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 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, […]

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 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 Rebecca Nickols Q: I found one of my eggs this morning with some blood on it. I was wondering if the chicken who laid it might have some sort of disease or sickness? Could you give me some advice? — Insook Cheon, Gardiner, N.Y. A: Great question, Insook. Blood on an eggshell is usually […]

Guest post by Pam Baker If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, some of our writers haven’t gotten eggs from their hens. Let me just say, that kind of anticipation is painful. It’s like waiting for Christmas, but you don’t know which day it is. At our place, we have been fortunate and I […]

by Meredith Chilson I haven’t purchased eggs in about three years, not since my backyard flock of hens started laying. I’m happy to use fresh, flavorful eggs. I wasn’t worried a bit when the salmonella scare hit last year. I know my hens. I know what and where they’ve been eating; I know that the […]