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Our new ordinance has now been approved by everyone (the chicken committee, animal control, committee on public health, the local agriculture groups) except for the city council itself. This means that if it passes (which we believe it will), then this is the wording that will be in the official...

I gave myself a little cut today on the garden fence- nothing serious at all. I was putting some antibiotic ointment on the scratch after I washed it off and randomly I thought... I wonder if this stuff expires? Yes, it did. The tube crimp says: "Expires 1/2001." Perhaps I ought to have thought...

My hens spend all day in their big beautiful run. When I get home from work, I put my dog inside and let the hens out into the lawn and gardens for a few hours. They almost always do the single strangest thing I can think of- they all walk straight over onto my large wooden deck and stare at me...

The pro-chicken movement is gaining strength in our town, and there is now a rough draft for the new ordinance that the pro-chicken group will be proposing. Here it is in case anyone wants to see it! If you have constructive criticism I'd like to hear it. It follows a general "no livestock in...

I took this photo yesterday of my husband and some of our hens. It makes me crack up. A hen in the hand is worth 5 in the lawn? From left to right; Rosie, Zippy, Mrs. Tweedy, Littles, Pot Pie, DH, and my favorite puffball, Biggie Rockette. -MTchick

I've been displeased with my feeder lately. I feel like it is too prone to feeding other things (mice, starlings) and just a few days ago a whole flock of house sparrows descended upon it. I decided then that I wanted to make a new feeder. The idea with the new feeder was this; I wanted to have...

I'm going to reveal something to you all... since February, I've had a chicken blog. Oh yes, a real blog. With photos and everything. Please visit if you would like. I always thought I'd keep it under wraps but I think this crowd might enjoy looking at it. If is written for my family- they live...

My hens are getting close to the age that they should start laying. I've been keeping them out of the next boxes (by leaving empty gallon milk jugs in there). I'm wondering if I should line the boxes with straw now, and let them learn the boxes are there (i.e. take the jugs out), or if I should...

I feed my chickens a little scrap of treat just about every day- a little bit of cheese, a leftover pear core, that kind of thing. I have one chicken that gets really really excited and makes this little wheezy snorty sound when she is grabbing and eating a treat. It is extremely funny- like she...

I'm giving away my rooster today, and to commemorate the occasion I made a video of me feeding my 7 hens and 1 rooster (he's the chicken in the video with the insane white hairdo) tiny pieces of cheese. It is kind of funny. Anyway, enjoy. to watch the video, click on the image and it will...

Our coop is now completed. This post has all the photos, in order of most recent to least recent, that I think are worth sharing... that means it has a lot of photos! Brief synopsis; 7 standard hens, 4'x4' floor plan henhouse (which is a bit small but probably good for the cold Montana...

Please, please, someone tell me there is a breed of duck called the Pink Duck. Because today it said, "Mothers Day .... Pink Ducks" on the local feed store marquee and I was so horrified I couldn't even bring myself to stop and see if they are selling ducklings dyed pink for Mother's Day. I am...

I just got my anti-hawk netting in the mail that I bought on Ebay. I know that it has not yet stood the test of time, but it feels really sturdy, looks pretty good, and was quite reasonably priced. I bought 20x32ft but it looks more like about 20x40 now that it is laid out on the lawn. There are...

In my city, it is illegal to own chickens within city limits. I'd like to get this changed, and a recent article in the paper here indicates that the mayor and at least one councilwoman are amenable to getting it changed. Here is the link to the article...

The henhouse is now 99.5% done. I am really excited, as are my eight young hens. I've taken a bunch of photos today of the various features of the house to record the current status. This is a front shot of the henhouse with attached henport. You can almost see in this photo that there are 8...

I have eight pullets, maybe... Six of them were sexed as female chicks, while two were straight run. They range in age from eight weeks to six weeks. I know that roosters *can* start to crow at five weeks, and that they *can* start to do things like use their feet to spur, at very young ages...

I have a frustrating story to tell- a friend of a friend that had a flock of eight chickens now has a flock of two chickens. He, like me, lives in a tightly packed city block. Unlike me, he lets his chickens roam entirely free- across yards, alleys, etc. I don't really want to be...

OK, so we have established that I probably have two Barred Rock pullets. Excellent. Here are my SLW's, Rosie and Zippy. They are 5 weeks old, identical in size, identical in tail feathers, both are kinda shy. Rosie has a single comb, but I love her anyway; Zippy is closer to breed standard...

I have a bag of sunflower seeds (in the shell) sitting around, and 8 lovely chicks. How old do they have to be to digest the seeds? I want to give them some seeds as treats, but with such a hard seed coat I'm wondering if it might be too much for my 4, 5 and 6 week old chicks. Thanks for any...

I know, I know, I should know by now if they are boys or girls. But I just can't tell for sure! My two Barred Rocks are shown below; Biggie; Littles; I am suspicious that Biggie is a boy, and Littles is a girl. The problem is that Biggie has no difference in size, and a barely perceivable...