by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick. Chickens fare much better in cold temperatures than in hot temperatures due to their unique physiology and ability to regulate their body temperatures, but they still need our help to create the ideal environment in which to survive winter. Not all of them are common sense or intuitive, […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick. We all have an interest in keeping our backyard chickens healthy and happy and making minor adjustments to various aspects of their care can have a significant impact on their health, egg production and longevity. Below are ten tips for improving the well-being of any flock.   1. […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick. After having had three mortally ill chickens in urgent need of medical care recently, it has become painfully apparent to me that finding trained medical professionals who treat backyard chickens is difficult, at best. More often than not, we keep our first aid kit well stocked and handle health challenges ourselves, […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick Most of us spend a great deal of time preparing for the arrival of our first chickens, but few of us give much thought to how we would handle serious injuries, illnesses and end-of-life decisions until they are upon us. My recent experience with a dying chicken made me […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick. One of the lesser known symptoms of being a chicken addict is an acute fascination with chicken coops. I freely confess to being a chicken coop looky loo and know that I am not alone in my fervent interest in the endless variety of coop styles, construction materials, […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick. One of the lesser known symptoms of being a chicken addict is an acute fascination with chicken coops. I freely confess to being a chicken coop looky loo and know that I am not alone in my fervent interest in the endless variety of coop styles, construction materials, […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick This is Rachel. If you haven’t already made her acquaintance, she’s something of a hen icon on my Facebook page where she appears daily in all her puffy cuteness. Rachel is a Bantam Cochin Frizzle. Cochin is her breed, bantam describes her miniature size and frizzle describes her unusual feathers. Frizzles are the divas of […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick This is Rachel. If you haven’t already made her acquaintance, she’s something of a hen icon on my Facebook page where she appears daily in all her puffy cuteness. Rachel is a Bantam Cochin Frizzle. Cochin is her breed, bantam describes her miniature size and frizzle describes her unusual feathers. Frizzles are the divas of […]

Whether chickens free-range or are primarily confined to the coop and run, protecting them from predators can be one of the most challenging aspects of backyard chicken-keeping. An awareness of coop security basics goes a long way towards keeping backyard pets safe from unwelcome, hungry visitors 1. Don’t allow Chickens to Roost Outside  Chickens are […]

by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick I had never witnessed one of my hens laying an egg until today and as luck would have it, I had my camera handy! I find the entire process of egg-laying fascinating and thought I’d share with you some of the more interesting, random facts I have learned […]