We stretched the ‘lap’ chicken to house chicken, but it boils down to the same thing: a chicken that is comfortable to be in a house with people, and can be considered a companion bird. A bird that will thrive in a secure confined space with its favorite owner.
We considered ‘good’ egg laying as a bonus, but really most of these birds do a fairly respectable job on that score.
All of the birds… [Read More]
Although we always love doing these articles, this particular article is incredibly difficult to do since there are so many wonderful breeds out there.
If we missed out some of your favorite breeds – sorry! We had to eliminate some of ours too.
When shortlisting the best chicken breeds for small backyards we used the follow criteria:
Space requirements Noise factor Egg production Friendliness Low maintenance Breed cost
The key words used here are small… [Read More]
You would think that there isn’t much to write about regarding roosting perches right?
As ‘seasoned’ poultry keepers, we sometimes are surprised by seemingly simple questions that new folks ask – but keep on asking!
What we take for granted, things that we have found or worked out may be second nature to us, but it is important to share this knowledge as much of it is not found quickly or easily in books.
So… [Read More]
Most folks use convention bedding materials in the coop, spreading straw, hay or similar over the floors and in the nest boxes.
Some people however, use sand as flooring material. This prompted us to take a look at the positives and negatives of using sand as a bedding material in the coop and run.
Here we will give you reasons for and against and will let you decide whether or not this is for… [Read More]
So, you are planning to build your own chicken coop.
Don’t panic, take a deep breath!
If you are concerned that you won’t be able to read the coop plans, that they will be too technical, you are not alone.
I cannot read and execute building plans to save my life, yet I have built a total of 8 coops so far, with more to come. The chickens don’t care if the corners aren’t square… [Read More]