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…
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…
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…
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…
Last Updated: Good chicken-coop landscaping includes a balance of well-chosen vegetation with foliage-friendly coop management practices. In this article, I’ll be reviewing the creative planting methods we use at Hawk Hill as well as the trial-and-error-proven plants we’ve come to use in and around our coop year after year. List of Recommended Plants for In…
I raised 35 meat birds this spring and in order to keep things civil in the 100 year old coop I renovated for my laying hends, I decided to construct a small, portable chicken tractor. I had just a few basic goals for my coop: I thought about it for a few weeks, then plotted…
If you’ve ever fussed with heat lamps, cold drafts, warm days risking overheating, and tiny baby chicks in a brooder, you know how frustrating the brooding process can be – and finding a hen to adopt your chicks and do the temperature regulation for you becomes a tempting idea. When one of my hens became…
Since I published my post a few months ago showing the exterior of my restored 1920’s chicken coop, I’ve received several comments requesting a look at the interior of my coop. The interior is a bit less charming than the whitewashed exterior, but is functional, clean, and spacious. About half of the upgrades I have…
Last Updated: Preventing Broken Eggs in your Nesting Boxes: When chatting up the benefits of keeping chickens, few people mention the battle to keep clean, soft nesting material in a nesting box with hens that are constantly “rearranging” their nest. If you’ve kept chickens for long, chances are you’ve found yourself cleaning raw egg out…
Last Updated: An old chicken coop can still work great for keeping chickens today – in fact it may even be a far better home for chickens than many of the “modern” designs. Today, the most popular chicken coops are actually the cheapest, and the “best” coops in the eyes manufacturers are coops that ship…
Last Updated: Our farm has long been home to chickens. Often they spend daylight hours free-ranging, but for various reasons, many days the chickens stay confined to their 100 year old coop and a 10 foot by 12 foot fenced run. Early in my experience of chicken keeping, I was frustrated by chickens pulling up…
