In the winter months, as the weather turns colder, chicken keepers are forced to keep their birds shut indoors to protect them from adverse weather conditions. Confinement indoors can create conditions, triggering respiratory illness in poultry.   The respiratory systems of chickens are very sensitive to dust and ammonia, too much of either can bring […]

Impacted crop surgery on your chicken sounds scary, but it’s not impossible to perform this surgery. It’s inevitable if you have chickens that you are going to encounter crop issues at some time. The crop, located on the hen’s right side just beneath the skin, is a balloon-like pouch where everything they eat or drink […]

  Free-ranging is all the rage. You see it advertised in the grocery store for both meat and eggs and it something people who buy my eggs ask me about a lot. No one wants their food coming from a chicken who has been locked up all of their life, but free-ranging your flock comes […]

When winter comes around, both new and experienced homesteaders wonder how they can keep their livestock and fowl warm. This issue is primarily a concern for those who have smaller animals, like chickens. There are several ways to protect these animals from the cold, but many owners ask if they should provide a direct heat […]

Chicken combs come in many different shapes and sizes from rose combs to buttercup combs. Kaylee Vaughn writes here about eight distinctive comb types. A chicken’s comb is the fleshy red appendage on the top of its head. Combs come in all shapes and sizes and vary greatly depending upon the breed. While combs certainly […]

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the coop, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse (for fear he would be eaten.)   The chicken sweaters were hung in the feed shed with care, in hopes the crazy chicken lady soon would be there. The hens were snuggled down deep in the straw, […]

Blogger Traci DeLore found herself in a cast and had to figure out how to care for her flock while temporarily disabled. Have you ever thought about caring for your flock when you’re injured or not able to do so? What would you do if illness or injury made it so you weren’t able to […]

Traci DeLore helps us understand how to keep some useful flock records. Keeping flock records might not seem necessary when you have a small backyard flock. However, over time, you may wish you had a written record of certain things to look back on.  I was about a year into keeping chickens when I realized it […]

Michele Cook shares ideas for keeping your chickens occupied during the long, cold winter. Bored chickens, like bored children, can find some not so great ways to occupy themselves if they have nothing to challenge their little minds. In the winter, there are no bugs to chase, no worms to dig up and no grass […]

From turkey part names to pardoned turkeys, Kaylee Vaughn tells us fun facts about Ben Franklin’s favorite bird. Turkeys have long been the bird of choice to serve at Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. But, have you ever considered just how unique and interesting these birds really are? Wow your family and friends over the dinner table this […]