We are in a heat wave here…along with most of the country. It’s mid July and there’s no break in sight. As you know, a chicken’s feathers act like a winter coat. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine wearing a winter coat in this heat! Along with their feathers, chickens don’t have sweat glands. This combination can provide the perfect storm for your chickens to overheat. Once they overheat, chickens can go downhill really fast. According to Chicken Scratch, in hot clim

If you brought chicks home this spring, and if they haven’t started laying, they will soon! There’s nothing much better than collecting...

As the heat turns up, so will the broodiness in some of your hens. The warm temperatures will sometimes encourage this behavior. If you...

Spring is finally here! We’ve been busy in our yard and gardens, getting everything ready for the growing season. Do you enjoy gardening too? Our go-to petunias are already in their pots, our flower beds are full of beautiful blooms, and our food garden is prepped and ready to plant. Why Gardening with Chickens is Even Better Gardening is rewarding on its own, but when you garden with chickens , it’s even more fun! Our chicken run is separated from the garden by a fence, but

I think we can all agree that our chickens are very valuable to us. Whether they are simply a way for you to get fresh eggs, or if they’ve become like family as in our case, chickens are an investment. With that said, we do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our flock. Chickens are actually fairly fragile and while they don’t take a lot of extra care, it’s important to keep an eye on them. Chickens use their feet for so many things. Scratching, perching, jum

We have an interesting situation at our house. Our family raises backyard chickens and Labrador Retrievers. If you know anything about either of these wonderful animals, you know that they really don’t go together! Our dogs are from excellent bloodlines and are bred for hunting as well as family pets. With that said, they have a high drive when it comes to bird hunting. Insert my chickens into the story. Yikes! They are unable to defend themselves against our dogs, so we’ve h

Easter is hands down, one of my favorite holidays. I love this time of year. Everything is fresh and new and has a feeling of new life....

Easter Eggers are defined by their poofy cheeks and beard. When we started our most recent flock, I started with all brown egg layers. I...

Spring is in the air! We are looking forward to longer days and warmer temperatures around here! The girls are starting to pick up their...

I am so excited to write this blog! We have been raising backyard chickens on and off for the last 15 years. So, naturally, we’ve learned...

When I got back into chickens a few years ago, I started in the fall. Our local farm supply store didn’t carry chicks in the fall, so I...

It’s the end of January in Minnesota, and if you’ve never experienced a Minnesota winter, you're definitely missing out! While I’ve always appreciated the four seasons, the older I get, the less I enjoy the cold days of winter. Since I love gardening and being outdoors with my family and pets, I decided to bring some greenery inside to brighten up our home this week! Indoor Herb Gardening: Simple, Quick, and Delicious I like to keep things simple in the kitchen—quick and deli

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays with plenty of joy and laughter. Now that we’re in the middle of winter, my hens have...

Holding chickens is one of my favorite hobbies! There’s nothing like going out to the coop and getting in some good chicken snuggles....

When we started raising chickens 14 years ago, we had a couple of roosters who would tootle around the yard with the girls. I really knew...

If you’re new to raising chickens, one of the most common questions is: “What is the best feed for chickens?” Many people look for ways...

Most backyard chicken keepers keep just enough chickens to supply eggs for their families. However, there are a good number of us who fell victim to chicken math and have a much larger flock than we first planned. With 40 chickens, I have more than enough eggs to feed our family and then some! So, what do we do with our extra eggs? We sometimes gift them and sometimes sell them. It’s an easy way to make a couple extra bucks and is a fun little business activity on the side. “

“Sweetie” was my second Silkie to hatch and is still as sweet as ever. Silkies are some of the most delightful little birds you can add...

Chickens do a fairly excellent job of taking care of their hygiene. They take dust baths and preen themselves with their beaks to keep free of bugs and to stay healthy. However, have you ever heard of trimming your chickens’ nails? For the most part, chickens are able to scratch around the yard and keep their nails naturally filed. However, I’ve noticed that after a long winter of not being able to scratch around as much (aka in MinneSNOWta), a couple of the girls’ nails need

When I first started raising backyard chickens, I was all about the eggs—didn't care about the breeds or egg colors, as long as I had fresh eggs daily. That quickly changed once I got my hens! I fell in love with the diversity of chicken breeds and the range of beautiful egg colors they produce. What started as a simple hobby quickly turned into a full-blown passion, and now I have a large flock of my own. Honestly, I might need to thin the flock soon—30 eggs a day is a bit m