My Rooster Stew by Meredith Chilson In the spring, I always seem to have some little chicks around. Some of those little chicks turn into “my girls”—the hens that I nurture and keep for eggs. The others—well, I keep them for a while, too. Those are the ones that grow the magnificent tail feathers and […]

by Jennifer Burcke “Now is the winter of our discontent.” So begins Richard III by William Shakespeare. No, I won’t turn this into a post about iambic pentameter. However, I will tell you that here at 1840 Farm, the year 2011 began in much the same way as Shakespeare’s epic masterpiece. We are deep in […]

by Meredith Chilson I haven’t purchased eggs in about three years, not since my backyard flock of hens started laying. I’m happy to use fresh, flavorful eggs. I wasn’t worried a bit when the salmonella scare hit last year. I know my hens. I know what and where they’ve been eating; I know that the […]

by Joy Currie I just came in from morning chores. It is that cold, dry kind of morning when the snow is squeaky under your boots, and the sky is a clear, cloudless blue. It’s the kind of morning when the temperature gauge says 6. It’s the kind of morning where the husband makes lots […]

by Meredith Chilson We’re only a few days away from the winter solstice. The nights are long; the days are short. This morning the sun rose at 7:30 and by 4:30 this afternoon it will have faded away behind the hills. My hens spend a lot of time on their roosts. I thought this would […]

by Nancy Farrell Here at Sasimeadows Farm in northern New York everyone has a job to do to keep things running smoothly, so when I wanted to buy more chickens and some guinea fowl my husband, Jim, wanted to know what were they going to do for us. The hens, of course, had a job […]

by Meredith Chilson I would love to be able to free range my hens. Even though we live in a rural area, on a back road, it’s a narrow valley we live in with that rural road running right down the center. On one side of the road is a narrow field with a small […]

  by Rachel Hurd Anger   Considering I’m still nursing one of my children, it’s been all too easy to develop a maternal connection to my chickens, but it’s natural in the way that I care about their basic sustenance. When I go out to care for my chickens, to bring them warm water when […]

by Meredith Chilson Once upon a springtime, there was a fluffy chicken named Mrs. Feathers. Mrs. Feathers wanted to be a mother. She laid an egg every day in her nest of shavings and straw, and she even lined the nest with soft, downy feathers. Mrs. Feathers did not like to be disturbed by anyone […]

by Meredith Chilson My feathered ladies appear to be gentle souls. They are wonderful mothers, and to listen to them chat as they settle down for the evening or visit as they investigate garden clippings, one would never suspect that they have a dark side to their nature. If you’ve been around chickens much, you’ll […]