Natural Chicken Keeping

DIY - Build A Chicken Hoop Coop

2020-04-17T21:20:00.001-04:00

Have you had the Chicken Addiction kick in? Have you found you have more chickens than coop?Are you looking for a quick, easy and inexpensive coop option? Please allow us to introduce you to the Hoop Coop. While not the cutest coop on the block (or completely HOA friendly), this 8'x10' (or larger) coop option can usually be built in 1 - 2 days and for less than $500!

How to Raise Chicks - All the Basics to Keeping Healthy Chicks

2020-03-31T15:15:00.001-04:00

New to Chicks? We can help!

First, allow me to direct your attention to the "Article Index" tab near the top of your screen. This is where you can find all sorts of answers to the most common chicken questions as your chicks grow. (There are some dead links in there, but I'm working to get them weeded out.)

So - now let's talk CHICKS!

What you need for the first 6 - 8 weeks:

BROODER
HEAT SOURCE
BEDDING
FEEDER
WATERER
CHICK FEED

I Think the Chicken Has Gone Bad - A Humorous Anecdote

2017-09-12T14:20:00.000-04:00

The other day we had somebody (a guy I consider my second son) help us clear out some scrap pieces of wood that were sitting in our hay shed. We have had hay in there before, but needed the extra space the wood was taking up to store more hay before the cold weather comes. We have kept a knife or two in the hay shed in the past to cut the bailing twine... keep this in mind...

Chicken Keeping Without Plastic

2017-06-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

By Guest-Writer, Ginny Chandoha

Being a chicken keeper is a daunting task if you are raising chicks yourself for the first time. You can read every book, and look at every chicken-related website, but it’s just like having children for the first time. There are situations you won’t find answers to anywhere and have to come up with your own plan of attack.

We raise our chickens ultra-organically. I say that because we go above and beyond what is called for in organic poultry keeping rules and regulations. While there is much discussion on feed and environment, when it comes to what our birds will eat or drink from is considered standard, but not anything that could or should be considered organic and non-toxic. After all, we are what we eat, eats.

Having overcome an “incurable” autoimmune condition 8 years ago, I am always on the alert to anything potentially toxic to my health, and as a result, I carry that awareness into how I keep all my animals, furred and feathered.

Meal Worms - High In Protein & Great for Molting Chickens

2016-10-31T15:04:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, fall! A time of beautiful foliage on the trees and fewer feathers on your birds. During the molt, chickens need a diet of higher protein to help their bodies produce more feathers. And eggs? Yeah - in any laying hen over the age of 9 months, you can expect far fewer (if any) eggs until they have finished molting and recovered fully.

Read about the Molting process HERE.
Read more about molting HERE.

While chickens love meal worms year-round, molting time is a great time to make sure your flock get plenty of this high-protein treat! Scratch grains average only about 8% protein but meal worms? Try 52% protein, babyyy! THAT is what your chickens need more of in order to thrive!

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part VI)

2015-09-29T07:30:00.000-04:00

If you missed them, please see:

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part I)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part II)
Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part III)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part IV)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part V)

It would be dark soon, and Lucille needed to find a safe place to sleep. Tonight would be even darker than the last with almost no moon to speak of.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part VI)

Talk about a cliff hanger!! It has been almost exactly SIX MONTHS since we last saw poor Lucille trying to find her way back home after being carried off by a hungry hawk!

~*~*~*~*~*~

Wet and bedraggled, Lucille searched for a safe place to roost for the night. Much to her luck, she found a wild, evergreen magnolia tree. The big, green leaves would help to hide her from the wide array of hungry nocturnal hunters she knew were already starting to prowl for the evening.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part V)

2015-03-31T15:25:00.003-04:00

If you missed them, please see:

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part I)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part II)
Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part III)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part IV)

Coming out of the underbrush, Lucille almost fell right into a rushing mountain river. Lucille's heart sank.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part V)

The river was very wide and deep. The water churned white as it rushed over jagged rocks and multiple pieces of debris sped down the river as if they were racing each other to some unseen finish line. Lucille knew there would be no way she could safely cross... at least not here.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part IV)

2015-03-25T17:50:00.000-04:00

If you missed them, please see:

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part I)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part II)
Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part III)

How would she get across this space without attracting the attention of another hungry raptor. What if there were dogs? Or coyotes? Or foxes? The mountains were filled with predators of every kind who would love a fresh chicken dinner!

