Join me on my self-sufficiency journey as I share tips and insights on raising happy, healthy backyard chickens.
Discover the ideal diet for your silkie chickens! Learn what do silkie chickens eat to keep them happy and healthy with this guide.
Pickin' the Right Frickin' Chicken: Guide to Picking Backyard Chicken Breeds My Lovely Wife Feeding Our...
Raising chicks for beginners - What to expect the first 6 weeks. March just flew by, and our chicks have grown so much. I can't even believe it! They've...
These unique, beautiful Isbar chickens are perfect for adding a touch of character and color to any flock. You'll love their green eggs, too!
Looking to add chickens to your homestead? Here is everything you need to know to properly care for these feathered friends.
There are many things I wish I would have known as a beginner. These ten tips will help you as a new chicken owner.
If you want to add an excellent free-ranging chicken to your flock, consider the Cream Legbar. This cute, unique chicken ... Read more
Raising backyard chickens 101. Tips for getting your flock off to a good start and raising chickens that thrive and produce delicious eggs.
In the first chapter of our definitive winter guide, we are going to look at how to prepare your coop so it’s ready for winter.
Myself and my poultry peeps collectively have more than 30 years’ experience with Silkie Chcikens and can truly consider ourselves Silkie Chicken Experts! We will cover appearance, size, weight, eggs, feeding, caring and more!
How to raise chicks: Everything you need to know to begin your backyard chickens. This comprehensive guide will teach you about raising chickens for eggs!
Wondering how to collect chicken poop and what to do with it once you've cleaned the coop? Learn more in this in-depth guide.
Summer is one of my favorite seasons for several reasons, but perhaps my favorite thing to do this time of year is to host at our home. From pool parties with the kiddos, to wine/bourbon nights by the fire with couples, it truly is the most special to be able to share our space with those we love. C
So you’re chickens are losing their feathers? Don’t worry, they are molting. Read on to find out how to help them and get their feathers back.
These simple and tasty ideas bring you fresh inspiration for easy-to-make weeknight recipes using Pace salsa!
With the increasing popularity of aromatherapy, essential oils have become standard for human self-care. But essential oils for chickens?
Summer is one of my favorite seasons for several reasons, but perhaps my favorite thing to do this time of year is to host at our home. From pool parties with the kiddos, to wine/bourbon nights by the fire with couples, it truly is the most special to be able to share our space with those we love. C
How to produce lots of fruits and vegetables using the French intensive or bio intensive method of gardening.
How to incubate chicken eggs and hatch chicks. Step by step guide to using your incubator properly and getting a great hatch rate. Learn to hatch your own chicks!
For chicken enthusiasts who are searching for a truly unique bird, the Houdan is an obvious choice. This French chicken ... Read more
These are the best tips for raising chickens. You'll learn what you need, where to get them and how to start your flock today!
Not everyone loves chickens. What happens when your neighbor hates your chickens and starts complaining? Learn more in this blog.
Here's what experienced owners wished they knew before getting backyard chickens and how you can learn from them!
In this article you can find educational tips on how to raise healthy chickens in few steps. Hope you are going to find them very useful and helpful.
If you want to raise your chicks without antibiotics, there are a few things that you may need to know first. Read on to find out.
Penedesenca Chickens are frisky, pretty little chickens, ideal for free-ranging and ability to handle hot climates. They are admired for their dark eggs.
Today, our featured breed is the Appenzeller Spitzhauben Chicken. This breed originated in Appenzell, Switzerland, and is considered to be ... Read more
Savez-vous qu'il est possible de faire des économies grâce au jardin ? Si cela vous intéresse, alors venez piocher nos 10 astuces !
Erigeron daisies are low-maintenance flowering perennials that resist marauding deer, bloom enthusiastically for many months, and can be used as a ground cover or to softens edges in a garden. See more tips from the editors of Gardenista.
THE WEEKLY GRID AND DAILY DETAILSThe Nourishing Nature Kindergarten: Farm Guide includes four weekly grids with activities to follow the work begun in The Peaceful Preschool. Your 3-5 year old child will continue developing large and fine motor skills, phonics and counting skills, along with the...
Learn about the best & most popular 18 chicken breeds for your backyard flock, including informationon on temperament, eggs, and more!
First becoming a chicken breed of note in Germany and the Netherlands around the early 1700s, the Lakenvelder chicken is ... Read more
Looking for the best chickens for eggs? We have everything you need to know to help you find the best egg layers for your home or small farm.
Raising chicks for beginners - What to expect the first 6 weeks. March just flew by, and our chicks have grown so much. I can't even believe it! They've...
In this guide on polish chickens, we discuss their temperament, egg-laying, and varieties. Is it the right breed for you...
