Four Tips for Adding Chickens to Your Flock If you own backyard chickens, you must be well aware with the ‘pecking order’ concept in the chicken society. However, many people do not realize the consequences of adding chickens to the flock, who have already established a hierarchy among themselves. You may not realize this, but each chicken is aware of… Read more »
I’ve previously written about the different materials you can use as bedding in your chicken coop. Beyond what material you provide for bedding, one option is to use the deep litter approach. Using a bit of strategic laziness, the idea behind deep litter is that rather than cleaning out the coop and providing fresh bedding, you put fresh bedding on top… Read more »
Molting is a natural part of chicken biology where they lose feathers and start to grow new ones. Colder temperatures and shorter days trigger this – usually in late Summer or Early Autumn. Both hens and roosters molt. Young chickens will go through a couple of juvenile molts. Their first adult molt will occur at 16-18 months of age. The… Read more »
One of the things that surprised me when my wife and I first started learning about chickens is that they can survive in the winter in cold climates. I had assumed that chickens were only in warmer climates year round. Instead I learned, as long as a few basics are ensured, they can thrive throughout the winter. In this post… Read more »
Chickens can be a great source of entertainment for a family. Many people are now choosing to raise their own chickens in their backyard. They benefit from having a regular supply of fresh eggs and, unless they get too attached to the birds, having a source of additive-free meat when required. Chickens are not that labour intensive. They will not… Read more »
Most experts agree that raising laying hens is fairly easy and straightforward. The actual process of laying eggs is more determined by nature than by anything humans can do. Still, there are times when your laying hens may run into trouble. This article looks at some of those problem areas and offers some advice on what to do. While laying hens can have a variety of… Read more »
Many of those new to raising chickens may be confused about what to feed chickens. To be clear, the audience for this article is those who are raising their own backyard chickens, in their own chicken coops and hen houses. Commercial hatcheries are a different story altogether and not addressed in this article. If you have done any research at… Read more »