Homegrown & Homemade
If you’d like to hear about life on the homestead, our crazy antics, and a story with a happy ending about a duck and her babies, well then- you’ll like this. And if you are thinking of putting some baby ducklings under a broody duck and wondering if that will work and how that might look- then this one’s for you! I’ve also included the …
Anyone who’s had a dog or cat would tell you that they definitely have feelings. Quinn exhibits shamefulness when he’s been caught sleeping on the bed, and sheer joy when Karl comes home from work. And the cat… well, he gives me the sourest look of anger and betrayal anytime I return from an overnight trip. But a chicken? A little peanut-brained bird has feelings? Oh, …
Don’t be fooled, “creative” is just a code word for weird. We’re about to dive into some really odd stuff here. It might make your stomach crawl, but your chickens will love it! Plus, these ideas really can help you save money on chicken feed. We wanted our meat birds and egg-layers to be of the highest quality, raised in the best conditions, living healthy and …
This isn’t a post about what to keep in your chicken first aid box or how to treat bumble foot, gape worm or mean roosters. But it is about one powerful tool, the one thing that has the most potential to help you in a chicken-crisis or poultry-emergency. It is something I was reminded of just last week when we lost one of our hens; one …
If you’ve followed my chicken journal you know that this past spring we got 20 Red Rangers to raise as meat birds. A handful of them developed leg problems when they were younger, and right about when we moved them from the house brooder into their outside coop, two of them developed a substantial limp. They could barely walk. Being hurt, they were low on the totem pole …
Biting flies, biting midges and gnats… I think those are all the same thing, or at least similar. Similar in that they are annoying little things that bite and can drive you crazy! Our chicken coop is at the back of our lush yard, just nestled under the towering cherry and oak trees. Its southern exposure picks up the first rays of the sun, and …
First of all, you should know that this story ends happily! This information is for all you first-time duck owners, wondering just what temperature your flock can withstand, and not wanting to do any duck survivability studies in your own backyard. We were in the same position just a few short months ago… We acquired five Peking-Ancona ducks in November 2013. Neither of us had …
