About six months ago we decided that we were ready to buy some chickens and dive into animal husbandry in our backyard. While my wife and I had

Bart Saelen and his wife Maryann own and run O’Naturel farm, a small-scale agricultural business centered around 250 laying hens that produce about 200 eggs/day. They follow a

We’re raising our chickens in a model inspired by Vermont Composting Company and adapted to our situation. By bartering for whole organic grains from wonderful local farms we’re

Bored chickens can be disruptive in the coop, so why not help alleviate their boredom and keep them happy with this nifty little chicken swing. The swing is

There was a time when chickens were viewed as exotic, fascinating birds. Descendants of exotic Asian jungle fowl, they were revered for their ferocity and intelligence, and domesticated

Chicken Feed Ain’t Cheep… In some places “chicken feed” is an old slang term meaning “cheap.”  That certainly isn’t true today – especially for those of you who feed

This short video presents, in detail, the idea of deep bed composting directly under your chickens. Using smart chicken house design & management, the hens will turn the compost

In the world of keeping chickens, the importance of providing chickens with comfortable and secure nesting boxes cannot be overstated. As the demand for affordable solutions continues to

When you go to the grocery store to buy eggs, you’ll see terms on the cartons like “cage-free” and “free-range.” But most people don’t know the difference between the two.

If you’re going to keep chickens, sure you could purchase (or build) a drab, old, conventional chicken coop that would certainly do the trick – the chickens themselves aren’t

“Raising chickens is one of my favorite parts of homesteading.  I never could have imagined the different personalities that each of my “ladies” would have and how much

“Before we got our chickens, I spent an embarrassing amount of time researching what on earth we should feed them. I knew I wanted to use a homemade, whole

“Choosing what breed of chicken you want to raise for eggs is a topic of heated debate. There can be a multitude of answers depending on what’s important