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part IV)

Lucille gazed out over the pasture wondering how she could safely get to the other side. She knew that with her injuries she would not be able to outrun a predator, and that as a white chicken, she would be easily spotted out in the wide-open space.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part III)

2015-03-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

If you missed them, please see:

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part I)

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken
(Part II)

Given her temporary reprieve, Lucille allowed her eyes to close, and slipped into a fitful sleep.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part III)

As the first rays of sun peeked over the Virginia Blue Ridge mountains, Lucille began to stir. Only upon trying to move did she realize just how sore her little body was this morning. Her lungs ached when she drew her breath and she could feel each new scab that had developed over every scrape, cut and wound as she had slept.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part II)

2015-03-23T14:22:00.000-04:00

If you missed it, please see:

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part I) here!

Taking no time to register just how high she was in a very, very high tree, Lucille jumped...

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part II)

Branches ripped at her feathers and face as she fell downward, through the tree. Lucile used her wings to help slow her decent, but it did not lessen the sting of the sharp, leafless branches as they slashed her face and pulled feathers from her sides. Finally, after what seemed like hours, her fall ended with a hard thump into the mud and roots at the base of the tree, knocking the air from Lucille's lungs.

Above the male hawk took flight again, swooping downwards on swift, silent wings to retrieve his escaped prey.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken (Part I)

2015-03-22T15:08:00.000-04:00

Note: While the Natural Chicken Keeping blog is touted as a down-to-earth, no-nonsense chicken keeping resource, there are times that a blogger simply must break away from the norm. Every now and then seemingly fantastical circumstances from real life set the imagination alight with possibility. The story of Lucille's disappearance and homecoming is just such a circumstance.

While we may never know the real story - whether it be mundane or possibly even more exciting that the imaginative blog version, what we do know is that one very normal, simple chicken had a very unusual and dangerous adventure... and survived.

Crossing the Road - The Adventure of Lucille the Chicken

(Part I)

I would like to introduce you to a rather extraordinary chicken by the name of Lucille.

A Bit of an Update

2015-02-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

Yes - it's been a while once again.

Winter has settled in and has made no indication it is willing to release its grip on the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains... yet. But the chickens and I hold out hope that spring will boot Old Man Winter out of the region very soon.

What a Great Gift for a Farmer!

2015-02-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

This year we received a wonderful gift in the form of some outerwear from Duluth Trading Company.

To be frank, with our finances the way they are, we would never have gone out and purchased these items for ourselves. In fact I've been wearing the same old work coat for... NINE years, I think? It has seen better days, to say the least... especially in light of being worn all winter on a farm!

Digital Art - How to Draw Chickens Like a Boss... Or like a SAHM trying to pay bills...

2014-11-04T21:22:00.004-05:00

So this is the beginning of our rags to rich... ermmm... not-so-raggedy... story.

Back in late August my husband lost his job. Losing a job sucks. Especially when you've finally worked your way back up after losing everything just 7 years before to medical bills. Just when we thought we were hitting the big time in our new-to-us circa 1973 sexy single-wide that just happens to be on the most beautiful 2.7 acres in the Appalachian Mountains ever (yeah - OK... we were going to start building a home on our land in January of 2015) we crashed face-first into the mud!

I mean really? Even the brand name is some sort of strange misspelling...

This Week In Chicken Art

2014-10-17T23:35:00.000-04:00

I have plenty of great blog posts in my head, but until I get all my illustrations done, they'll have to stay in my head.

So instead, this is what I have done over the last 10 days:

Dark Cornish

NCK Online Show Awards Ceremony

2014-10-08T22:19:00.000-04:00

Well - this post would have come out much sooner, but due to a glitch with Blogger, the entire post was erased when I was trying to post it the first time and I had to completely recreate it.

Sorry for the delay!!

And with no further ado...

Photo Shoot and How to Draw a Chicken... Or Two

2014-10-06T06:05:00.000-04:00

What a fun and crazy weekend I have had!

Ever since my husband lost his job and my youngest became home-bound for fear she might catch the dreaded Enterovirus D68, we pretty much thought that FUN would be on hold for a while. Yet so much kindness and generosity has been shown to us in our recent hard times.

First, I have been offered a wonderful opportunity to provide 25 illustrations of various chicken breeds to GRIT Magazine for their annual Guide to Backyard Chickens issue. I have been working from sunup to sundown to get these illustrations done. Admittedly, it's a bit stressful. This is a HUGE opportunity, and I have a very limited time. I'm not used to banging artwork out so quickly! But as stressful as it is, I'm positively thrilled to have this chance to have my artwork used in such an awesome magazine!

