Altering your chicken’s living environment and even seasonal boredom can bring with it some unforeseen side effects, including a sour crop. Finding do-it-yourself solutions can help avoid expensive veterinary calls or losing your bird as a result of this disease. My first experience with this issue was quite interesting.  One bird’s case included an added […]

If you’re anything like me, you love your flock of chickens like family and want to protect them from any danger in your surrounding environment. You’ve built a cozy coop to keep your chickens warm and safe. But there are many predators that can threaten the well-being of your poultry flock and it’s important to […]

I let my chickens roam free: I couldn’t do it any other way. Free-range chickens are the secret to a super productive garden. They spread their manure around for you, keep insects under control and even turn your compost. And I love watching them forage around the backyard. They all have their own personalities and […]

The hardest part about writing this post was narrowing down the photo selection. I took over 200 photos while visiting the Ohio National Poultry Show in Columbus, Ohio on November 11th and 12th. Eventually, I had to make a conscious decision to put my camera away and just enjoy the moment. But it was all […]

It’s that time of the year again. I am starting to receive photos of chickens in sweaters, and people saying, “Kim, you need to make this for your chickens!” I agree they are adorable and I would certainly make them for a photo session, but chickens are naturally dressed for the colder weather and don’t […]

A long winter certainly makes it difficult for chickens to forage, free-range and frolic. Snowy confinement combined with frigid temps can exacerbate boredom that can quickly turn into pecking or other bad habits. As we head into the early stages of winter, I know I need to be creative in order to keep 18 cooped […]

I was laying in bed, slowly drifting off to sleep when I heard the distinct ‘hoot, hoot, hoot’ of an owl outside my window. I got excited. I love owls! I laid there listening to the gentle hooting for some time before I realized I forgot to shut the chicken coop! That sucks. Chickens are […]

After losing three hens to poisonous edibles in the woods behind the coop, I had to come up with a safe free-range solution for my girls. After doing a little research, I discovered these “chunnels” on the internet and made a modified version that I felt would suit our needs. They give Mom a sense […]

As we head into the fall and winter months my chickens are laying eggs left and right. So much so, I have an overabundance of eggs piling up in my ‘egg-stra’ refrigerator. On average, I collect 10-12 eggs per day from the 13 hens currently laying. Four additional pullets have yet to produce but at […]

It was the same old story. USDA pamphlets recommended one nest for every five layin’ hens. I had a dozen of the “girls,” and the only commercially available chicken nests were huge metal banks of ten compartments apiece. I wouldn’t have needed that many even if I could have afforded them. So I decided to […]