Pat Johnson shares how to create a safe environment for your pheasants with a biosecurity plan. Get Started with Your Biosecurity Plan A safe and healthy environment for your pheasants is essential. A biosecurity plan is a method used to outline the steps to prevent diseases, parasites, and pests from reaching your pheasants in your […]

Whether you have 2 birds or 200, it’s important to know what to do if an illness arises in your flock! Backyard chicken keeping is a lot of fun! But, sooner or later, chicken keepers will be faced with an illness that affects one or more birds in their flock. By acting quickly and being […]

guest post by Andrea Martin Recent outbreaks of avian influenza (including the highly pathogenic strains) in the Midwest have sounded the alarm against this dangerous disease. While the outbreak was mostly confined to commercial farms, backyard poultry keepers need to be vigilant as well. Without any treatment options available for poultry, the influenza virus won’t be welcomed in our […]

by Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest Unfortunately, chickens are not immune to developing illnesses. As backyard chickens keepers, it is important that we learn a few simple precautions that can keep our flock healthy and safe from harm. Incorporating biosecurity measures in keeping chickens makes sense. Biosecurity is comprised of three components. These include sanitation, […]

by Donna McGlasson from Gardens & Chickens & Worms, Oh My!  Since I am adding five new chicks to my flock count, safety and security are foremost in my mind. Now I realize that in the days before we knew what bio security meant or how poultry diseases and parasites affected our chickens, people added […]

I may not make a lot of friends with this post, but hear me out.  I’m not sure that all of these “crazy” and “artsy” coop tours popping up all over the place are such a good idea. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I sing the praises of backyard chicken ownership all the time, but […]

by Heather Nicholson of Scratch Cradle Been there, done that!  The biggest poultry pitfalls are also the easiest to avoid.  Caused mostly by over-enthusiasm and good intentions, these missteps can cause stress, illness, injury, shortened lifespan, and impaired offspring.  Avoid these common pitfalls and enjoy a healthy, happy flock for generations! Raising more chickens than […]

It happens time and time again, but it is heartbreaking to me every time I hear it.  Readers too often tell me that they brought home a new chicken from a swap or got a few pullets from a friend or neighbor to add to their existing flock and now all their chickens are sick […]