For northern homesteaders, the winter months can often bring that fluffy white stuff that you either love or you hate. As for your homestead flock, they probably have a low tolerance for snow. Snow not only brings a new element to caring for your flock during the winter, but it...

Cold stress is an often overlooked condition that is nearly unavoidable for most northern homestead flocks. Learning how to help chickens deal with cold stress will keep them healthier and productive through the winter months. Cold stress can cause illness and even death, so it is important to make sure...

Natural supplements are a great way to keep your homestead flock healthy using holistic methods that both heal and nourish your chickens. However, many natural supplements do not come with specific dosages for chickens since little study has been done using natural supplements for small scale-poultry raising. Natural supplements are...

What’s your biggest on-going chicken keeping expense? If I could hazard a guess, I would say it’s buying feed for your homestead flock. Many homesteaders grab at the chance to feed their flock free food. In fact, there are now many suggestions and ideas for how you can feed your...

The winter months can be a time of increased food consumption and strain on a chicken’s daily energy needs. Cold weather and exposure can all increase a chicken’s need for energy in order to stay warm, keep the circulatory system working good, and ensure all other body functions remain healthy...

It’s getting cold outside as winter sets in and one way to help your flock deal with the cold temperatures is by giving them warm treats! Oatmeal is a common treat that comes to mind since chickens love oats and it is an easy thing for you to make for...

Many foods that we raise and grow on the homestead are considered seasonal crops, meaning they can only be grown during a certain season of the year. A lot of times we forget that eggs are actually a seasonal food too. Birds of any species naturally don’t lay eggs every...

Ever get tired of a muddy, dirty, and stinky chicken coop enclosure on the homestead? I know I sure did! Then I figured out these secrets to chicken coop enclosure maintenance and it has made all the difference for my flock! I don’t need to be a clean freak, I...

What treats can I give my chickens daily? Should I even give my chickens daily treats? These are all great questions that relate to your flock’s homestead diet! Chickens are natural scavengers, and they will at least try just about any food you give them. It can also be fun...

Pumpkins are a fall staple on the homestead. Not only for cooking, baking, decorating, and carving… but also for the homestead flock! I love pumpkins, and my homestead flock does too! While I like cooking and baking with pumpkins, the chickens prefer to just chow down into a raw pumpkin....

I love diving into a new poultry book and seeing what helpful nuggets I can dig out to apply to my homestead flock. Reading about other chicken keepers’ experiences and learning the general facts about poultry will help you raise your homestead flock better. I have acquired many different chicken...

An imbalance in a chicken’s diet can cause the chicken to not receive the proper nutrition it needs, either by having an excess of a dietary element or a deficiency in a dietary element. Dietary imbalances can occur when a chicken’s diet is not balanced or when a chicken’s dietary...

A nutritionally complete and balanced diet for your flock should help prevent a majority of dietary issues, however, sometimes dietary imbalances can be caused by factors that we can’t control or are unaware of. Dietary imbalances can result in a chicken not getting the nutrition it needs to stay healthy....

All chickens who are over a year old molt at least once every year, usually in the late summer and fall months. Molting is when a chicken replaces its old feathers with new feathers, which will help keep it warm and stay healthy. Molting can be stressful for chickens and it...

We’ve reached that time of the year where you get no fresh eggs from your homestead flock and it looks like someone plucked all your hens: welcome to molting season. All birds molt, both wild and domestic. It is a natural occurrence that is often triggered by weather patterns. Molting...

Making these high protein quinoa cakes as a DIY treat for chickens is a great way to sustainably spoil your homestead flock and still keep them healthy! Chickens love special treats and snacks, and spoiling your flock can be fun and entertaining. However, you don’t want the treats to take...

Chickens and dust bathing go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you don’t provide a dust bath spot, your flock will make their own. Even if you do make a DIY dust bath for your chickens, they may still choose their own location! Whether you make your flock a...

Why do chickens dust bathe? Chickens dust bathe for several reasons. The primary ones being because it seems to be enjoyable for them and it provides natural health benefits that would be important for a flock’s survival in the wild. It seems contradictory, but dust bathing is one way that...

Whether you have one rooster on the homestead or multiple roosters in the homestead flock, knowing how to care for a rooster is important for the health and happiness of your homestead flock! Roosters have different dietary needs than hens. They exhibit different behaviors and play specific roles within the...

Chickens are on their feet all day. Even when they roost, perch or relax, they are still on their feet! Consequently, foot and toes injuries can occur no matter how many preventatives you implement. Bumblefoot is one such ailment that is caused when an infection develops in the foot pad...