I’ve raised Silkies on and off throughout my chicken-keeping career. In that time I’ve ended up with a lot of roosters. Silkies, because they’re more of a pet chicken than a layer, are often sold in a straight run, meaning there is a 50/50 chance of getting a pullet or a cockerel. The reason I […]

As many of you will already know, fall and winter are a dangerous time for chickens. This is because predator attacks are much more likely at this time of year. So in this article, we are going to give you some ideas about how to improve your flock security to prevent attacks. You can prevent […]

Fall is coming; are you ready? It is officially that time of year again when we must begin to prepare for the colder months. The colder the climate you live in, the more preparation that will be needed. Where do we even start? There are so many loose ends to tie up before the snow […]

Over the years, I’ve raised Silkies on and off. Every once in a while, one of the feed stores will get in a batch and I just can’t say no. I think they’re absolutely adorable! As we expand our chicken coop, I’d like to designate a wing just to the Silkie breed. Another breed I’d […]

When I first saw this chicken breed it was on Facebook and I thought…”Oh boy…someone’s getting creative with Photoshop.” In other words, I thought it was fake. The photo of an all-black chicken that claimed even the meat and bones were black seemed a bit far-fetched. But since that first online encounter, I’ve had the […]

Did you catch the foreshadowing in my last post? Rose had been renamed Suzy.  If you are at all familiar with the Community Chickens podcast then you know that, to us, Suzy may be a cursed name! I should have known better. I should have seen the signs. Two days before it really hit me that […]

Our King Farm chicken adventure started out with a hatching at the Mother Earth News office. Fast-forward six months and we have 18 chickens and two ducks! As new homesteaders, we often think about cost and quality. When approached by Purina Animal Nutrition to try their organic layer feed with their Oyster Strong® System through […]

Sarah started with an old tuff shed a few ducks, some rabbits she had adopted, and her helpful friend, Carlos. Last month, Carlos agreed to help insulate Sarah’s old garden shed. But Sarah decided that she wanted more than that! “I want to do something fun with the inside of the shed.” So, after a […]

Self-Reliance: Guineas have been companions to human beings since the ancient Greeks, yet they can never be called more than “semi-domesticated.” Guinea fowl will be less dependent on you for care than perhaps any other type of animal you raise. They are able to search out their own food—except in winter—and as a result they […]

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about companion planting. It’s a gardening technique in which different species of vegetables and flowers are planted together and they work as a group to benefit each other. In the Mother Earth News article Companion Planting With Vegetables and Flowers, the author Barbara Pleasant gives an example of the […]