If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know it’s not a secret. Coop Recuperate is hands down, one of my favorite products for raising backyard chickens! Honestly? I’m not sure if I’d still be raising backyard chickens if it weren’t for this incredible product. Strong Animals just released for a limited time their Coop Recuperate Orange Spice. It smells like Christmas! What Makes Coop Recuperate So Special? Coop Recuperate does so much more than just keep your

Keeping your chickens safe from predators is one of the biggest challenges for any backyard chicken keeper. Recently, I’ve had a couple of close calls—a hawk attempted to swoop down on my girls, and coyotes ran through our yard in broad daylight! Living along a river means raccoons are common too. From raccoons and foxes to hawks and even neighborhood dogs, there are plenty of threats to your flock! Here’s how to predator-proof your chicken coop to keep your feathered friends

It was a coop cleaning weekend around here and let me tell you, that is a chore that feels so good to have done! While chickens are one of my favorite animals on the planet, they are messy. Chickens love to scratch around their bedding and this creates so much dust. Honestly? It’s a little crazy to me how much dust they can create. We use the deep litter method in our coop and so we only clean the girls’ home twice a year. This includes removing all the bedding, nesting bars

I just came in from doing chicken chores, and let me tell you how wonderful my coop smells! Strong Animals Chicken Essentials just came out with a limited-edition holiday scent with their Coop Recuperate™ Orange Spice, and it smells delicious! The normal Coop Recuperate is absolutely wonderful, but this holiday scent is nostalgic and smells like home. Orange, clove, and cinnamon organic essential oils combine to make this product a must-have for the holiday season. If you’re

Photo Credit: HGTV Chickens are beautiful, friendly (most of them anyway), and wonderful birds. But they are also very messy! I feel like Pinterest chicken coops give you a false idea of how clean (or lack thereof) raising backyard chickens can be. With that said, it's actually very important to keep a clean coop! What's the Best Way to Clean Your Chicken Coop? With a clean coop, you'll avoid unnecessary things like bugs, mold, illness, etc. I deep clean our coop 2-3 times a

For many years I have used pine shavings in my brooders and coop while raising backyard chickens. There are a few different bedding...

It’s January, and like many of us, my girls (the chickens) and I are really feeling the effects of this long winter month! While the rime ice has been breathtaking—turning our trees into a sparkling winter wonderland—life inside the coop isn’t quite as magical. Chickens can be messy and dusty, but today I want to share how we use lighting and heating in our coop to keep our flock happy and laying during the cold months. Why Light Matters for Egg Production Chickens do their b

Have you ever seen chickens rolling around in the dirt? That’s known as a dust bath, and it helps chickens keep their feathers clean and...

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year. Not only is it cozy and beautiful, but it’s also when we celebrate my wedding anniversary,...

If you’ve been around here long enough, it’s no secret that Coop Recuperate is hands down my favorite product for our coop bedding. Part...

I have been sitting here contemplating where to even start with this blog. We have been raising backyard chickens on and off for the last...

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...

It’s that time of year when the cold is setting in. We woke up to a blanket of snow on the ground this morning. And while it’s beautiful,...

I’m sitting here giggling as I write this blog because I have a confession. Are you ready? I have always loved toys. Obviously, as a...

Today, we’re going to discuss somewhat of a hot topic in the chicken world. It’s one of those topics that most chicken keepers have a...

I think one of the biggest shocks of raising backyard chickens for me was how messy these little birds are! I remember wondering, how much poop could possibly come out of a little chicken? It’s a lot! Chickens are beautiful, fun, wonderful egg producers, but SO messy! They love to scratch around, kick up dust and poop everywhere but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Today we’re going to talk about keeping our bedding healthy for our flocks. Chickens have a very sensitive res

Happy December, everyone! I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with everything you love. Around here, we’ve already started decorating, and this year, I decided to make it a bit festive for our flock as well. I’m excited to show you two different ways I decorated our chicken coop—one budget-friendly option that cost under $10, and another that’s a bit more extravagant. Simple Christmas Coop Decorations for Under $10 For a simple and affordable Christmas coop makeover, I headed

I belong to a number of backyard chicken groups on social media and one of the questions I’ve seen the most is how to prepare your coop and chickens for winter. Living in Minnesota, winters are long, but it's nothing to get stressed about. Understanding How Chickens Stay Warm Naturally Let’s start with the physiology of chickens. Chickens have a built-in down winter coat. Meaning, their feathers provide great insulation. In fact, chickens don’t have sweat glands, so they actu

I would love to tell you that I’m a DIY queen and that I know my way around power tools and the lumber yard, but I’m not and I don’t! I enjoy watching people do it though, so does that count? Haha! Last summer, I was scrolling through what every DIY “wannabe” does to grab ideas for the flock to enjoy. I came across a picture of a really fun “playset” for chickens. I sent the picture to my husband and a few hours later, he and our daughter had it built! A Simple, Fun DIY Chick

When we first started our backyard chicken journey, we did a lot of research on bedding for our girls. Clean, dry bedding is paramount in keeping your chickens healthy. Yet, if you have kept chickens for any length of time, you know they poop a lot wherever and whenever they want. Why Bedding Matters: The Role of Ammonia in Chicken Health Chicken poop contains nitrogen and when it’s broken down by bacteria or by getting wet, it creates ammonia. Too much of this can cause res