How to Set Up a Brooder for Chicks
Once you’ve determined that backyard chickens are right for you, the next step is to set up a brooder for baby chicks. A brooder is a little box or tub with just the right temperature for your baby chicks. It’s doesn’t have to be fancy at all. Your chicks won’t notice if it’s an old {Read more about How to Set Up a Brooder for Chicks}
Are Backyard Chickens Right For You?
If you’re thinking about keeping chickens on a small urban homestead, otherwise known as a backyard, there are several points to consider. Chickens are sweet pets, will give you delicious eggs, and provide you with entertainment but before heading out to pick out your chicks, you’ll want to have a few things lined up first. {Read more about Are Backyard Chickens Right For You?}
How to Hold Baby Chicks
When we have baby chicks, all the kids on our street want to come over and hold them. It’s great watching the kids be gentle with the chicks or overcoming their fears of grabbing them and holding them. When the chicks are held closely, they feel calmer and many times their eyes will close and {Read more about How to Hold Baby Chicks}
The Best Ever Egg Salad Sandwiches
When our backyard chickens first began laying eggs, we were so excited. For those little creatures to produce an entire egg almost everyday was somewhat of a miracle. Every egg was tallied (and still is) and we joked about how our chickens, who were finally laying eggs, were laying golden eggs because if we calculated {Read more about The Best Ever Egg Salad Sandwiches}
Baby Chicks
We have baby chicks at our house and they’re doing just what babies do – eating, pooping, sleeping, and growing. I think they’re drinking water but I can’t tell because I never see them drinking. They’re so adorable when they’re cute and small. They’re starting to lose their downy fuzz and grow feathers. They’re turning {Read more about Baby Chicks}
A New Roof
I’m happy to report that our new roof is installed and finished. I’m even happier to report that I didn’t have to do anything for it. Well, I take that back…I spent 2011 telling my husband that 2012 was the year of the roof and that we were going to pay someone else to install {Read more about A New Roof}
Fall in Love with Backyard Chickens
I love keeping chickens in our backyard. The fresh eggs they provide, eating our kitchen scraps, and giving us great material for our compost bins can’t be beat. Chickens are very funny creatures and can be quite amusing. During the summer, we like to sit in the backyard and watch our chickens. If you were {Read more about Fall in Love with Backyard Chickens}
Chicken Diva
Photo credit: Benjamin Brink, The Oregonian In case you don’t live in Portland, Oregon and aren’t a daily reader of The Oregonian or you’re not a fan of Go Gingham on Facebook, you may have missed this. Our backyard chicken, Caddie Woodlawn, was in the newspaper earlier this month. She’s rather shy and demure and {Read more about Chicken Diva}
Betsy’s Best Brownies
We had to get rid of one our chickens this week. This was not an easy decision as we have come to love our backyard chickens. They’re our pets and we’ve named them all, even though many experts say not to. You don’t want to get too attached to your hens. Betsy Ross was part {Read more about Betsy’s Best Brownies}
Fresh Eggs From Our Backyard Chickens
By far the biggest benefit of having backyard chickens is getting eggs. Chickens don’t normally lay in the winter months, unless they receive enough light on their eyes. This is why many chicken coops are lit. We don’t light our coop so we don’t get eggs in the winter but we do miss the fresh {Read more about Fresh Eggs From Our Backyard Chickens}
Backyard Chickens: Chicks Gone Wild
Since our chickens are taking a break from laying eggs for the winter, I thought I’d share a video from this past summer. The chicken coop was being cleaned and our chicken, Millie (the dark one), was busy laying when the door was opened. Surprise!! Honestly, I think she was mad that she had been {Read more about Backyard Chickens: Chicks Gone Wild}
Backyard Chickens
We have chickens. I still marvel at this statement. It’s not the same as telling people you have a dog or a cat. We purposely have these creatures, in our very small backyard, in the city. Here’s how it happened… Our family was exchanging homes with a family in Gouda, The Netherlands, near Amsterdam. We {Read more about Backyard Chickens}
Freezing Berries
Freezing berries that you pick is a great way to enjoy fresh fruit year round. Freezing whole berries on a pan is my favorite method for preserving fruit. You will save resources by using glass or plastic containers. Follow these 4 easy steps to freezing berries: 1. Rinse berries that grow close to the ground {Read more about Freezing Berries}
