 chickens: five Silver Laced Wyandottes and five Buff Orpingtons, all born last February. I was going to get five Black Ameraucauna baby chicks this year and was wondering the best way to integrate them into the flock. If I have a broody chicken should I put the babies […]

  by Rachel Hurd Anger   Today, our hens are 19 weeks old, nearly old enough to begin laying. Waiting for the first egg is starting to resemble the end of pregnancy when all is go, and everyone calls daily to see if mama’s in labor.   Essentially, we are waiting for an event that […]

by Meredith Chilson Q: What temp do you hatch chicken eggs? A: This is an important question if you are trying to hatch chicken eggs in an incubator for the first time. A couple of degrees one way or the other can make the difference between a complete hatching and no hatch at all. I’ve […]

by Karla T. Q. Our hen is laying eggs on the floor. How to get her in the nesting boxes or doesn’t it matter? — Karen S., West Sunbury, Pennsylvania A. The main reason that I would say it does matter where they lay is that you want to be able to FIND them. For […]

by Jennifer Burcke I’ve officially crossed over to crazy chicken lady status. How do I know? Easy. I found myself standing at the stove this morning chopping apples and cooking oatmeal for the seven chickens who live at 1840 Farm. What has become of me? It’s been dreadfully cold here in the past week. So […]

by Jennifer Sartell Today I will be answering a question from one of our readers: Q: “I have four chickens and for some reason one of them did not return to the coop tonight, and I found her under the porch. I picked her up and brought her back to the coop. In the past […]

by Karla T. It’s that time of year again! The chicken catalogs have begun to arrive and I get to start imagining and planning my additions to next year’s flock. I love looking through the catalogs and websites. What will I get this year? Will an unasked for and unwanted rooster turn out to be […]