by Karla T. Q.  We have 4 Rhode Island Reds in their 3rd laying year. Last year and this the shells are getting progressively thinner, such that sometimes they break in the nest. We have 2 Buff hens in their second year with no problems. We feed Layena crumbles, scratch feed, calcium (oyster shell) supplement with […]

by Karla T. Q. I have 10 chickens: five Silver Laced Wyandottes and five Buff Orpingtons, all born last February. I was going to get five Black Ameraucauna baby chicks this year and was wondering the best way to integrate them into the flock. If I have a broody chicken should I put the babies […]

by Karla T. Q. Our hen is laying eggs on the floor. How to get her in the nesting boxes or doesn’t it matter? — Karen S., West Sunbury, Pennsylvania A. The main reason that I would say it does matter where they lay is that you want to be able to FIND them. For […]

by Karla T. It’s that time of year again! The chicken catalogs have begun to arrive and I get to start imagining and planning my additions to next year’s flock. I love looking through the catalogs and websites. What will I get this year? Will an unasked for and unwanted rooster turn out to be […]

by Karla T. We’ve always had a lot of self-sufficient living books at our house. The Almanac of Rural Living, Back to Basics, Making the Best of Basics and many more. So when we decided to start keeping chickens I did a LOT of reading both online and in our personal library. One book that […]

by Karla T. I’m sharing my experience here because it took me a while and a lot of worrying before I found this product.  I hope this will be helpful to others in the same predicament. Chickens will sometimes pluck each other’s feathers out.  There are many theories regarding why chickens do this.  Some of […]

by Karla T. I never wanted chickens. Well, I never used to want chickens. Now I’ve found that they are a bit like potato chips. They’re addictive and you can’t stop with just one. 20 years ago when I was engaged to my husband, Bill, he would tease me by saying that he wanted to […]