After nine years of chicken husbandry we had our first predatory fatality. Over the years, we’ve lost chickens to old age and disease, but we’ve been lucky. We once had a possum take up residence in the coop, but it was mostly interested in the chicken food and warm, dry space. Last spring we had … More And then there were Nine — RIP Judy Garland
Chickens are capable of producing a prodigious amount of manure. When concentrated into a confined area and trampled, this manure requires frequent removal. Additionally, chicken feet and plumage often carry remnants of manure. It is likely that the hobbyist and homesteader alike have lamented the smells, smears, and soiled conditions that can be common to … More Deep-Litter Method for Chicken Coops: Save and Repurpose! — From Contributor Eric McGlynn
One of the biggest costs of keeping chickens is the feed. Most people buy bags of the stuff at feed stores. These 50-lb bags come in a variety of forms, usually pellets or crumbles. In my experience, the crumbles make a big mess as the chickens hunt for larger chunks to eat, spilling the smaller … More Small-Scale Silage for Chickens
The chickens are currently living in a converted shed off the back of the garage. While this is working well for now, the goal is to move the chickens to the back of the property. This means we’re to build a new chicken coop. Considerations are predator pressure (coyotes, raccoons, and hawks), winter survival, chicken … More Scandinavian “Bear Cache” Chicken Coop
If you keep chickens, you know that they seem to try and make their water as dirty as possible. Typical chicken waterers depend on upside-down reservoirs that refill a trough as the birds drink the water. Chicken droppings, dirt, bedding, and other debris finds its way into the trough. Additionally, our old one held about … More DIY Clean Chicken Waterer
Here is a simple construction project to build a stand to hold beehives. It is another in the Low Tech Design series. You can find the library of Low Tech Designs under the “Publications” tab. … More Low Tech Design — Beehive Stand
Yesterday we published plans for our first simple coop design. You can get the PDF of the plans on that post or in the “Low Tech Designs” page under the “Publications” tab, above. Here I’d like to share my thoughts and photos of my build of the simple coop prototype. This has slight modifications from … More DIY Project — Simple Coop
This post introduces the “Low Tech Design” series. In short, this will be blueprints and instructions for building low tech products yourself. They are designed to be built by normal people with regular tools and skills. Obviously humanity is diverse and we can’t account for the variety of skill sets out there, but if you … More Low Tech Design — Simple Coop
Lawns are a waste of resources. Consider the time, effort, fuel, and money we spend to create a carpet of grass, which has no functional value. Why not replace the grass with clover? It tops out at six inches and provides flowers for bees and fodder for animals (it is high in protein, and chickens … More DIY Project — Clover Lawn
Don’t worry, I’m not composting my chickens, instead I’ve hired my chickens as sanitation workers. With a few minor modifications of your compost stall and composting habits, you can give your chickens supplemental food as well as speed the decomposition of your inputs to complete compost. The Composter This takes a bit of planning and … More DIY Project — Chicken Composter