The first snow has fallen and nights here in New Hampshire are in the single digits. How do we help our chickens cope with the harshness of winter? (Hint: we don’t put little sweaters on them) We do, however, take…
Readying Chickens for Winter
Category: Chickens
How Long Do Eggs Stay Fresh?
We recently got a reminder of how long home-flock eggs can stay viable as food without refrigeration. Good for a prepper to know, eh? The answer is weeks, maybe months. We found a “secret” nest containing 17 eggs that proved…
How to UN-mother a hen
This year, our Broody hen did not abruptly turn off her motherhood instincts. She was showing some signs of being ready to transition but she seemed semi-stuck in mother mode. She needed help. For a variety of reasons, we decided…
Chicken Lessons: Two is One, One is None
Two broody hens, a broken rooster, no fertile eggs. The chickens provide a valuable reminder of the wisdom of Two is One, One is None.
Syrup wrap-up, Spring chores
The maple syrup season ended, but other Spring chores quickly fill the void that had been tapping and boiling. While that task is done, self-sufficiency always has something else to tend to. It’s far too early to plant, but there…
Tale of a Broody Hen
Baby chicks the natural way! Incubators work fine but chicks hatched by a mamma hen is ideal for off-grid sustainability. This post is a compilation of four separate posts chronicling the adventure of the homestead’s first Boody Hen. Some chicken…
Chicks at 1 Week
I promise I won’t write about chickens every week. But, it is fascinating how much chicks develop in just their first week of life. They progress from helpless fluffy lumps to miniature chickens with much of their adult behavior. By…
The Chicks Hatched. Now what?
Excitement here at the homestead: the eggs hatched in the incubator. A renewable food source is a valuable prep. Raising new chicks each year is part of the renewability. Okay, the eggs have hatched into wet, little chicks. Now what?…
Incubating Chicken Eggs
If you’ve ever thought about some incubating chicken eggs and starting a flock of your own, here’s a quick primer on incubating chicken eggs. As of this writing, this year’s batch just passed the two-week mark. How are they so…
Chickens In Winter
New Hampshire has gotten a long spell of subzero temperatures lately. We’ve had -10 at the house overnight. Daytime “highs” were in single digits. While we put on a thicker sweater and sit closer to the wood stove, what about…