Broadcast Feeding

The simple definition of broadcast feeding is throwing chicken feed on the ground! Before you lose interest, let me tell you the real advantages of feeding your birds this way!

You’ll have less pests!

For a few years now, I have totally stopped keeping my chicken feed in feeders Feeders are convenient, but can attract a ton of unwanted mice and rats! (And the occasional opossum!) Leaving a huge amount of feed open to the public everyday-and night- is an open invitation to nasty pests

My chickens are free range all day They have access to water in the coop and in

Is Changing Feed Harmful to Chickens?

If you’re just starting to raise chickens, a common question that gets asked is, “What is the best feed to give them?” Often, people will search for ways to save money on chicken feed If someone sat down and calculated out the cost of raising backyard chickens, they may find it costs more than just heading to the store to buy eggs However, you and I both know that nothing beats farm fresh eggs! For me, the first question I had to answer was, “Am

Nurture Your Birds with an Expanded Line of NatureServe Flock Feeds

Nurture your flock from chickens to ducks and turkeys/gamebirds with NatureServe® feed that contains the same essential oils that we feed our birds at Hoover’s Hatchery  NatureServe is the preferred feed brand of Hoover’s Hatchery and we encourage carrying on the tradition of feeding your flock at home with essential oils found in NatureServe feed to help keep your birds healthy

Previous to 2021, NatureServe offered only poultry feeds for chicks and chickens  Starting this Spring 2021, look for NatureServe’s expanded product flock offerings at retail stores:

  • NatureServe Chick Starter/Grower
  • NatureServe Layer Pellets
  • NatureServe Duck Starter/Grower (new)
  • NatureServe Duck Pellets

Week 11 With Rudd Rangers

This past week, our Rudd Rangers have been truly enjoying their new found freedom! 

 Every morning, I walk out to their tractor and pull it onto a fresh spot (Might I add that you will not want to keep them too close to your house as they do poop a lot!) Next, I open up the door and all the excited chickens come running out! I fill up their feeder with pellets and fill up their 3 gallon water tank, and forget them until evening comes In the past, we kept our meat

Week 9 With Rudd Rangers

This week marked another first for the Rudd Rangers; they experienced freedom!

It was brief, it was supervised, but it was freedom! It was really hilarious to see them running and FLYING out of the tractor door! They were very excited! 

However, the possibility of losing one to a predator scares me to death, so I usually end up corralling them back inside after an hour or two Since they have grown up in the chicken tractor, they do not stray to far from it When the sun is gets

Week 10 With Rudd Rangers

This week, the Rudd Rangers are officially 2 months old! 

They have made it about 2/3 of the way through their time here on our farm It seems like a lifetime ago that they were fluffy chicks in a delivery box!

Big storms were due to roll in Sunday night, so we decided to move the Rangers into a more secure coop The chicken tractor is fine for rainy days, but it is very lightweight With the threat of strong winds and possible tornadoes, we decided to move all 13

A Guide For Feeding Growing Chickens

A trip to your local feed store may leave you asking more questions about chicken feed than before you visited What percentage protein should they get? What about calcium? Are my chicks old enough to get a pellet feed? There are many types of chicken feed available and it can leave you scratching your head wondering which is best for your chickens
There are three main forms of chicken feed: pellets, crumbles and supplements Pellets and crumbles are complete feeds In other words, these feeds will meet the entire dietary needs of your chickens These are

Forage or Feed? Nutritional Benefits of Chickens that Forage

There are many benefits to having chickens that are able to forage and don’t rely on just chicken feed Allowing chickens to forage helps reduce your carbon footprint and is great when you want to cut back on your feed costs There are also nutritional benefits for both you and your chickens when you provide them with access to forages
Chicken Nutrition
Before we go any further, let’s talk a little bit about chicken nutrition There are many aspects to nutrition that we need to be concerned with- protein, energy, vitamins and minerals Chickens that are being

Why You Should Be Feeding Your Flock Mealworms

Mealworms look entirely disgusting to us The crunchy brown worms seem entirely unappetizing To a chicken, mealworms are bites of heaven Chickens will go absolutely crazy over mealworms, and for good reason There are several reasons that you should be feeding your chickens mealworms!

A Little Goes a Long Way
Mealworms are incredibly dense in the amount of protein that they contain For adult chickens, even a few mealworms (as in 1-10) is enough to give them a boost of protein So the bags of mealworms that you see in the store will last you longer than you