It is that time of year when many of us are curled up with a cup of something warm and a hatchery catalog or we're on the Internet looking at classified ads for other livestock. Whether you will be bringing home your first livestock this spring or just adding to your herds and flocks, there are some important things to keep in mind. Last night I arrived home from the Illinois … [Read more...]
Chickens in winter
One of the biggest concerns of future chicken keepers, as well as novice chicken keepers, who live up north is how their birds will survive the winter. The short answer is that they'll survive just fine! You don't have to worry about heating the coop or feeding them hot cooked grains, both of which were done in the late 1800s in a failed attempt to get hens to lay … [Read more...]
Homegrown in the city
The only thing I regret about moving to the country is how many people look at me and say, "I wish I could do what you're doing, but I live in town." Oh, but you can do what we're doing, even if you live in town! I interviewed a few people for H&H who are doing it, and today I'm posting an interview with another person who lives in town and is doing it! Rachel Hoff, along … [Read more...]
Coop de Hill
Richard's Coop de Hill sits behind his vegetable garden, near his bee hives. If you want a chicken coop that sits in one place like Grandma's did (as opposed to the movable coop in my last post), you might be interested in this picturesque coop built by Chicago's Mindful Metropolis Publisher Richard McGinnis for the backyard layers at his rural farm Thorny Hill Manor, from … [Read more...]
City chicken condo
My oldest daughter, who now lives in a city, decided she wants backyard chickens, and we were happy to help out. After looking at a variety of portable, bottomless chicken coops online, we designed and built this one for her. The base needed to be four feet by eight feet so it could fit into the bed of our pick-up to move it to her house after we made it at our place. (The … [Read more...]
Thinking about backyard chickens?
As people hear more reports of contaminated food and worry about the ethics of factory farming, they want to take control of their food in whatever way they can. For many this means starting a garden, and for more and more, this means having a small flock of hens in the backyard. However, myths abound! Sadly, this misinformation slows people down or stops them entirely from … [Read more...]
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