Flock Journey is the education home of Hoover's Hatchery | Ready for birds? Shop at hoovershatchery.com
The journey
What your flock needs as the weather turns, so you are never caught off guard.
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The best chicken breeds for cold climates have small combs, loose fluffy feathers with plenty of down, and big bodies. Brahmas, Cochins,…
The earliest signs of heat stress in chickens are behavior changes, not collapse: hens crowd into shade, stop scratching, eat less, drink…
To get more eggs through the winter, give hens about 14 to 16 hours of light a day by adding it in…
but flock owners can protect their birds by taking a lesson from Theodore Roosevelt. When an intense heat wave descended on New…
Chickens pant because they have no sweat glands and shed heat through open-beak breathing, usually once temperatures pass about 85°F. Light panting…
On a rural property outside Mason City, Iowa, sits a 10-Bird Hoover’s Lean-To Easy Clean Coop and Run. It’s been there for…
Cleaning Tips for Healthy Hens It’s that time of year. Birds are migrating as plants push greenery up through the ground. They…
How to Keep Chicken Water from Freezing Safely in Winter Brrrr. It’s cold out. A new flock owner soon learns that subfreezing…
When the temperature drops and your chickens start giving you that look, like you personally scheduled winter, the temptation to hang a…
We’re in the thick of summer and boy is it hot! The girls are constantly looking for shade and digging deep into…
Hot Chicks: How to Keep Your Backyard Flock Cool When the Sun’s on Full Blast Summer: the season of sun, sweat, and…
✨ Just in time for Mother’s Day! ✨ Download our free coloring page and let the little ones create something egg-stra special…
🐣🌷Spring has sprung — and so has our latest Hoover’s Hatchery coloring page! 🎨🐥 Grab your crayons, markers, or colored pencils and…
Shopping for friends who homestead is actually quite fun and easy! Whether you know someone with 3 backyard hens in a subdivision,…
Chickens have been doing just fine surviving winters with humans for many hundreds of years. Long before the invention of electricity, chickens…
If you are looking for a completely free way to keep your coop clean and cozy this winter, raked leaves might be…
Easy Memorial Day Fruit Kabobs for Summer Picnics and Parties I can’t believe we’re almost at the end of the school year!…
for Simple Family Meals I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for healthy, simple meals to feed my family.…
Hens lay best with about 14 to 16 hours of light a day, so winter coops need supplemental light on a timer.…
How to Keep Chickens Warm and Healthy Through Winter One of the most commonly asked questions I get while raising backyard chickens…
Annie’s Favorite No-Bake Christmas Cookies Recipe It’s the week of Christmas and if you’re like me, there’s a present to be wrapped,…
Packed full of nutrients and vitamins, fresh pumpkins are a super food for your flock! Why not entertain your chickens AND yourself…
Daylight Saving Time itself does not affect chickens, because their clock is the sun. Shorter autumn days do: they trigger molting, cut…
Common questions
What your flock needs as the weather turns, so you are never caught off guard. It is one of the eight Flock Journey journeys: a guided path with deeper articles whenever you want them.
Keepers who want to get the flock ready for heat, cold and other seasonal changes.
Pick the article that matches what your flock needs right now. Each one stands on its own, and the rest are a click away.
No. Start anywhere. The journeys all connect, so you can move between them as your flock changes.
The next journey is Health & Wellness. You can also see all eight journeys on the Journeys page.
