Posts tagged with: holistic chicken care

Natural Supplements for Molting Season

All chickens who are over a year old molt at least once every year, usually in the late summer and fall months. Molting is when a chicken replaces its old feathers with new feathers, which will help keep it warm and stay healthy. Molting can be stressful for chickens and it...

Chicken Molting 101- What is Molting?

We’ve reached that time of the year where you get no fresh eggs from your homestead flock and it looks like someone plucked all your hens: welcome to molting season. All birds molt, both wild and domestic. It is a natural occurrence that is often triggered by weather patterns. Molting...

DIY Treat for Chickens: High Protein Quinoa Cakes

Making these high protein quinoa cakes as a DIY treat for chickens is a great way to sustainably spoil your homestead flock and still keep them healthy! Chickens love special treats and snacks, and spoiling your flock can be fun and entertaining. However, you don’t want the treats to take...

What to Put in a Chicken Dust Bath

Chickens and dust bathing go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you don’t provide a dust bath spot, your flock will make their own. Even if you do make a DIY dust bath for your chickens, they may still choose their own location! Whether you make your flock a...

Why Do Chickens Dust Bathe?

Why do chickens dust bathe? Chickens dust bathe for several reasons. The primary ones being because it seems to be enjoyable for them and it provides natural health benefits that would be important for a flock’s survival in the wild. It seems contradictory, but dust bathing is one way that...

How to Save Money While Raising Chickens

Living sustainably is one of the goals on the homestead, and one way to do that is to be wise with your money. However, I have also learned that the two go hand-in-hand. Living sustainably is one way to save money. Now this is not a lesson on how to...

8 Ways to Keep Your Chicks Healthy

Chicks can be resilient, but given their small size, they are more vulnerable to health issues and disease. Keeping your homestead brood healthy will be a full-time job! These 8 ways to keep your chicks healthy is the perfect solution to help you feel confident that you are giving your...

How to Treat Bumblefoot Naturally

Chickens are on their feet all day. Even when they roost, perch or relax, they are still on their feet! Consequently, foot and toes injuries can occur no matter how many preventatives you implement. Bumblefoot is one such ailment that is caused when an infection develops in the foot pad...

What to Feed Chickens During the Summer

I know you have probably heard me say this over and over in my articles, or at least something like this: your flock’s diet is their life blood. It’s what gives them energy and keeps them healthy. And it must change and adapt based on the seasons. What your flock...

How to Switch Chicken Feed for the Homestead Flock

A chicken’s diet is essential for keeping it healthy and productive. Sudden diet changes can be hard for your homestead flock to adjust to, and feed switches can even cause health problems if they are not done properly. While complete diet changes should be avoided as much as possible, there...

7 Herbs for Baby Chicks on the Homestead

Just like chickens are the gateway animal for raising homestead livestock, I feel like herbs are the gateway plants for homestead gardening. So, it only makes since that chickens and herbs go together! Using herbs for your homestead flock is a great way to help them stay healthy naturally. Herbs...

Why is my Chicken Losing Feathers?

Why is my chicken losing feathers? A chicken’s feathers are what protect its skin and helps keep the chicken warm. There are two main reasons why a chicken would lose its feathers. Usually feather loss is caused by molting or the feathers being pulled out by other flock members. Feather...

Chick Feeding Guide- What to Feed Baby Chicks

Raising a healthy homestead brood means knowing what to feed chicks as they grow and mature. Chicks can eat just about any food from a very young age, however, it’s important that we monitor what foods they eat, how much they eat of any given food, and how frequently we...

How to Make Fermented Chicken Feed

Learning how to make fermented chicken feed is a great cost effective, nutritious, and easy way to feed your homestead flock! Fermented chicken feed helps you get the most out of your feed bags while still providing nutritious food for your chickens. My flock loves their fermented feed and I...

Natural Products for Chickens on the Homestead

While I like to source most of my natural remedies right from my homestead, I am also not against supporting certain all-natural products! With raising homestead chickens on the rise, numerous large companys and small brands have come out with natural products that you can use on pets and poultry....

How Vinegar Affects Chickens

You may have heard about putting apple cider vinegar in your flock’s water to improve their health. However, before you go about adding this natural supplement into your flock’s diet, you must first learn how it affects their health. Vinegar can be both a help and a hindrance to the...

Natural Wormers for Chickens

While there are homeopathic and herbal concoctions made specifically for treating internal parasites in chickens, I like to try and source supplements from around the homestead for treating my flock’s health ailments. There are many natural supplements and herbs which contain anti-parasitic properties helpful for both preventing and treating internal...

How to Do Chicken First Aid

Are you poultry first aid certified? Me neither, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know how to treat basic injuries and ailments that appear in your homestead flock. Chickens are notorious for getting suddenly injured or mysteriously becoming ill. Knowing a few poultry first aid tips will help you deal...

How to Prevent Worms in Chickens Naturally

Knowing how to treat worms in chickens naturally is essential for raising a homestead flock. Especially if you live in regions that provide optimal worm habitat. However, knowing how to prevent worms in chickens naturally is even more important. Preventing internal parasites is the key to keeping them from becoming...

Does my Chicken Have Worms?

Internal parasites, specifically worms, are one of those ever present but rarely seen menaces that can wreak havoc if not managed properly. If one or more of your flock members starts ailing, you may want to ask, does my chicken have worms? Worms are a fairly common internal parasite that...