5 Tips to Help Your Molting Chickens Now that you have the 411 on molting, you can imagine how much extra protein molting chickens needs to help regrow their feathers. Did you know that a chicken feather is composed of over 80% protein? With that much protein in each feather, we need to make sure that our chickens get some eggstra help during their molts so that they grow protective and strong new feathers! Here are some tips for you to help your feathered friends through their little rough patch. Tip 1: Avoid that “Sweater Weather” Urge There are some cute memes and photos on the internet with chickens in sweaters. There’s no denying how unbelievably adorable your little fluffy butts will look in a mini sweater, but our first tip is sadly NO SWEATERS! Let’s save it for our doggies and cats (if you insist). Seeing our ragged birds, especially the ones experiencing hard molts, can be heartbreaking. We have to fight the desire to anthropomorphize our birds and avoid putting them in little sweaters. They’ve thrived for thousands and thousands of years without sweaters... and can remain so. Regrowing feathers is an uncomfortable process, and their skin is ultra-sensitive with the pin feathers poking out. So, handling them too much or forcing them to put on a sweater will be painful and uncomfortable for our sweet little molting chickens. Tip 2: Hold the Hugs For the same reasons our chickens won’t want a sweater, they also don’t want hugs… even if they look miserable and sad. In fact, our cuddly and friendly chickens may even run away from us if we reach out to touch them. Growing those feathers back out can be quite painful and irritating. Let's pick them up only if absolutely necessary, and make sure our children also know that the kinder thing to do is feed them a healthy snack rather than touching their painful spots accidentally. Tip 3: Increase Protein in their Diet Normally, we should be feeding our chickens a quality feed at about 16% protein. During molting season, consider switching the feed to a formula that is a bit higher in protein, to at least 18%. Another option is to supplement your flock’s feed with a protein-rich healthy snack (see below). In her book “The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Raise a Happy Backyard Flock,” Anne Kuo recommends that you purchase a chick starter or grower formula in your preferred brand, and either mix that with your flock’s naturally-balanced feed, or feed the chick starter or grower formula to your flock. A chick starter or grower formula is higher in protein than a regular layer feed. Depending on the brand and formula, they range from 18% to 20% in protein content. You can also switch to (or mix in) a broiler formula, which typically consists of 20% to 25% protein. Make sure you also always provide a free-choice source of calcium to your flock every day, especially if you switch to, or supplement, a non-layer formula. Hens will need less calcium when they stop laying, but they will still need some. Tip 4: Provide Protein-rich Snacks like Black Soldier Fly Grubs Protein-rich snacks are essential for molting chickens, especially if you do not wish to switch their feed. Rather than choosing a “treat” that should be using sparingly, provide a healthy snack to supplement your molting chickens’ diet. Black Soldier Fly grubs (Grubblies) are both high in protein, and have 50x more calcium than mealworms. Give your flock a couple of handfuls of Grubblies daily to help provide them with a healthy boost they need. Grubs are a reliable source of the essential proteins that promote healthy feather production, and are especially important when molting. A daily boost of protein from Grubblies (32% guaranteed analysis) helps speed up the molting process, which will help your chickens grow new beautiful feathers and help them regain normal levels of energy and egg output. While it’s more natural for your chickens to forage for protein-packed grubs (and other insects like they would get in nature), you can still try other healthy snacks like cooked meats, peas, and cooked beans. Do not give your chickens raw beans. Some beans in their uncooked form are toxic! In addition to healthy snacks, you can also supplement with some treats, such as sunflower seeds, unsalted nuts, flax seeds, or sesame seeds. While your chickens may love the nuts and seeds, please give them sparingly because these treats contain large amounts of fat. For example, sunflower seeds (depending on the type) contain approximately 18% to 21% protein and 46% to 51% in total fats. While all chickens need dietary fat in their diet to help the processing and absorption of fat-soluble nutrients, there’s a limit to how much fat they need. Laying hens should not have more than 4% fat in their total diet. Too much fat could lead to obesity and complications like fatty liver disease. For this reason, it’s important to distinguish between healthy snacks versus treats: Snacks are things they can have more often and frequently, like Grubblies. Treats are things they can have in moderation, like nuts and seeds (high in fat). Tip 5: Limit Stress Another way to help your flock through their molt is to limit their stress. They’re already going through lots of physical stress while molting, so try to do what you can to limit their stress levels. Continue to provide them a healthy diet with plenty of clean water available. In certain parts of the country, heat waves or freezes can still occur in the fall, and these temperature spikes can cause excess stress. If you can help it, try not to introduce new chickens to the flock. Adding new chickens changes the flock dynamics and triggers a restructuring of the pecking order, all of which adds potential stress to the harmony of the flock. Another tip is to try not to make structural changes to the coop. This is not a good time to remodel the coop while your little ladies (and gents) are molting. Chickens like routines and dislike changes. A coop remodel will certainly stress them out, and also cause potential discord in flock harmony, because a remodel could mean that they have to re-establish their sleeping arrangements and possible other daily activities. Of course, if any remodeling or adjustments are a necessary part of keeping them safe, such as winterizing the coop, or repairing damages caused by a storm or predator, then the necessity to ensure their safety certainly outweighs any stresses caused by the remodel. If you’re still reading this, you’re already one big step ahead of the game to helping your feathers family during this time. They’re so c-lucky to have you! Be sure to check out our list of recipes and snack ideas to help your molting chickens!
Read about the 43 healthy herbs for hens in this guide by herbalist and chicken expert Lisa Steele on the health benefits of culinary herbs.
These unique, beautiful Isbar chickens are perfect for adding a touch of character and color to any flock. You'll love their green eggs, too!
In our guide on how to raise backyard chickens, we have put together everything you need to know to care for your hens.
