by Rebecca Nickols As this series of awe-inspiring chicken coops continues, I’m continually amazed at how creative, resourceful and imaginative some chicken keepers are when it comes to constructing their coop. It reminds me of how one person might look at an abandoned house and see only its pitfalls; while another person views the same neglected […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author Every devoted chicken keeper knows there are times when you wonder if your friends really want to listen to your tales of how wonderful it is to have backyard chickens, but Community Chickens understands how endearing and full of personality a chicken can be! If you were looking for a way […]

Rebecca Nickols   What does a DIY composter have to do with raising chickens? Well, if you have chickens, you have chicken manure … and if you’re a gardener (like me) this unlimited supply of manure can provide you with an endless supply of the world’s best organic fertilizer! In fact, out of the fluffy backside […]

by Rebecca Nickols This month’s “Cool Coop” is guaranteed  to bring a smile to your day! The on-going theme of this series of unique, creative and inspiring coops is–recycling, re-purposing, reusing… I think that everyone would agree that a reclaimed school bus chicken coop is about as cool as it gets! I love the idea of […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author Last year I was asked by the Master Gardener chapter that I’m a member of to do Power Point presentation on backyard chickens. Since I’m more of a gardener than a farmer, I thought I would not only share the whys and hows of basic chicken keeping, but also […]

by Rebecca Nickols While my heart goes out to those that were in the direct path of hurricane Isaac, the storm has brought some much needed rain to the drought-stricken Midwest. So far we’ve had two days of constant rain fluctuating from a drizzle to a downpour. Usually one associates rainy days with sadness, depression, […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author Ever since I received a gift of Nikon SLR several years ago, I’ve enjoyed photographing the outdoors: plants, insects, wildlife, etc. I’ve found that with a good camera and a lot of patience capturing a great shot isn’t as difficult as it would appear. Outdoor photography has one huge […]

by Rebecca Nickols Once again I’m on my quest to find the most creative, unique and just down-right “cool” coops. This month I think I might just have stumbled upon a collection of awe-inspiring coops that are in a class all their own! These one-of-kind coops are located on Whidbey Island (about 35 miles north […]

Rebecca Nickols Photos by author This past week, my husband and I headed for our local county fair, the Ozark Empire Fair. My main objective was eating lunch at Rudy’s BBQ; a family operated restaurant that’s been a regular fixture at the fair for over 60 years. This is not your typical fair-food; it’s slow-cooked authentic barbecue that’s […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author July 2012 will go down as one of the warmest and driest months on record for much of America–including my Southwest Missouri coop. During this epic drought and heat, the importance of providing your flock with access to clean cool water is more critical than ever. Record temperatures, high […]