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How Snow in Chicken Pens and Runs Affects Your Flock
My chickens love being outside. I keep a light in the coop to welcome them inside during bad weather, when it gets dark early and the rain leaves the open-air chicken pens and runs in puddles.
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Are You Wondering What Do Roosters Eat?
The common answer from chicken keepers when you ask them “what do roosters eat” is that they feed their roosters the same thing as the rest of the flock. This makes sense in backyard settings where the flock members typically vary in breed and size.
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Heated Chicken Waterers: What’s Right for Your Flock
Every season brings its own battles. In the summer, you are fighting the heat, heat strokes, perhaps, lack of water, inability to keep water cool, flies, etc.
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Chicken Predators and Winter: Tips to Keep Your Flock Safe
Chicken predators are always a concern for small flock owners, but the risk of attack may actually be worse in winter months. Winter is the season of privation for all creatures, but extreme weather can change it from a time of scarcity to a season of starving.
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Winterizing Your Flock; A Winter Menu for Poultry
I receive calls each winter concerning loss of chickens or the reduction in egg production. Both of these issues are related to diet.
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Raising Meat on the Farm for the Holidays and Beyond
Add to Favorites Homesteaders looking to grow their food usually start at the easiest entry point and work their way up. Gardening is the simplest and cheapest way to start, …
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Can Chickens Eat Cranberries?
It’s the holidays and cranberries are everywhere. Can chickens eat cranberries? Yes. They make a great treat by themselves or mixed in other recipes.
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Holiday Treat Garlands For Chickens
‘Tis the season to string popped corn and cranberries and hang them on the trees outside for a tasty winter treat for the wild birds. While you’re at it, why not make some edible treat garlands for your chickens too?
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Raising Backyard Turkeys for Meat
Of all homestead poultry projects, raising backyard turkeys seems to appeal to the least number of people. Turkeys are amazingly stupid — from the newly hatched poults who can starve to death while trampling in their feed because they haven’t learned where to find it, to the hens who lay their eggs standing up.
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Toxins in the Environment
Poisoning is relatively unusual in backyard poultry, especially if you use common sense in keeping your flock away from pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, fungicide-treated seed (intended for planting), wood preservatives, rock salt, and antifreeze.
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