The Baker's Dozen: Lacy Duckwing's 2025 Chick Growth Tracker
Chicks change a lot as they grow, so it often makes it hard to remember who was who once they are older and I'm often looking for new ways to keep track. In this article, I'll have in Spoilers pictures...
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"Just" a Chicken Coop
I named this article after the motto that emerged for this coop, the thing we said to each other every time we worked on it: "It's just a chicken coop!". Both hubby and I can be a little...
View ArticleQuarantine: how I kept the hens safe from Marek's
This article relates the story of our encounter with Marek's disease and it shares an apparently successful approach to quarantine. The flock and I live in South Australia, so our seasons are the...
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How to use and navigate BYC
Inroduction I have been on BYC for a year and I absolutely love it and spend way too much time on it! I have found some very helpful tips, tools, and tricks, so I thoughts I would put them here! Since...
View ArticleInside the Legendary Blood Ring! (warning: embryo pics)
Perhaps nothing is more mythic, feared, or misunderstood amongst novice incubators than the dreaded 'blood ring,' but what is it, really? The internet has all sorts of ideas: overgrowth of bacteria,...
View ArticleHandling Death in Poultry
IntroductionWhen keeping poultry, this is a sad but unavoidable topic. If you keep birds, you are bound to run into this, unfortunately. Especially if this is your first time, or if you’ve dealt with...
View ArticleBackyard Chicken Health Checklist for Mid-Year Maintenance
If you’re a backyard chicken keeper, you know how quickly the months fly by. One minute you’re raising spring chicks, and the next you’re sweltering in summer heat, wondering where the year went....
View ArticleMagnolia Acres Farm
This is my first actual coop. I built this myself. (My husband helped with the run). I am currently about to expand to a walk in coop- you live and you learn, right? I did NOT think the cleaning part...
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Southern Heat: Ways to keep your flock cool in the summer.
These are a few thing I do for our hot south Louisiana summers, to keep my girls comfortable: I live on 7 acres backed up to 100 acres of woods, and my property has horrible drainage - so free ranging...
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Positive Reinforcement Training Poultry – Give It A Try!
Chicken Hawk the Homestead hen learning to stand on a skateboard with positive reinforcement training, her rewards in the background. Photo: HomesteaderWife We live in an age today where information...
View Article2025 new coop in process.
Started a couple weeks ago. Have just young chicks. This hatching has gotten out of control. We are looking at culling most Roosters. But have hatched 21 chicks and another 18 eggs due next week. I...
View Article10 Ways to Save Money when Raising Chickens
IntroductionRaising chickens can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. While you do need to responsibly care for your poultry, you don’t have to go overboard with cost. Here are 10 areas to save...
View ArticleModular PVC playgrounds
Here is something I have for my ladies. Each unit measures 5’x5’ and are 2.5’ high. You need 5 lengths of 10’ half inch PVC and 8 of the corner joints. I put some scrap 2x4’s at the base to keep them...
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Building a Better Coop: Coastal Challenges, Forest Solutions, and the Stuff...
When most people imagine building a chicken coop, they picture a tidy red shed with a run out back, nestled on flat grassy land, maybe with a few manicured garden beds nearby. But if you're raising...
View ArticleThe Windmeier Coop by San Tan Valley Coops
This charming coop, and run combination was delivered to our customer yesterday. This house is 6x6x8'h to the peak, has 5 nesting boxes, 2 perches, and a 6x8 attached run. This coop is framed with 2x4,...
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