Neighbors Help Make Backyard Flocks Possible

Occasionally a friend visits us at Winding Pathways  He’s a retired professor of ornithology…a bird guy The first thing he does is “go visit our girls” These girls are our backyard chicken flock

 

Our chickens are attractions that entice friends here and are ambassadors of positive neighbor relations Our hens give us eggs while showing visitors how well these fascinating food producing animals fit into modern lives and suburban backyards

 

We live in an urban world A couple of generations ago most Americans grew up on farms or in small rural towns Although they now live in a modern suburb they

Tips for Reducing Flies in the Coop

Flies are a constant nuisance, especially in backyards where you have livestock  Chickens don’t attract a huge amount of flies when compared to larger livestock like cattle or pigs, but they will still attract flies  Thankfully, there are a few simple ways to keep the annoying flies at bay

One of the first steps to reducing flies is to keep the coop and run clean  Flies are scavengers and feed on feces, decaying things and anything gross  If you keep the coop cleaned out, you’ll reduce the feed supply for flies around the coop  Remove poop daily  Poop in the

The Right Bedding for Your Coop

One of the most common questions a new chicken owner asks is, “what is the right bedding for my coop?”

Although a common question, the answer might surprise you, even if you are an experienced chicken owner

Not much scientific research has been devoted to the right bedding for backyard flock owners Most research has been poured into industrial sized chicken broiler farms At these farms, heavy bodied Cornish Cross meat chickens eat, poop, and sleep all in the same place-on the ground Since they sleep on the ground, the material they lay in is technically called bedding These chickens are