- Every chick deserves a mother: one man’s crazy dream for how chickens deserve to be raised.
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Recent Posts
- Red Sky at Dawn and Dusk January 20, 2021
- More Marvelous Than Fairy Tales January 18, 2021
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- Is It Still Winter? January 12, 2021
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- Happy New Year! January 1, 2021
- Stories Untold December 28, 2020
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- Chatty Mud Birds December 20, 2020
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- When Life Returns to Normal, I’ll Miss Blue Skies December 1, 2020
- Blue Skies in November November 21, 2020
- Sunshine Is Just Beyond the Clouds November 17, 2020
- Winter Returns to the Hills November 14, 2020
- A Squirrel’s Fate November 8, 2020
- November at Last November 3, 2020
- November 1 and No Swans November 1, 2020
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- Am I Growing the Wrong Grapes? October 6, 2020
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- First Blush of Fall September 29, 2020
- A Perfect Fall Day September 27, 2020
- Blue Sky to Rain to Shaggy Parasol September 26, 2020
- Six Short Weeks September 24, 2020
- 317 Days for a Miracle September 23, 2020
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- You Can’t Help But Be Sad September 13, 2020
- Duck Serenity September 6, 2020
- August is Coming to an End August 28, 2020
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- Hottest Day of the Year August 16, 2020
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- After the Rains August 8, 2020
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- When You Are Insane July 21, 2020
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- It Blooms, It Dies July 15, 2020
- A Cool Start to Summer July 7, 2020
- Each Flower Has Its Own Strategy June 29, 2020
- Disaster Averted June 19, 2020
- Cool, Wet June June 10, 2020
- The End of May May 31, 2020
- Newer, Bigger, Better May 22, 2020
- Summer in May May 13, 2020
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Monthly Archives: January 2014
A Basket of Eggs
Collecting eggs every few hours is always a pleasure. Some hens are consistent and lay their eggs in the same nest. Others move from nest to nest. And then there are Lucky and Peach. Lucky lays her eggs in one … Continue reading
Japanese Chicken Varieties
The lack of varieties of chickens sold in supermarkets in the US is rather surprising. Some stores make distinctions between organic versus conventional, pastured versus broiler chickens, but rarely do you see a selection of a variety of chicken breeds … Continue reading
Six Week Old Chicks – A Long Way to Go
When you watch these small six week old chicks running around with their mother, it’s hard to imagine that many broiler chickens are six pounds and ready to be butchered by six weeks. How is that possible? What happens to … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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The Most Important Things Have No Value
When you are outdoors taking care of chickens and crops, you realize how essential pure water, pure air, and non-toxic soil are. We need them. The chickens need them. The insects the chickens eat need them. All the plants need … Continue reading
Sven a Swedish Flower Chicken
The Swedish Flower Chicken is a landrace chicken that developed in Sweden. Landrace is a breed which has developed over time by adapting to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. Swedish Flower Chickens are colorful birds. No … Continue reading
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Each Chicken Is Unique
Each chicken is unique. Each chicken has its own face, its own personality. You can see their personality develop as chicks. Among siblings, there are outgoing chicks, quiet ones, curious ones, timid ones. As they grow, their personalities develop and … Continue reading
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Hanging Out With Mom
It doesn’t seem like January. The sun has been out all day and the chickens are having a great time. When you see how the chicks enjoy hanging out with their mother, even hopping on her back, isn’t it obvious … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Never a Dull Day
This is one of the hens laying in a beautiful, quiet nest high up a stump. Chickens love it when you stir the compost and add to it. There are so many good things to eat, especially earthworms and insects. … Continue reading
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Learning How to Bathe
Chickens are born knowing how to take dirt baths, but when they get to learn this behavior from their mother, they sure enjoy it.
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Nest at the Top of a Stump
Chickens are always looking for great places to build a nest. Yesterday I heard a white Bresse cackling by the side of a ten foot tall stump. I climbed up to the top and found a nest with eight eggs. … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Chicken, Humanely raised chicken
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Hazel’s Egg
Every hen lays a special egg. To lay wonderful eggs, chickens need good food, plenty of exercise, and a quiet place to sit.
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Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Chicken, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Never a Dull Moment
With chickens, there is never a dull moment. It’s a sunny, January morning. The hens in the nesting boxes are sounding an alarm. Minutes later, all is calm. Outside, the chickens are enjoying the winter sun. Chickens are constantly on … Continue reading
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Dirt Bath in the Sun
On a sunny day, chickens enjoy taking dust and dirt baths. They can really kick up a storm, turning upside down even to work dust and dirt deep into their feathers and onto their skin. They do this to clean … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Up a Tree
Chicken producers talk about providing enriching environments for their birds, but none of the large producers ever provide trees for their chickens to climb. During the day, a growing sequoia is an enticing place to hang out, either underneath it … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken
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Strike a Pose
Every chicken at a man and his hoe® has a story. Lucky had an unfortunate accident as a chick. Somehow she scraped the back of her head and for several weeks had to be separated from her siblings and mother … Continue reading
One Month Old Chicks
The chicks which hatched December 19, 2013, are four months old now, nearly a month old. They are getting quite independent and running ahead of their mother. She’s the one trying to keep up with them now. Some mothers stop … Continue reading
Svenda’s Egg
Each chicken is unique. Each egg is unique. The variety of colors and patterns of chickens is endless. With each new chicken you can see evolution at work, trying new colors, patterns and personalities. The differences can be very subtle, … Continue reading
This Is Chicken?
The variety of meat chicken can provide is truly remarkable. Below is the leg and thigh meat of a roasted, fully grown rooster. The flavor and texture is very similar to a mild goat roast. If you closed your eyes … Continue reading
Morning Eggs
Even though it is still early January, the hens are laying more eggs. Their winter slump has ended and daily egg production has gone from five to seven up to eighteen. It will double from that in a few months. … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged Chicken, Eggs, Humanely raised chicken, Poultry, Raising chickens
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Where Do You Want Your Chicken to Come From?
Where would you prefer to get your chicken? From a plant like this Foster Farms processing plant which was recently closed due to cockroach infestation? At a plant like this, up to 140 chickens move through the processing line a … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Cooking-Roasting Tips
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Butchering chicken, Chicken, Humanely raised chicken
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