Composting Chicken Coop Bedding

If you’ve ever driven though the countryside on a Spring day, you may have been struck by the odor of chicken manure spread over the fields While a temporary, smelly inconvenience, chicken manure can drastically improve grass health Nitrogen is one of the most important indicators of pasture health, and chicken manure happens to be high in such an essential nutrient Along with nitrogen, composted chicken manure regenerates soil heath by adding phosphorus and potassium, common ingredients in store-bought fertilizers

Before adding your chickens’ spent bedding to your garden, it must be composted first Composting allows time for the breakdown

Duck Nutrition

There is a saying that chickens are the “gateway drug,” of livestock Many of us have started out with chickens! Raising chicks into healthy adult chickens takes some know-how and practice

All joking aside, you need to know the nutritional needs of ducks before you decide to add them to your flock Ducks and chickens can live together in the same area, but ducks will have different nutritional needs Ducks tend to be messier than chickens by nature, so ample room is a must

 

Water, water, and more water!

The number one key to

DIY Chicken Feed

Most of us feed our grown flock of birds layer pellets Layer pellets are a great food, containing most of what an adult hen needs to survive If you would like to treat your chickens with a ration that does more than simply let them survive, try making your own!

That being said, chickens allowed to free-range on a good sized, diverse piece of yard, do not have to be fed a special diet at all Chickens allowed to be chickens will balance out their nutritional needs completely naturally! However, all chickens need some type of complete daily ration to

Affordable Ways to Make the Coop Homey

We’ve all seen the Pinterest chicken coops of our dreams I’m not knocking those beautifully designed coops that have more stately architecture than a million dollar home I think many of us envy that luxurious coop in the backyard That being said, we cannot all achieve such coops, but we can look for thrifty ways to get pretty close!

Here are a few ways you can redecorate your coop on a budget this year, making you and your chickens a little happier!

Old Windows

Old windows, taken from old houses during renovation, are easy to

All About the Sapphire Splash

Today I’m here to tell you about a chicken breed most of you have never heard of before, the Sapphire Splash
Most of us have heard of the Sapphire Gem, a beautiful dark grey chicken that adds a sophisticated touch of color to a mixed flock The Sapphire Gem has a cousin, the Sapphire Splash Both are breeds originate in the Czech Republic
I just love Sapphire Splash chickens, and not just for their color Sapphire Splashes have some of the best temperaments of any chicken on the market now My family has always had at least one SS

How to Store Chicken Feed

You don’t need a fancy barn or coop to keep your feed organized! For years I spent so much time walking from coop to barn, to barn to house, and back down again Having all my feeding areas spread out was frustrating and a lot of extra work Of course barns are important for animal shelter, but you don’t need a barn to store your feed!
Just make a metal storage box instead!

Here’s a fact for you: feed attracts vermin
No matter where you decide to store your flock’s feed, mice will smell it and they will come It’s for this reason,

Entertaining Your Flock on a Budget

Chickens really live their best lives when they are free ranging outside Unfortunately, not everyone has the option of letting their chickens out of the coop Space restrictions, local ordinances, and job schedules are just a few of the reasons why many chickens are cooped up all day

Owning animals is like being a zookeeper A good zookeeper takes care of the physical needs of an animal However, a great zookeeper comes up with ways to keep their animals’s minds healthy and active! It’s called enrichment! There are countless ways to provide your flock something to keep their brains busy

That

Clipping Feathers

There are many reasons why you may need to clip your chickens’ wings 

Chickens escaping their run, flying up into feed containers, roosting in trees, and just plain wreaking havoc are a few

Lately, at our place, my chickens have been wanting to sleep in the trees, instead of their deluxe coop! This was fine with me all summer, but now with cold temperatures depending on us, they need

Daylight Savings Time and Chickens

Does Daylight Savings Time affect chickens?

Well, the short answer is no Of course chickens don’t have a need to understand numerical times, but YES they are affected by the shortening of days

 

Autumn can be a rough time for chickens You probably have noticed all of your birds molting Molting happens to every chicken, every fall They drop their old feathers, and grow in a new, fresh set for winter They can be more vulnerable to cold during this time Some of my girls go almost completely naked during molting season One named Smarty, gets so puny, she literally looks