Guest post by Sandi Hopper We only have one turkey on the farm. She’s the last bronze beauty we have left of the original dozen we bought. We raised them for meat, or at least that was the intent. We raised the tiny ET’s in the barn, then graduated them to a chicken wire pen […]

by Meredith Chilson Once upon a springtime, there was a fluffy chicken named Mrs. Feathers. Mrs. Feathers wanted to be a mother. She laid an egg every day in her nest of shavings and straw, and she even lined the nest with soft, downy feathers. Mrs. Feathers did not like to be disturbed by anyone […]

by Joy Currie Against my better judgement, we named our chickens. It was hard to not give them names when we got to know their personalities. And all the drama of them trying to establish a pecking order was better than watching a made-for-tv-mini-series. Since we are huge Harry Potter fans, the rooster was dubbed […]

Guest post by Candice Welcome to the window on Blue Feather Hollow, which you could call a number of things (e.g., a hobby farm, an organic farm, a wild idea that got out of hand …), but never, ever, could you call it boring. As soon as we moved out of town, Child No. 1 […]

Guest post by Sandi Hopper My very first chickens were very long ago when I was a little girl. They were Bantams which I thought, back then, were a breed. There was an adorable little rooster with pluck, five tiny hens and one only baby chick. I don’t know how they came in that assortment […]

by Rachel Hurd Anger   Raising backyard chickens for eggs became an unlikely obsession. I can’t even say when it started, but I owe it mostly to author Michael Pollan and my first reading of his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Now I devour information about sustainable living, and bit by bit, my goal is to […]

Guest post by Pam Baker I am, my husband and I are, proud to say we are backyard chicken farmers. But let me start at the beginning. Moving to Vermont was a decision based on family. At forty- something, my husband and I had grown tired of the suburban life. Well, actually, I had grown […]

by Barbara Palermo I love dogs. I also love chickens. One of my dogs (a golden retriever), pays no attention to the hens – except for having an insatiable appetite for the pooh they leave behind. I am certain, however, that my other dog (a Blue Heeler/border collie mix) would chase down and destroy my […]

Elected officials sometimes resort to clever tactics to dodge the dreaded chicken issue. Many cities across the country already have chicken-keeping ordinances. Where they don’t, citizens are often lobbying for one – but some cities are more reluctant than others. Here in Oregon’s capital we have been fighting for the right to have three hens […]

by Barbara Palermo Chickens: Are they pets or livestock? This is a question that municipalities struggle with and is often a major obstacle to legalizing backyard chickens. Throughout our long battle here in Salem, Ore., to join the Urban Chicken Movement, vigorous debates ensued more than once over the definition of livestock. Our city code, […]