A Guide to Raising Baby Chickens for Beginners

Nowadays many are taking back some control and raising their own food via a flock of backyard chickens. It’s not a bad idea! If you’ve never raised a flock before, or need a quick refresher, here's a quick guide to raising baby chickens for beginners.

How to Make Glitter and Floral Print Easter Eggs

These fun Easter egg decorating techniques give a nod to my girls, who love anything sparkly, and to my garden for the life it brings after a long winter’s sleep. Learning how to glitter your eggs and make floral print Easter eggs is easy, fun and colorful!

Creative Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

Easter's such a fun holiday. So why not step it up and use some creative Easter egg decorating ideas your whole family is sure to love.

As I grew up, we always bought our white eggs from the store and used a PAAS Easter egg kit to make beautiful Easter creations. It’s not that my mom didn’t know how to dye eggs with food coloring; I just think my sister and I loved buying our cool egg kits so much that she didn’t deny us the pleasure.

Fast forward to today, and at Easter, my egg customers have a definite preference for the white eggs laid by my Brown Leghorn chickens. They see all the kits in the store and fall for the myth that white eggs dye so much prettier than other colors. Nothing, in my opinion, can be farther from the truth. In my family, we prefer to dye the brown and green eggs laid by the rest of my flock. I love the deep, rich tones that the brown and green eggs provide when they’re dyed. And frankly, we don’t need a kit from the store. We use the food dye from our pantry and find that it’s so versatile that we can make tons of interesting combinations.

Polka dot, rubber band and flower decorated eggs. 

How to Make Marbled & Tie-Dyed Easter Eggs

Why make Easter decorating hard on yourself or expensive? You can make marbled eggs and tie-dyed eggs using everyday ingredients from your pantry including food coloring. These techniques produce beautiful eggs that look like they came from a fancy egg dyeing kit. Both you and your kids are sure to love them!

Marbled Eggs

How to Make Silk Tie Dyed Eggs

Silk tie-dye eggs are a beautiful way to reuse old silk (think ties) you may have around the house. They are mess-free and easy since they get the hard-boiling and dyeing done in one step. An added bonus is their wow-factor. Here's how to create your own... 

7 Tips for Buying Chicks From the Feed Store

Make Sure You're Prepared Before You Get to the Feed Store

For a few months each spring, when you walk into your local feed store, you're greeted to the chorus of tiny chicken chirps as the annual chick season tempts so many shoppers. If you're not sure of where to buy baby chicks, this is a great place to pick up your first flock members or add to your existing flock of backyard chickens. It's local. It's immediate. And it's fun.

Here are some tips to make the process easier on you and your new flock members.

Molting Chickens Explained

Molting is a natural process that chickens go through at different times in their lives. A chicken's first molts take place as it grows from a baby chick to an adult. Because they're babies, we tend to think of this as a process of growing up, and it is, but it's technically molting.

As adult chickens, molting takes place in late summer and fall when birds replace old feathers with new plumage.

What is the Preen Gland on a Chicken?

The uropygial gland, better known as the preen gland or oil gland, is located near the base of the tail. It's normally hidden under feathers, but molting and feather loss can expose it. What is the preen gland on a chicken? It’s a gland that produces the oil that chickens use when preening their feathers.

Can You Raise Chicks in the Fall?

Chick season is prominent in the spring, but can you raise chicks in the fall? Yes. In many parts of the country, fall weather is mild and raising chicks is easy. But even in the North, raising chicks in the fall is possible and even preferable by many. If you'd like to start a flock or expand your existing flock, fall is a great time to take the plunge!

Does Chicken Egg Color Affect Taste?

Does chicken egg color affect taste? It's a common question. When people see green or blue eggs, they'll ask out loud if they taste different. Some people voice strong opinions by saying they like brown eggs better than white. Even seasoned chicken keepers venture into this question and say some of their chickens lay eggs that taste more creamy and better than others.

