Whether you’re in the investigation/planning stage of installing a doggie door or if you’ve already installed one and discovered the freedom a doggie door gives owners and pets, this article is for you! I love pet doors. The confidence that pups get from having their own freedom to go outside when needed is such fun…
First, pick the litter. Then, pick from the litter. You’ve considered the options and chosen to get a dog through a breeder. Now what? No matter what breed of dog you’ve chosen, it cannot be stressed enough that picking the litter is more important than picking a puppy. Although we’ve got some tips here for…
If you have more than a handful of chickens, and maybe even if you only have a few, you likely know that one of the challenges of maintaining a flock of laying hens is that they always seem to nest practically on top of each other! In this article, I’ll talk about the method…
Let’s talk about a not fun topic: rehoming a pet. Increasingly a taboo topic as pets are more often thought of as family members than as pets, sometimes rehoming a pet is a necessary step in order for both the pet and owners to thrive. Maybe you are moving out of the country, moving…
Nesting boxes are a recent addition to my vintage 1920’s era chicken coop. Tired of retrieving eggs from plastic-totes-turned-nesting-boxes (which had a tendency to migrate across the floor of the coop!), I mounted permanent nesting boxes that could be accessed without climbing into the coop. Along the way, I used a few cheats to…
Chickens are hardy birds that adapt well to a wide range of temperatures if given the resources needed to keep themselves warm. In this article we’ll talk about a few basic ways to winterize your chicken coop, a few unique ideas to help your birds stay toasty through the coldest months, and how to…
When most of us start decorating for Christmas, we usually just decorate typical things: putting up a Christmas tree, placing a wreath on the door, and perhaps putting outdoor lights on our house. But the chicken coop in your yard can be a fun spot to add cheer and Christmas decorations too! As Americans…
A few years ago I raised a flock of meat birds. I accompanied these birds from brooder to butcher and along the way, I shared with readers how I made a collapsable chicken tractor, how I got a broody hen to adopt all my hatchery chicks so I didn’t have to use artificial heat lamps and…
Did you know that you can make your own freeze-resistant water buckets, troughs, or ponds using natural materials you already have on your farm to make a DIY bucket heater? Keep reading to learn how. A few years ago, downed trees toppled power lines and cut electricity for a week in the dead of a…
This delightfully absurd pairing of stable chandeliers is a bit of your own creation, dear blog readers. 80% of Hawk Hill’s visitors surf in for articles related to A. chandeliers or B. equestrian style and design. I’m naming you enablers, just a bit, because in replying to your comments and keeping my mind brainstorming in…
Hatching chicks from your own eggs- or convincing a motherly hen to raise a batch of hatchery chicks- is a fun way to experience a less popular side of modern chicken keeping: Watching a line of chicks trail behind a mama hen as she teaches them to scratch and forage is a delightful scene for…
This framed horse shoe is one of my dearest possessions, but taking it from the rusty mess I found in my horses’s pasture to this elegantly framed piece took several steps and a bit of creativity. I realized I’ve written a few posts outlining individual steps to take cool-looking rusty metal objects like equestrian bits…
Last Updated: One of the most frequently Pinterest pinned images from this site is this photo, above, from my chicken coop / barnyard, taken in the summer of 2013 (give or take a year), showing an old leather horse halter that I converted into a hanger for a galvanized bucket of Calibrachoa flowers. The noseband…
Even if you’ve checked out my articles on repairing broken horse halters, sometimes a halter is just beyond repair. Whether it’s terminally broken or just too worn to be safely used, below I’ve collected a few great ideas on how to reuse, repurpose, and recycle horse halters. These re-purposing projects are a great excuse to…
What comes to mind when you think of rescued dogs? Mixed breed? old? Aggressive? Crazy? Modern dog rescue is so different from the idea brought up by older ideas about dog rescues! Although most dogs come into rescue with issues of some sort, a good breed rescue will not place a dog in a foster home until…
Necessity is the mother of invention- and in this case, a need to not frequently handle feed bags due to a dust allergy inspired the creation of this multiple-week feeder. The basic design of this feeder, one 5 gallon bucket set in a feed pan, is common but has a capacity of only about 1/3…
Step by step instructions for attaching an engraved metal plate to a leather strap (halter, belt, etc) WITHOUT using a leather punch or rivet setting tools. Using tools from a standard toolbox, I’ll show you how to attach metal plates to strap goods. Frustrated by the typically huge price difference between buying an item…
