Eggs, eggs everywhere but not a customer in sight. If this describes your egg business, it’s time to think about Marketing 101. This includes both what is in your ads and where you are putting them. If you don’t have ads yet, this is the perfect time to start. Marketing isn’t as scary as most […]

Chickens are a great addition to any backyard farm or garden and a practical chicken coop will keep them safe. They have amazing personalities and can be good companions. Once you’ve tried their fresh eggs, you’ll never buy another supermarket dozen. Chickens (and other poultry) can give your kids great lessons in responsibility as they […]

I often get asked how many chickens can you reasonably put in a coop. Scouring the internet gives me lots of different answers, from barely room for the birds to move, up to spacious chicken palaces.  There are lots of considerations here, including, the more room chickens have, the lower the threat of disease and/or […]

Duck Tales from Great Village, Nova Scotia By Sarah Paterson. Rouen-Cross Drake becomes a friend. People always ask me, “Ducks?  Really? Why ducks?”  I think it’s a legitimate question. After all, it’s not like ducks are show cats, or agility dogs.  How a city girl (me) moved to the country and began to own ducks […]

The Cream Legbar chicken has quickly gained popularity with chicken keepers all over the U.S. since it was introduced about a decade ago. And it’s easy to see why with their beautiful blue eggs, exotic appearances and spunky, free-ranging personalities! Get to know the breed better and see if it’s a good fit for your […]

Michele Cook — A few years ago, I did something crazy. I quit my nearly six figure job to start a small farm. My husband lovingly called it “the hippie plan”. Basically, I would have laying hens, milk goats for soap, and a large garden. I would hawk my wares at the local farmer’s market […]

No matter the age of the student, there is something to learn in witnessing the hatching process. Whether it’s a toddler in preschool or a senior in High School, the miracle of birth is always a fascinating moment. Heck! I’m 37 and I’ve hatched hundreds of chicks, and I’m still learning and seeing new things […]

One of the first chickens I ever owned was a big Rhode Island Red rooster named…what else? Red! I got him out of a feed bin at the local farm store when I was 14. The fluffy little orange chick turned out to be one of the meanest chickens I’ve ever known to this day. […]

Do not feed salt water to chickens! I was recently complaining to a fellow chicken keeper about the fact that we had just spent $150 at the feed store to buy heated water buckets for the animals, and that’s not including the electricity used to run them all winter. This is not just for our […]

Guest post by Valerie Boese from Homestead Hustle All chicken owners and breeders should be aware of the recent breakouts of Newcastle disease in California and Utah.  Two hundred ninety-nine cases of Virulent Newcastle Disease have been reported since May 18th in California, and there was one case confirmed last week in Utah which is […]