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I had what appears to be an increasingly rare thing these days - a weekend with no plans and decent weather to work around the property. I decided to do a little biochar experiment with a few different inputs while cleaning up some scrap wood. I occasionally make biochar for use in my coops (to...

I've wanted to plant a peach tree for a few years now. Everything we plant gets a good dose of chicken run compost. But what if we planted the trees IN the chicken run, and let them soak up all those excess nutrients in place? Any imperfect fruit could drop to the ground and be eaten by the...

I have a pretty sizable run built with standard welded wire fence. I've built raised flower beds around around the outside of the run fencing. These help keep the run compost in the run, pretty things up a bit, and give me a place to use some of the chicken run compost. I have some of this...

Picked up some feed today, and figured maybe I'd start a thread about local food prices. Hope others find this fun and share your local prices. My purchases were made today, April 7th at Tractor Supply in Coventry, RI. Prices do not include sales tax. Dumur Layer Pellet 50 lb - $14.49...

Two projects on my to-do list today: 1. Clean some old bed frames out of the basement 2. Figure out how to better leverage some underutilized space in the run. The solution: The bed frame roost!

Variable watermilfoil is an invasive species that’s infected many lakes in the US, including the one right down the street from me. In addition to being a big part of the solution to our countries food waste problem, I believe chickens can be a big part of solving the invasive species problem...

I recently had my first foray into making and using biochar. Anyone else using it in your coop, run, or compost setups? Blog post with pictures For me, the most surprising thing was how much adding a small amount of biochar to the coop bedding really helped eliminate odors...for a solid 2-3...

Finally got a chance this week to build my new chicken run compost setup. It's 14 feet long by 7 feet wide by about 45 inches tall. Should hold about 13.6 cubic yards of material when full. It's made from almost entirely reclaimed materials - lumber, pallets, fence posts, even the rope...

So, with spring finally reaching us here in the northeast and the ground not being frozen, it's time to start playing! I have maybe a 10' x 15' area of the larger run that is just soggy. I deep litter in the run, and for some reason in this spot instead of getting a nice rich compost covered...

Went into TSC to stock up on feed and bedding. Went over to look at the chicks, and was strong on resisting the urge to buy any. Then I saw the sign! It was a sign! Special: Week old Leghorn pullets. $1 each. Here in Rhode Island the purchase minimum is 12 chicks. They had 12 left. Did I...

You know you've got just the right reputation in the office when a co-worker comes up to you and says "there are three packages of lettuce in the fridge for your chickens. I bought them and couldn't eat them all before they started to wilt". Score!

I have a fairly bare shady area that will become chicken run later this year. I figured if I can it’d be nice to Green it up for the girls before they move in. I’ve been Googling around but not finding much info on a good cover/forage to plant. Any suggestions? Obviously, the more...

So, I have around 25 chickens in 3 smallish coops (6 x 4, 3 x 5, one slightly smaller). Today I took delivery of something that will allow me to significantly "up my game". This bad boy is 20 long by 8 wide, which should allow for roughly 80 chickens. I honestly don't NEED the mobile part...

It was "Scouting for Food" weekend for Scouts BSA and Cub Scouts. Our Cub Scout pack, in a small town (~6,200 residents) collected 2,391 lbs of food (AWESOME!) Not counted in that total was quite a bit of expired food also collected. I split it up with another chicken owning family...took...

Lots of discussions I've read seem to suggest that commercial chicken feed is the "BEST" or "ONLY" way to feed chickens. To each his own, but I decided to scratch at this a bit (I must be part chicken). So, if chicken feed is so great....why? What's in it that you can't get elsewhere? I found...

Whenever I see headlines like this one: DEM Finds Invasive Species in Two Lincoln Ponds I get to thinking that when it comes to invasive species..."the best way to beat 'em is to eat 'em". Anyone know if chickens can/will eat water chestnut plants?

"Thou shalt only give your chickens 10% of their diet in treats" is a pretty common refrain on these forums, to the point where it's become something of cannon. I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory (which is fine...to each his own), but I did have a question. Saying "10%" isn't very...

So, I read a lot about people feeding meal worms to their flock for high-protein treats. A quick look at tractor supply shows the price ranging from over $1/ounce (for a 10 ounce bag) to about $6.50/lb for a 5 lb bag. So, what am I missing? For far less than $6.50/lb, I can buy many different...

Your stove has two pots going on it... On the left, chicken soup (soup with chicken in it for people to eat) On the right, "chicken soup" (meat and veggie scraps, including the carrot peels from the making of the chicken soup, FOR the chickens). :D

We had our annual "Scouting for Food" event today, and collected a whole bunch of non-perishable food items for those in need. Part of the process of collecting, sorting, and boxing up everything is to check expiration dates. When I showed up, everything expired was getting tossed in the...