Pictures of Chicks and Chicken Artwork - The Sequel

2014-09-29T17:36:00.002-04:00

I have been seriously, ridiculously, over-the-top busy working on chicken breed artwork for GRIT Magazine's 2015 Guide to Backyard Chickens Issue, and I have had little time to come up with awesome chicken keeping articles for you over the past days... So I hope you will enjoy a bit of visual fun instead.

One of my lovely Swedish Flower Hen pullets, Sofia, went broody at the ripe old age of 9 months and has hatched out a beautiful clutch of four chicks! I'm quite sure she would have hatched five chicks, but unfortunately my 11-year-old daughter, who is in the autism spectrum, dropped one of the eggs about 4 days prior to hatch. We were both very sad about the loss, but everyone makes mistakes!

We're thrilled for the four that have hatched! Three of the four are out of my pullet Greta who took the title of Champion Pullet at a local county fair poultry show. (Read more about the show here.)

Look at these sweet babies!

(Both parents are BIG - but I didn't expect the chick to resemble a Rottweiler! Hee-hee-hee!)

Fall - The Best Time to Plant Garlic (Your Chickens Will Thank You!)

2014-09-22T12:14:00.000-04:00

Fall is the best time to plant garlic - specifically just after the first frost. If you live in Australia, please flip this post upside down you you can read it better (and don't plant garlic until spring)... and if you happen to reside in a place like Grand Cayman, it probably isn't advisable to wait until after the first frost as it could indicate that Hell is finally freezing over - in which case planting garlic might be the least of your worries!

Chicken Artwork - Roosters and Hens

2014-09-17T15:15:00.002-04:00

In today's episode of You Show Me Yours and I'll Show You Mine...

Of course as you may know, we are hosting our first ever Online Poultry Show. Yes - we want to see YOUR chickens because we know how much you enjoy them and how special they are to you. We want you to show them off!
(You can click the photo link below for more details and to see the current entries!)

And since you going to show us yours, I'll show you mine!

You've seen tons of photos of my own birds throughout this blog, so instead of showing you photos again, I'll show you some of the birds I've been painting. I'm going through a list of breeds and creating artwork based upon those breeds. I figure that by the time I'm 103, I'll have at least a third of the known breeds translated into art form! (I hope.)

Working for Chicken Feed

2014-09-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

While my husband diligently searches for a job and my flock muddles its way through a molt, we have found ourselves in a position where we can't afford chicken feed. Normally our chickens earn their keep in sales of fertile hatching eggs, but of late I have been lucky to collect 1 - 2 eggs per day.

So I'm getting creative again because, by golly, I want to do something to earn their feed!

So this post isn't about my birds and me at all. Nope - this post is about YOUR birds and YOU!

A few weeks ago (before my husband lost his job) I showed one of my birds at a poultry show for the first time... and I had a blast! I still enjoy peeking up a few times a day at the trophy my pullet won. (I'm a proud mamma!)

So why not share the fun of showing with the Natural Chicken Keeping readers?

The Truth about Guinea Fowl

2014-09-10T13:01:00.003-04:00

Are you considering getting a flock of guineas? (Do you have masochistic tendencies?)

Guinea fowl are commonly used to control tick and mosquito populations on farms around the world. They will also kill and consume snakes - even poisonous ones. These birds truly excel at keeping large areas clear of biting critters of all sorts.

Molting Season – Fewer Eggs and Fewer Feathers

2014-09-02T10:56:00.000-04:00

Molting season is upon us, and with it comes a reduction in egg production and possibly some raggedy-looking chickens.

In the late summer and early fall, chickens that are about one year of age and older go through a seasonal cycle where they shed their old feathers and grow in new feathers to keep them warm through the coming winter. This can take a lot of a chicken’s energy. It can also lower a chicken’s immune system because resources from the food it eats are being redirected to growing all those new feathers.

Preparing and Showing Your Chicken at a Poultry Show

2014-08-23T00:50:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I tried something I have never done before. I took one of my Swedish Flower Hen pullets to a poultry show at a county fair. One of the neat things about keeping this blog is that it has pushed me to try things I might not have otherwise tried, like fermenting feed, raising my own meat birds and... entering a bird in a poultry show.

My Gingerbread House Chicken Coop - Another Upcycling Project

2014-08-18T17:10:00.000-04:00

My family had been renting the century-old farmhouse on a beautiful horse farm (partially pictured in the header) since June of 2012. We were able to live there for a song because the place was on the market and we could be asked to move at any time. Sadly it sold in the winter of 2014 and we were given until spring to move.

After hunting high and low, and learning my husband was being transferred to a different part of the state for his job, we found a beautiful little property with a very well maintained 1973 single wide trailer on it. We bought it just for the sexy single wide! OK - not really, but we do have PLANS, my friend!