*Warning* this post discusses some disgusting yet important information for keeping a flock of healthy chickens. Clean drinking water is probably the single most important thing you can do to keep your flock healthy. In this post I’d like to discuss the correlation between clean drinking water and a condition called Pasty Vent, which if […]

I have struggled with putting my words together for this post. However, I do believe that it is important to share this … to show that homesteading is not full of good times only. Homesteading is physically hard work. It can also be emotionally hard. In dealing with this, my emotions have been all over […]

Such a frustrating problem! Once a chicken begins eating eggs, it’s a difficult behavior to break. It usually starts innocent enough. An egg accidentally gets broken and a curious chicken gives it a try and finds that it has discovered a delicious new source of food. It soon learns that as eggs are laid, a […]

How to clean farm fresh eggs is a highly debatable topic… Should I wash my eggs? Warm or cold water? Should I use soap, bleach, vinegar? How to store farm fresh eggs is another topic that many people have an opinion on… Should I store them in the refrigerator? Should I store them at room […]

Road trip! A car, snacks, friends and an awesome destination in mind. That is how my adventure to the Mother Earth News Fair in West Bend, Wisconsin, began. I have to tell you, it was an amazing experience. In fact, I think the term “Fair” does not do the event justice at all. It is […]

Depending on where you live in the country, your flock can be affected by a variety of pests. These include mites, lice, assorted fleas and ticks. Most people do not think of these as predators. How could something so tiny do so much damage? Well, in fact, it is important to stay on top of […]

These days the gardens, back porches, side steps, railings and cellar ways are filling up with oversized squashes, odd baskets of cucumbers or buckets of green beans, stalks of garlic and ripening tomatoes. Here, too, the yards, coops, barns, garage and assorted sheds on the homestead are filled with various sizes of poultry! There is […]

Let me start by saying that we have had a little broodiness before.  No big deal…we moved the chicken out of the nesting box a few times, collected the eggs and all was good.  But this time…no eggs in the nesting box for two days!  The ladies ALWAYS lay their eggs in the same nesting […]

It seems that every poultry forum I’ve visited complains that guineas are loud and mean animals! Even the day we purchased our keets, the man standing next to us by the brooder bins commented that guineas were annoying and we would be sorry. I’m glad we didn’t listen to all that, because so far our guinea experience has been nothing but pleasant … and tick destroying!

Looking to make an easy, DIY dust bath? Click here to learn how… A lot of new chicken keepers — or even those just expanding their flocks — worry about the introduction of new chicks from the brooder to the coop. But, it’s not as scary as you think, so long as the temperatures are […]