Let's face it. People associate egg taste with shell color. But do eggs with different colored shells taste different? No. Eggshell color has nothing to do with taste. Egg tastes only change because of a hen’s diet and the egg’s freshness.

How to Use Rosemary in Your Home and Chicken Coop

Rosemary uses are as varied as its varieties from the kitchen, throughout the house and even to the chicken coop. A native of the Mediterranean, Portugal and northwestern Spain, the name rosemary means "sea-dew" since its blossoms have a dew-like appearance. Known for remembrance, rosemary is certainly a hard-to-forget herb!

Chicken Breeds Made in America

Just in time for Fourth of July, it’s fun to consider adding some chicken breeds made in America to your flock. These breeds are the backbone of a hardy, productive flock. They are good egg layers with high levels of production. They can endure the tough weather we often get in this country. And many have unique features, such as hawk-coloring to avoid predator detection. Nothing fancy, only purpose, for these breeds whose history, in many cases, goes back to our founding fathers and helped to bring about a growing nation.

OMG! It's a Roo! How to Tell if You Have a Hen or a Rooster

Are you wondering if you have a rooster in your flock? If so, you're not alone. As baby chicks start to grow up, it's not uncommon to wonder about the sex of your chickens even if you chose from the pullet brooder at the store or ordered pullets directly from the hatchery. Here's my personal story with getting an accidental rooster and how you can tell what you've got one (or three) in your flock.

Roopert as a young rooster.

Baby Chicks Get Outside Time

As spring gets warmer and baby chicks get older, people wonder when their baby chicks can get outside time for exercise and to scratch and peck. After all, the ultimate goal for your chickens is to live in the backyard. But when is that possible? Are there small steps you can take toward the ultimate goal?

A Top Ten List of the Best Chickens for Eggs

Most folks keep a flock of chickens for their eggs and having the best chicken breeds for eggs makes all the difference. In this regard, not all breeds are created equal. So if your goal is to get eggs, check out this top ten list of productive breeds. You'll soon find these breeds will be the backbone of your backyard flock.

Baby Chick Health 101

Chick season is fun, but make sure you're prepared to welcome new chicks to your backyard and keep them healthy. Good baby chick health early on gives your birds the building blocks they need to become healthy adults.

Four Pre-Made Chicken Coop Options

If you’ve got a backyard flock, or are just starting one, a chicken coop is probably top of mind. We’ve had a flock for years and we had to build our coop from scratch since we live on a hill and the entrance to our backyard is limited — we couldn’t move a fully assembled pre-made chicken coop into our yard. Even so, I’m always looking at coops wherever I find them. I love to see all the features and styles for inspiration. 

Here's a look at some basic pre-made chicken coops through a veteran chicken keeper’s eyes.

Tips to Help Your Chickens Get Outside in Winter & Snow

Can chickens go outside in winter? Yes! The truth is, they like to get outside and explore in pretty much any weather and it’s always good for them to get some fresh air.

It’s important to understand that chickens are equipped to handle cold weather. In fact, it can be easier for them to withstand cold weather than hot weather. As you know, backyard chickens have lots of feathers and they’re there for a reason. Underneath their outer feathers, chickens have a downy layer of soft feathers. When it’s cold, they fluff those feathers to trap warm air underneath and they’re able to stay cozy.

A Guide to Cold-Hardy Chicken Breeds

What makes a cold-hardy chicken breed and why should you care? If you're currently living in an area that has cold winters, then cold-hardy chicken breeds are a must because of their ability to withstand the frigid temperatures.

Every year there are stories of folks that bought the wrong breed for their climate and experience losses, have unhealthy chickens, or end up bringing their birds inside where the climate is more moderate. Don’t let this happen to you! Make sure to pick a breed that will live comfortably in your climate and thrive. Your birds will thank you for it!

Buff Brahma Hen

How To Make Christmas Ornaments From Eggs

With all the beautifully colored eggs we have from our backyard flocks, why not take a few and turn them into Christmas ornaments. They require little crafting skill and are a great way to salvage eggs you're using for holiday baking.