Fresh Eggs Daily®

Fowl pox is a fairly common, highly infectious virus that can affect chickens, ducks and other types of poultry and can spread through a flock quite easily through direct contact or through the air.   Fowl pox is also called sore head, avian diphtheria or bird pox.  It is not the same as chicken pox and can't be transferred from chickens to humans or other species of animals.

Choosing the best location for a backyard chicken coop is one of the most important decisions in getting started with a flock. The ultimate position of the coop is critical for your chickens' health, happiness and, of course, safety. 

So you've decided to start raising chickens!  I assume you've checked with your town or municipality and know the rules as far as how many chickens you are allowed, if you need a permit for either the chickens or their coop (or both), if you can have roosters, etc.  And now you're ready to get started.

Sunlight is essential for egg laying poultry to stimulate their ovaries to release a yolk and begin the egg laying process.  Chickens need a minimum of about 16 hours of light per day for optimal laying, ducks need about 14 hours and geese lay best with 10 hours of daylight.

Keeping a clean chicken coop is, of course, optimal for the health of your flock. Your coop doesn't need to be spotless, but it does need to be dry and free of mold, mildew, parasites and the like.  It may surprise you that I only do a full-on, down to the studs, deep cleaning twice a year. Yup, that's it.

Dyeing eggs at Easter is a time-honored tradition in many cultures. You can make it even more natural and creative when you use veggies and spices from your kitchen and pantry to color the eggs.  There's no need to use commercial dyes or food coloring. It's healthier for your kids and chickens, and more economical to use plants - specifically vegetable peels and skins - especially if you grow your own veggies. 

Once you start raising chickens, you'll likely find yourself with so many eggs, you won't know what to do with them all.  Homemade mayonnaise is one great way to not only use up all those extra eggs, but it's also so much more delicious than anything you can buy.

Everybody loves sprinkling aromatic herbs in their chicken coop .  Am I right? Fresh or dried, so many different types of herbs and edible flowers look pretty, smell nice and are even thought to keep rodents and other pests out of your coop .

Fun fact: A hen is able to direct the nutrients in the food she eats directly into her eggs. Because of this, it's important to provide your chickens with the best diet possible.  There is a proven direct link between the feed a hen eats and the quality and nutrition value of her eggs. Adding all kinds of nutrients to a chicken's diet that they then pass into the eggs they lay results in healthier hens, healthier baby chicks and more nutritious eggs. 

Backyard chickens, like dogs, cats and bunnies, make wonderful family pets. But unlike raising a dog, cat or bunny, raising a flock of chickens provides a multitude of learning experiences for homeschooling children. Kids of all ages can learn important life lessons from backyard chickens.

When you first begin raising chickens , you're bound to run into chicken keeping terms, abbreviations and phrases that might seem like a foreign language at first. There definitely is a bit of a terminology learning curve when you are just getting started. From "albumen" to "zip", this handy glossary of 100+ common chicken keeping terms you should know that will help you get acquainted with the some of the jargon associated with backyard chickens.

These sweet little sandwich cookies are one of my favorite cookies to make. They’re not only a fun rolled-out cookie to bake since they require some assembly, they are so pretty and you can make so many varieties from this basic recipe. 

New chicken keepers usually start with baby chicks in the spring. The excitement of the chicks growing into adults, then that first egg in late summer or early fall is undeniable. And the eggs keep coming all through that first winter, right into the following spring and summer. But that next fall, all of sudden egg production drops and the hens stop laying eggs. What's up with that? They laid through their first winter.

Cast iron skillets have been around since the beginning of time. Well, not technically, but almost.  First used in China in the 6th century BC, civilizations worldwide have been cooking in cast iron for centuries. And for good reason.  Cast iron is durable, holds heat well and is easy to come by, making cast iron pans very affordable.

Homemade cranberry sauce is so quick and easy to make yourself and so much more delicious than the canned version. My simple recipe calls for spices and a few seasonal flavors for an additional holiday twist.