How to Make an Indoor Salad Garden with Recycled Materials
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. See the full disclosure at the bottom of this page.Turn Your Trash into an Indoor Salad Garden! Create your own mini indoor salad garden with stuff you otherwise would throw away. Use these instructions to build your own environmentally-friendly indoor salad garden using plastic food packaging and toilet paper tubes. Keep waste out of the landfill and harvest fresh salad greens from your kitchen windowsill! These indoor salad gardens are great for growing fresh homegrown salad greens even if you don’t have the time or space for a garden. They ..read more
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Five Tips from a New Chicken Keeper
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
New chicken keeper James Gibbon and one of his hens on his Montana farm. Are you thinking about getting your first chickens this spring? Meet Counting My Chickens reader and aspiring blogger James Gibbon. James recently returned to his family farm in Montana and started raising his first flock of chickens. He says he has learned a lot about keeping chickens over the last few months, so I invited him to share some of his newfound knowledge with other Counting My Chickens readers who are planning their own flocks. And, as it turns out, James has some great advice. So, without further ado, here a ..read more
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My Top Five Chicken Websites and Blogs
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
Counting My Chickens recently was named one of the top 50 poultry websites and blogs for poultry keepers by Feedspot. This was a nice honor, and it got me thinking about my own favorite online chicken resources. I was pleased to see many of them included on the Feedspot list, so now I’m sharing them with all of you. My Favorite Chicken Websites and Blogs Here, in no particular order, are my favorite chicken websites and blogs from the Feedspot list (besides mine, of course): Fresh Eggs Daily: When I started raising chickens, Lisa Steele was one of the first bloggers I turned to for advice on ..read more
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What to Do When Your Chicken is Sick
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
Image by Alec Salter Design As a backyard chicken keeper, there likely will come a day when you realize you have a sick chicken on your hands. You may notice that your pet chicken isn’t eating or that she seems lethargic. Or you may notice physical signs of illness, such as a pale comb or a drooping tail. So what do you when your backyard chicken is sick? I’m not a veterinarian, and this post shouldn’t be a substitute for medical advice from a qualified vet, but I’ve dealt with a sick hen or two in the seven-plus years that I’ve been raising chickens. These are my practical ..read more
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A Chicken Obituary: Petunia
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
Petunia Petunia came to the Counting My Chickens flock on May 11, 2014, and left it on May 31, 2019. She wasn’t one of my original hens, but she was a longstanding member of the flock and a good friend and sister to Mabel and Hazel, who have been around since Day 1. In a tribute to her, I’m going to tell you Petunia’s story. This is her chicken obituary. But first a little backstory. The original flockCounting My First Chickens I got my first three chickens in June 2012. This was a much anticipated event, and I already had their names picked out. My original plan was to get a fourth chicken, w ..read more
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Caring for Chickens in Extreme Weather
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
Winter in IowaLessons from the Polar Vortex There’s nothing like an extreme weather event to get you rethinking your chicken-keeping practices. The polar vortex event that hit the Midwest in late January sure had me rethinking mine. I spent a week trying to keep my small flock of chickens alive during record low temperatures and insanely wicked wind chills. Fortunately, we all survived. And I learned a few important lessons about caring for chickens during extreme weather. Caring for Chickens in Winter My first six winters raising backyard chickens had their share of sub-zero temperatures, win ..read more
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A Frugal Homesteading Giveaway!
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
A Frugal Homesteading Giveaway! Would you like to live more frugally? Homesteading, whether on a rural farm or in an urban townhouse, is about living a more self-sufficient, sustainable lifestyle. And knowing how to save money is one of the keys for homesteading success. I’ve previously shared some of my favorite tips for saving money by recycling stuff you otherwise would toss and putting it to good use in the garden. I’ve also shared some of my favorite homemade Christmas gift ideas to help you save money around the holidays. Now, I’m pleased to share some new resources to help yo ..read more
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Meet the New Girl: Bernice
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
There’s a new girl in the flock! Bernice Those of you who follow my Facebook page may have seen my post announcing the addition of a new chicken to the Counting My Hens flock. Bernice came home with me on Monday. This is her story. Background Bernice came to me by way of my sister-in-law Jen, who has been my chicken source (and mentor) since day one. Jen lives on the cutest little hobby farm north of Cedar Rapids, where she keeps sheep, mini-donks (yes!) and, of course, chickens. Every few years, Jen orders a batch of baby chicks from the hatchery, broods them out, and gives me however many ..read more
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Gwen the Rescue Hen: A Book Review
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see the affiliate disclosure at the bottom of this page. I’ve always said there are more reasons to raise backyard chickens than just the fresh eggs – as good as that reason may be. Three other great reasons – to promote humane food production, to educate children about animals, and to have wonderful family pets – are explored in a delightful new children’s book, Gwen the Rescue Hen. Gwen the Rescue Hen: A Book Review Based on a true story (as true as a chicken story can be), Gwen the Rescue Hen is the account of a factory f ..read more
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How to Make a Dust Bath for Your Chickens
Counting My Chickens
by Deborah Neyens
4y ago
Petunia taking a dust bath. Note: This post may contain affiliate links. See the affiliate disclosure at the bottom of this page for more information. How to Make a Dust Bath For Your Chickens Everybody loves a spa day. But for chickens, a dust bath isn’t a luxury or a treat, it’s a necessity. Chickens need to bath in dust regularly for their overall well-being – to clean themselves and stay parasite-free. Chickens will make their own dust baths by digging bowl-shaped holes in the dirt. They’ll roll around in the holes and kick loose dirt over themselves. To the unsuspecting, seeing a c ..read more
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