If you have backyard chickens, you already know they can be a little particular about where they lay their eggs. Some hens will happily use the nesting boxes, while others seem determined to find the most inconvenient corner of the coop! The good news is that a cozy, well designed nesting box can make a big difference. It gives your hens a quiet, comfortable place to lay, helps keep eggs cleaner and makes daily egg collecting much easier. Whether you’re setting up your first

Picture credit: Recipe Teacher Our secret for fall-off-the-bone drumsticks, oven or grill, it works every time and is perfect for a 4th of July cookout. We believe great chicken starts with quality, but the real magic happens in how you cook it. After years of perfecting our drumsticks, we’re sharing the one secret that separates a so-so chicken leg from one that makes your guests go quiet mid-bite. The Secret is Out Here is our secret. Cook your chicken legs to 185°F - 195°F

Picture credit: Tasting Table Because everyone in the backyard deserves a cool treat, feathers included! Hot summer days call for cool treats. With a few simple ingredients, you can make dye-free snow cones for the kids and a chicken-friendly shaved ice treat for your flock! First, Why Dye-Free? Artificial food dyes are everywhere in store-bought snow cone syrups. Those neon-red, electric-blue, radioactive-green bottles are basically the firework show of the food coloring w

It’s a hot summer afternoon. You head out to check on your flock and notice something alarming. Your hens are standing still with their beaks wide open, breathing fast. Some are holding their wings away from their bodies. Your first instinct might be to worry, and you should listen to that instinct! Your chickens are panting, and they’re telling you something really important. The heat is getting to them. Here’s what’s happening inside your hens and why it matters. Why Chicke

Summer heat can be hard on backyard chickens! When temperatures climb, hens may pant more, eat less, drink more and slow down on egg production as their bodies work to stay cool. Unlike people, chickens can’t sweat. They regulate body temperature by panting, which can cause them to lose important electrolytes and vitamins faster during hot weather. That’s why hydration, shade and simple cooling treats can make a big difference for your flock. Frozen fruit and mint treats are

If you’ve got a backyard flock, you’ve probably watched your girls happily pecking away at the grass in your yard and thought, good for them, they’re doing what chickens do. And you’re right! Foraging is one of the best things chickens can do for their physical and mental wellbeing. But here’s something that surprises a lot of backyard keepers. Grass, specifically long grass, can actually be a sneaky trigger for one of the most common and unpleasant digestive problems we see

Make the most of summer with your flock and your family! Summer is the perfect time to slow down, head outside, and make memories with the ones you love including your feathered friends! Whether your kids are already chicken obsessed or just getting started, these three activities blend backyard fun with learning, creativity, and quality time. Best of all, your flock gets to be part of the action. Here are three of our favorite summer activities to enjoy with your kids and yo

8 Week Old Chick, Picture Credit: Willow Creek Farms You head out to do your morning chicken chores with a coffee in hand, still half-asleep and something stops you cold. A dropping that doesn’t look right. Red. Maybe streaky. Maybe just…wrong. Your heart does that little lurch. We’ve been there. And the first thing we want to tell you is: breathe. Not every alarming-looking dropping means something terrible is happening. But it does mean your birds are trying to tell you som

Picture credit: The Vanderveen House Okay, real talk. How many of you have stood in your backyard, looked at your chicken run, your coop, your kids’ bikes, the patio furniture, and thought… where on earth would I even put a garden? Here’s the thing though. Growing your own food doesn’t have to mean a big sprawling garden with raised beds stretching across your yard. More and more backyard homesteaders, especially those of us working with a suburban sized lot, are turning to v

Stressors like predators, sickness, disease, molting, extreme heat, cold weather and pecking order changes can all take a toll on your chickens. Along with keeping a close eye on our birds, we use Strong Animals Chicken Essentials every day to help keep our flock and coop in tip-top shape! A little care really does go a long way in keeping backyard chickens healthy. Some of the most common questions we get are: What is the difference between Chicken E-lixir and Flock Fixer? D

One of my favorite chickens I’ve ever had was Paris, my Prairie Bluebell Egger. Her personality matched her gorgeous plumage, and she brought so much joy to the coop. If you’re looking for a chicken that lays beautiful blue eggs and fits well into a backyard flock, the Prairie Bluebell Egger chicken is definitely one to consider. These birds have become increasingly popular with backyard chicken keepers because they combine dependable egg production, eye-catching feather colo

Picture credit: Freedom Ranger Hatchery Chickens, like any other animals, can run into health issues from time to time. The good news? A lot of those problems can be prevented with good nutrition, a clean coop and a little daily observation. But let’s be honest, sometimes things still happen in the coop. One issue that can sneak up on you is eye infections in chickens. They’re more common than you might think and can quickly impact your flock’s comfort, vision and overall hea

Photo Credit: SunnyDaysNora I find myself standing in front of the refrigerator more often than not wondering what on earth I’m going to make for supper. Does anyone else do this? Haha. I do much better when I have a plan, but let’s be honest… sometimes that plan disappears somewhere between chores, errands and everyday life. That’s why I love recipes like this one. If you have leftover Easter ham, you likely already have most of these ingredients sitting in your fridge and c

Picture credit: Serious Eats Our family loves omelettes! They’re a great source of protein, and the best part is that each person can customize their omelette to their liking. Over the Fourth of July, my brother sets up a big omelette bar for breakfast, and it’s become a family favorite. I’m usually a ham-and-cheese omelette kind of girl, but sometimes I crave something a little lighter. That’s where the Florentine omelette comes in. It’s rich, satisfying and packed with flav

I think one of the most stressful parts of raising backyard chickens is the thought of one, or many, of them getting sick. As chicken keepers, we do everything we can to keep our birds healthy and happy. So when you hear a chick sneeze, it can definitely make your heart skip a beat. The good news? Most chick sneezing is caused by something harmless, like dust or bedding irritation. But sometimes, sneezing can signal a bigger issue. Understanding the difference can help you re

Raising baby chicks is super fun, fascinating and honestly? I don’t get much of anything else done when I have baby chicks because I always find myself watching them in their brooder! Their instinctive behaviors are mind blowing. When a mama hen hatches her chicks, she teaches them the ropes on eating, dust bathing and how to stay safe. But what about the chicks that are hatched in an incubator or hatchery? These chicks still seem to know what to do! Creation is amazing. One

Baby chick with a splayed leg A Real Story: Bleu the Silkie A number of years ago, I hatched a small group of Silkies in an incubator. That was an experience in and of itself, so fun and honestly, a little stressful. It always makes me wonder in awe how mama hens do it so naturally. Chicks need just the right temperature and humidity to hatch. It’s incredible. All of my Silkies hatched healthy and spunky except one little lady I named Bleu. Bleu had a harder time during hatch

Raising healthy baby chicks takes more than starter feed and fresh water! Early nutrition plays a huge role in immunity, feather development and long-term flock health. That’s why more backyard chicken keepers across the U.S., especially here in the Midwest where chick season hits hard every spring, are talking about sea kelp. Sea kelp is a mineral-rich sea vegetable that delivers powerful benefits when used correctly, especially during a chick’s first few weeks of life. What

If you’re wondering what it’s really like to receive baby chicks shipped through the mail, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common questions new backyard chicken owners ask.

Picture credit: Hoover's Hatchery If you’ve spent any time raising backyard chickens, you know how it starts. At first, you just want a few nice hens that lay eggs. Simple enough, right? Then suddenly you’re learning about different egg colors, feather patterns, personalities and before you know it… you’re planning your next chicken addition. That’s exactly where I’m at. While scrolling through Hoover’s Hatchery (as one does), I came across a breed I hadn’t seriously consider