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...

Living sustainably is one of the goals on the homestead, and one way to do that is to be wise with your money. However, I have also learned that the two go hand-in-hand. Living sustainably is one way to save money. Now this is not a lesson on how to...

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...

Chicks need supplemental heat to stay warm, healthy, and to mature into strong adults. Supplemental heat is most crucial for the first 4 weeks of a chick’s life. However, the supplemental heat will need to be weaned off starting at 1 week of age. Once the chicks are old enough,...

A chicken’s diet is essential for keeping it healthy and productive. Sudden diet changes can be hard for your homestead flock to adjust to, and feed switches can even cause health problems if they are not done properly. While complete diet changes should be avoided as much as possible, there...

Just like chickens are the gateway animal for raising homestead livestock, I feel like herbs are the gateway plants for homestead gardening. So, it only makes since that chickens and herbs go together! Using herbs for your homestead flock is a great way to help them stay healthy naturally. Herbs...

Let’s face it, chicken is on the menu for a lot of animals! Chicken is a favorite meal option for just about every predator out there, big or small. It may seem discouraging to raise a homestead animal that so many predators have on their meal list, but with some...

Chores are a never-ending task on the homestead, but that’s not always a bad thing! I actually enjoy the different chores associated with each month of raising chickens on the homestead. Seasonal chores will vary depending on what region you live in and what your seasonal weather patterns are for...

One question that many northern homesteaders may find themselves asking is: how can I help my homestead flock stay warm when the temperatures never get above freezing? First, let me tell you that it is a legitimate question to ask. Chickens can handle cold weather better then warm weather, and...

Boredom can become an issue for homestead flock’s that have to be cooped up due to inclement weather. The winter months are an especially hard time to keep your flock entertained and active. Preventing boredom not only makes for a happy flock, but it also prevents issues like feather pulling,...

Want to overcome one of the toughest winter chicken keeping problems on the homestead? Figure out how to keep your flock’s water from freezing during the winter! These 20 ways to keep your chickens’ water from freezing will be helpful for conquering this winter chicken keeping problem! Having electricity out...

Your homestead flock may not be the only ones who think their coop is a safe, warm place to live. Other animals, especially those in the rodent family, may also see the chicken coop as a protected place to build a nest with an ample supply of food nearby. Mice...

Fall is over and with it the fall molt is nearly finished, which means you might expect egg production to kick back into gear again, right? Well… it’s not quite like that unfortunately. Why do hens stop laying during the winter? Winter egg production on the homestead can be affected...

Providing supplemental lighting in the coop can be somewhat of a debate in the chicken world. Supplemental lighting can be provided during the winter to trigger a hen’s laying cycle. But, do hens need supplemental light? Does making them lay more often shorten their lifespan? How do I go about...

What does raising a homestead flock entail? Find out what skills and knowledge you need to have in order to succesfully raise homestead chickens! Welcome to the chicken keeper’s survival list! The Chicken Keeper’s Survival List is a compilation of tasks that you will need to know how to do...

I often get caught up in the what, whys, and how’s of raising homestead chickens, but then I remind myself, don’t let raising a homestead flock become overwhelming, confusing, or daunting. When you stick to the basics, learning how to raise homestead chickens becomes fun, enjoyable, and rewarding! There are...

Homesteaders have been using old school chicken coop doors for years and years. However, there is now a new option on the market for modern pioneers and homesteaders: the automatic chicken door. After investing in an automatic chicken coop door for my first chicken coop, I knew when I built...

Cleaning the chicken coop is emphasized a lot for raising a happy, healthy flock of backyard chickens, but cleaning the chicken coop enclosure is just as important. No matter how big or small your chicken coop enclosure is, giving it a brief touch up every once in a while can...

Whether you’ve hatched out your own chicks using a broody hen or an incubator, or bought straight-run chicks, or even ordered ‘pullets’ from a hatchery, at some point in your chicken raising experience you may find you have one too many roosters than you were planning on keeping. Of course,...