Chickens are very sensitive to high temperatures, much more so than cooler temperatures. While winter chicken keeping does pose its challenges, summer chicken keeping also presents a whole new set of issues. Chickens have a normal body temperature around 105-107 degrees F, so keeping them cool in hot weather is...

Whether you are starting off with your first homestead flock or you have been raising chickens on the homestead for years, we all find ourselves asking, what is my chicken doing? Chickens are entertaining to watch, but knowing what their different behaviors, sounds, and body language means makes watching them...

We all want to keep our homestead flock healthy and cool during the summer months! Monitoring your flock’s diet during the summer is essential to helping them handle the heat. It will also help them stay healthy during the summer months. These 5 bad summer foods for chickens are ones...

A clean chicken coop is essential to raising healthy backyard chickens. As any chicken keeper may tell you, keeping the chicken coop looking brand new is nearly impossible! However, there are ways you can keep your coop clean. No more smelly coops, no more dirty coops, and no more sick...

No homestead chicken raiser likes to think that the litter they have in the chicken coop can actually be harmful to the their flock. However, no matter what coop litter you choose there is always a health hazard that needs to be addressed. Coop litter dangers can pose a threat...

One of the biggest challenges with homesteading is finding someone to care for your animals when you have to be gone for a few days (or a few weeks). Some homesteaders are perfectly content with not traveling a whole lot, however, other homesteaders have the traveling bug, or at least...

Before you even get chicks, you should be planning out your chicken coop! It gives your flock a safe, dry, and clean area to sleep, eat, and get away from inclement weather. A chicken coop needs to have a few key elements in order for it to be functional and...

Cold stress is often an overlooked aspect of winter chicken keeping due to the fact that chickens generally handle cold weather better than warm weather. However, cold stress is almost always present in the flock during the winter, it’s just a matter of determining when that stress becomes detrimental to...

With Christmas and New Years right around the corner, I figured I would share with you some of the helpful management tips that I use to care for my flock over the winter holiday season. These 8 winter holiday management tips for chickens include fun activities and helpful ideas for...

A peaceful, well socialized, and coherent flock makes for happy, calm, and stress free flock members who are productive and healthy! When there is strife or division within the flock, it causes stress. Stress leads to a decrease in production, an opportunity for disease, and even death for some members...

With Christmas right around the corner you might be thinking about the people you need to find gifts for.  I love finding that perfect gift, but it’s not always easy.  Raising chickens is becoming more popular and you can now find many fun, unique, and useful products that would make the perfect...

How fancy is your coop? Or maybe a more practical question for homestead chicken raisers is, how fancy does my coop need to be? There is a difference between frivolous and functional when it comes to amenities in the coop. With winter almost here, it’s time to think about how...

Raising chickens on the homestead means you have natural composters right at your finger tips! However, just because chickens act like they will eat anything doesn’t mean they can eat everything. There are good and bad table scraps for chickens that you should be aware of when giving your flock...

Practically speaking, I raise chickens for enjoyment and for the sake of homesteading. Eggs are a complimentary bonus. Is it natural for hens to lay eggs? Absolutely! Is it natural for them to lay every day, 365 days out of the year? No. Over the years, I have come to...

Did you know that your chickens can actually help you eat healthier? Everything on the homestead is related, and that includes you and your chickens. What you feed your chickens can actually reflect upon your lifestyle. The treats you give your chickens depends on what your diet is, which should...

One of the most important decisions you will make when building your chicken coop is deciding what coop litter to use. Choosing the right coop litter can make all the difference for the health and well-being of your flock as well as make cleaning and maintaining the coop easier. There...

Preventing disease & death in the homestead flock is my number one priority every year! It seems like everything I do for my chickens revolves around what will keep them the healthiest and the happiest. I know this may sound depressing, but every year I review my flock’s mortality rate...

Deciding to free-range your chickens or not is a personal decision that will be based off of many different factors. However, I would like to discuss the reasons why I chose to free-range my laying flock. These 8 reasons why chickens should free-range are positive aspects of free-ranging chickens. While...

My chicken is smarter than your dog! Did you know that cognitive research has actually proven that chickens can be smarter than dogs, cats, and even 4-year old toddlers!? Chickens are entertaining in and of themselves, but training them can be both fun and functional. These 7 things to train...

Chickens are intelligent creatures. They can recognize up to 100 different individuals and have the ability to compare themselves to other flock members in relation to ability, experiences and gender. When I first had the idea to train one of my chickens, I didn’t realize how easy it was going...