Ducks are not chickens.   This may seem like an obvious statement but if you’re a seasoned chicken keeper and want to get into to ducks, know that they have very different needs and present a unique set of obstacles.   I have a soft spot for ducks. I find them simply adorable. Not that […]

Have you heard of pasty butt? It also goes by the term “pasting up”. As you spend time with your chicks, you might happen to notice  that some of their bottoms have poo stuck to their backside (the vent). This can happen for a number of reasons including getting acclimated to eating food, poor quality […]

Spring has sprung. Birds are singing, froggies are calling, woodpeckers are drumming, and the earth is fairly bursting sending forth tiny green shoots. More daylight means more eggs in my henhouse, too. I head out to the coop in the morning, smell the fresh spring air, and GAA-ACK… …my boots hit mud. It’s spring, but […]

The Iron Oak Farm Year of the Chicken   It’s Spring! And for most, the chicken keeping year starts in the spring. Perhaps you’re bringing home your first chicks, or maybe last year’s pullets are beginning to lay. Maybe you’re collecting eggs for the incubator, or maybe you’re a seasoned chicken keeper who’s just thankful […]

Have you walked into your local farm store or hatchery lately?  The familiar peeping sound draws you in…it’s baby chick time!  Rather it’s your first go round or you’re a pro at raising baby chicks, there are a few things that all of us can learn.  This guide to getting started with chickens is a […]

I thought with the new chick season among us, some of you might be considering adding a few turkeys to the backyard flock. Our local feed store usually gets in a variety of fowl in addition to chickens; including ducks, guineas, turkeys and last year they even had quail and geese. One of the most […]

It’s that time of year again! We visited our local feed store to buy goat grain the other night, and as soon as the sliding doors parted we could hear the familiar “peep, peep, peeping” of all the new 2016 baby chicks. When I was a teenager, I remember there was only one store in […]

I don’t claim to spoil my chickens, but I do like to make sure that they are well taken care of and are happy.  That’s where Winter Fun For Chickens comes in to play! When cold and snow cover the ground, chickens can’t do what is natural for them like scratching and pecking for bugs […]

How to keep eggs from freezing in the coop is a concern for many of us this time of year. During the colder months each egg that you collect is like a prized possession.  They can be few and far between.  Having to trash them because they are frozen and/or cracked can be heart breaking. […]

The chicken, of all the farm animals, has made our lives pretty easy as far as egg collection is concerned. Simply provide them a box, and they will deposit a neatly packaged protein source available for easy retrieval. It’s like a mailbox for breakfast. But being that the nesting box is what holds our “food […]