Chicken love dirt baths, which is a very good thing since dust bathing is actually good for them! Not only do dust baths encourage preening and fight against parasites, they make for happy chickens (which is helpful in keeping the whole flock happy). Some people install dust bathing areas for their chickens and include dirt, soil, ashes and diatomacious earth.…
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You know that compost overhaul I talked about a couple of days ago? Well, apparently there was a wealth of worms living in one of the bales of straw. When I went into the coop to freshen up the Ladies water a couple of days after putting the bales in their run, one of the Ladies had her head…
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What do you get when you keep your own chickens? Sweet imperfections and great diversity. Extra calcium (deposits) included. I find that, despite keeping backyard laying hens for the past few years, I am continually amazed by how beautiful and how different each individual egg is. The colors, the shapes, the funkiness of the occasional egg simply amaze me. And…
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One of the details we didn’t really think through when we first got our laying hens a few years ago was what they would eat, how much it would really cost and whether or not we would always have the option of organic chicken feed for the Ladies. Luckily, our local Feed Bin carries Ranch Way products and luckily, Ranch…
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Well, it looks like Spring brings broody chickens. A few weeks ago, one of our Black Australorps went broody on us. She even plucked her belly feathers to help incubate her unfertilized eggs. Luckily, she’s been much more docile than our broody Ameraucana last spring and there have been no attacks or bloody toes! We’ve removed her from the…
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A couple of days ago, when I wrote about all the work Tool Lady did on the chicken coop, I completely forgot to mention the most exciting upgrade to the whole darn coop! Ever since we built the Chicken Mansion, my biggest frustration has been having to push and shove my way into the coop every time I had to…
