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I believe whether you free range or coop depends a LOT on your purpose for having chickens. If all you are interested in is eggs, then a coop is fine. However, I free range my chickens and here are the reasons why.... First, I live near Lake of the Ozarks in the wooded hills of Missouri. That...

This is a good article...I have used this method for years, just never bothered giving a name to it. One thing I have found works really well is those wire dog crates (if you're only doing a few birds at a time). The wire cage allows the interaction with the other chickens, and the wire bottom...

Here is an article I posted a few years ago about a pallet coop I built. Perhaps it will be helpful for you.... I was getting some chickens to help keep down the tick population, but I knew I needed a coop - a place where they could roost at night without fear of the coyotes, coons, and other...

I always free range my chickens because the main reason I have them is to control the tick population. I leave them out all day while at work. If I kept them in a pen they would only eat the ticks that wandered into the pen.... The eggs are a definite bonus, but not the main reason for having...

Tie a small rope (actually string or twine) to their leg and the other end to a tree or stake. Do this for 4 - 7 days and they should learn that your yard is home and that's where they belong.

As BaaKaaawk mentioned, you can't really "walk" your chickens. But I have had times when I needed to keep a chicken confined - for instance, bringing home a new roo that wanted to wander off . . . In such cases I have used a light rope / twine with a noose on it around their leg. Then I tie the...

Nice article overall. I love the chart showing the nutritional differences between caged bird eggs and free ranged eggs! Thanks. And as for the last part about chickens taking care of "other pests" in the garden....the #1reason I have chickens is to control the tick population.Used to be that...

Well,...before we had chickens I would go out in the evening and pick blackberries and come in with 45-50 ticks. But last summer I when I would go out to pick blackberries I would come in with 1 or 2 ticks, and on a few occasions no ticks at all! So yes, they are doing their job. They earn...

Yeah . . . I saw an article the other day relating chickens to the T-Rex. Now I'm reading about grit. Then it struck me! Here in the Ozarks we have "grit" for the T-Rex! My nine acres is strewn with rocks the size of softballs!

Good article! Interesting, though a bit repetitive in places. One error worth pointing out though.... The USDA is the United States Department of Agriculture, not the United States Dietary Association. I don't think there even is an association by that name, but the Dept of Agriculture was...

How and why did you expect the pullets to stay in crates like that? Did you have them upside down and staked into the ground? Did you have them right side up with something to cover the top? Unless they were quite secure the chickens would have been able to escape...but the fluttering and...

I don't know what it was, but judging from the pic my guess is it was not your other chickens. I have never seen chickens concentrate the wound all in one place, nor go as deep as what is seen in the pic. So my guess is it was some other critter. Doesn't look like weasel either.... Sorry for...

They may have "autonomy" but if like other state universities they get their funding from the state and their board is appointed by the state and....

I raised chickens from 5th grade all the way through high school, and the started again about a year ago. I have never cleaned a waterer every day. On the rare occasions that I do "clean" a waterer it is nothing more than a good rinse with clean water and a little brushing or wiping if necessary.

Be VERY CAREFUL! The state of California finds contaminants and toxins in everything and then they outlaw them. I buy and use products all the time that have labels saying "the state of California has determined this product causes . . . ." and yet millions of Americans use those products every...

I appreciate the thoughts on the ice bath . . . I do that. The point is all eggs were boiled at the same time and all eggs were cooled in the same way at the same time and even in the same pot . . . but still some eggs peeled more easily than others and the only difference was the breed of hens...

You are too nice. If something killed my whole flock, I would not have used a "have a heart" trap. I would have used something that would get its heart....

I am not sure where to post this question, but here goes . . . This morning I boiled five eggs for breakfast - simply taking the oldest ones I got 3 dark brown from my cinnamon queen and 2 lighter brown from my barred rocks. I thought nothing of it other than simply getting the oldest - which...

Welcome to BYC! I love your brooder box1 Wanna make another one for me? :frow

So true. My wife can hear my roosters in the morning and I only hear them sometimes. But there is a lot of truth to people not hearing a lot os noise they are accustomed to. When we lived in the city I hardly noticed a siren - now I hear every one . . . which averages about once a week, or...