If you are thinking about trying your hand at baby chicks, that’s awesome! You’re totally in for some fun. But first we should have a little chat about five things baby chicks need in order to have a safe and happy life at your homestead …
Friends, I’m going to be bold and give you my opinion about something chicken-ish. Ready? Here goes: I think it’s perfectly okay if you don’t free range your chickens. (Don’t want to read all the words? This blog post is also a podcast—just press the …
A hen is a delightful feathered friend who will provide you with both eggs and entertainment. But in deciding to bring hens to your farm, you also need to decide if you will keep a rooster as well. Do you actually need a rooster? What …
After several years of raising Cornish Cross chickens as our meat birds, we decided it was time to compare them to another meat bird we’d been hearing a lot about: Red Rangers. So we did an experiment. I bet you’re here because you want to …
My husband has always wanted to raise pheasants. Since we are usually game to try anything once, we started our research, prepared their space, and ordered some pheasant chicks. But there were many things I didn’t know before raising pheasants that were made abundantly clear …
How exciting! You’ve got eggs set to hatch in a few days and you’re very (im)patiently waiting. Lockdown has hit…and now, for some reason—oh no!—you need to open the incubator! But what are you to do? All the books and blogs and forums have told …
In true rebel farm(ish) girl style, I thought I should let you in on a little secret: We don’t use chick starter at our farm and we haven’t for years. I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t feed starter. I’m telling you that we don’t feed …
Free range chickens are fun to watch, but hold on a second. Before you open the coop door and let your chickens run wild, there are some truths you need to know about the free range life. (Don’t want to read all the words? This …
Today I share turkey butchering tips from our first time butchering turkeys, as well as updates and changes to our method in subsequent years.
Over the summer, our family decided to do a little experiment with two different kinds of meat birds: the Cornish Cross (which we generally raise) and Red Rangers. Spoiler alert—our family decided we were not huge fans of the Red Ranger bird and are choosing …