While chickens may be the gateway animal to homesteading, there are also plenty of other poultry species to consider adding to your homestead! Raising poultry on the homestead can be fun, educational, challenging, and even rewarding. My goal is to raise every species of domesticated poultry, and so far I...

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...

Whether you have one rooster on the homestead or multiple roosters in the homestead flock, knowing how to care for a rooster is important for the health and happiness of your homestead flock! Roosters have different dietary needs than hens. They exhibit different behaviors and play specific roles within the...

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...

Chicks need supplemental heat to stay warm, healthy, and to mature into strong adults. Supplemental heat is most crucial for the first 4 weeks of a chick’s life. However, the supplemental heat will need to be weaned off starting at 1 week of age. Once the chicks are old enough,...

Chicken knowledge is my specialty, and I love reading and learning anything I can about these unique homestead creatures! Over the years, I have come across some facts that simply blew my mind. Chickens are amazing creatures that have been proven to be smart and emotionally sensitive. If you have...

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...

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...

Any kind of poultry parasite is annoying, but I have found that northern fowl mites are terribly persistent little buggers that require patience and time to treat. While they may seem like any other external poultry parasite, northern fowl mites are one of the hardest mites to treat since they...

There is nothing I like better than seeing my homestead flock happily pecking around in the yard, garden, and surrounding woods with the warm sun on their backs and the lush grass (or dried leaves) under their feet. I know they are doing what instinctually comes natural for them, and...

The crop is the gateway to a chicken’s stomach. Ensuring that the crop is functioning properly is essential for keeping your flock healthy and productive! There are two common ailments that affect the crop: sour crop and impacted crop. Learning to tell the difference between sour crop vs impacted crop...

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...

There are literally hundreds of chicken breeds to choose from when it comes to starting your first flock or adding to your existing flock! How do you choose the right breeds? Are there ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ chicken breeds? This guide for choosing chicken breeds for the homestead should give you...

I often get caught up in the what, whys, and how’s of raising homestead chickens, but then I remind myself, don’t let raising a homestead flock become overwhelming, confusing, or daunting. When you stick to the basics, learning how to raise homestead chickens becomes fun, enjoyable, and rewarding! There are...

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...

I have incubated hatching eggs using both an incubator and a broody hen. Starting off using an incubator to hatch eggs made me realized just how much easier it is to let a mother hen hatch eggs! Honestly, I thought caring for a broody hen while she is incubating eggs...

Herbs have long been valued for their medicinal and culinary uses for people, but did you know that they are great for your chickens too? I love growing herbs for my chickens, and despite my green thumb not being the best, I still manage to maintain a little herb garden...

Those cute little fluff balls are hard not to obsess over, but over the years I have come to realize that chicks are not as fragile as I first though they were. Proper breeding, care, management, and diet do play a role in how hardy chicks are, however, when all...

Chickens are such adaptable creatures. However, caring for chickens can vary depending on your regional zone. Weather patterns, different seasons, and availability of resources can all have an effect on how you care for your homestead flock. Care practices that work for one flock may not be the best for...

Caring for a sick chicken is difficult and challenging, there’s no way around it. Chickens are prey animals, so they try to act tough under all circumstances to prevent showing their weaknesses. Being able to recognize a sick chicken as soon as possible and learning how to diagnose poultry ailments...