What to build your own coop and chicken yard? Frank Hyman shares information about getting to know and using your hand tools. Photos by author. You can read some of Frank’s other tool- and fencing-focused articles: Get the Most from Your Posts Great Gates for the Girls Power tools get all the attention. But it’s […]

Nest boxes, hidey-holes, dust baths, learn how to make quail “furniture” with Kelly Bohling. Photos by author. In my years of keeping Japanese quail, I discovered that these birds always enjoy two pieces of “quail furniture”: a shelter to hide in, and a good dust bath! I also learned that whatever quail spend a lot of […]

Please fence me in! Great advice from carpenter Frank Hyman about how to set posts. Photos by author. There’s a little bit of an art to setting posts for a pen. Okay, it’s very little art. Nonetheless, I’m particular about setting posts. I live in fear of my work looking like some fence lines I’ve […]

Maat van Uitert shares smart instructions for an easy and strong chicken coop. Did you get chickens this spring, and now need a coop for them? Want to build it yourself? In this article, we’ll show you how we built an 8-by-8-foot chicken coop for less than $400! This coop is perfect for seven chickens […]

Learn how to build functional and fun gates for your chicken yard…and more with Frank Hyman. Photos by author. Part of the reason we keep chickens is because poultry have personality. Our chickens’ pens and coops should have a little personality too. And as far as the pens go, the best place for incorporating personality […]

Insulate, Clean, and Cover: Winterizing Your Coop The cold winter months bring many new challenges to backyard chicken keepers, particularly regarding the safety and well-being of your flock. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to face these challenges head-on without too much difficulty. Not only that, but the same steps you can take to […]

Inexpensive, easy-to-build chicken coops Once you get caught up in the idea of having chickens, it’s easy to find yourself spending more on them and the coop then you ever thought you would. For many people chickens are a hobby as well as pets with benefits: I’m thinking of my wife and me. We spent […]

On the rural southwest Virginia road where my wife, Elaine, and I live, a number of folks raise chickens. Understandably, then, it’s common for us to exchange information on how our respective flocks are doing. So, several months ago, I wasn’t surprised to receive a frantic call from a neighbor that “some hawk is eating […]

Keep your chickens cool and comfortable this summer with these 5 quick and easy ways to cool your chicken coop! Summer is right around the corner, which means that it’s time to start preparing for those inevitable heat waves! Heat can make us all miserable, and that includes our chickens! But, depending on the temperatures […]

 Home is where the quail are. With modern farming, there are many ways to raise an animal. There isn’t a right or wrong way, rather, we all learn what works for our space and needs through trial and error. Environment plays a significant role in how we choose to house our animals. What works in […]