When A Hen Is A Rooster Is A Hen

When we started our flock of chickens we had 35, we currently have 8.

Alaska is harsh, our dog, Link, is harsher. We had seven hens, two adult roosters, and one baby rooster until recently, when our adult roosters “The Bobs” disappeared. I mean no trace, just gone. I have no idea what took them, but there have been bears, lynx, coyotes, eagles, and foxes all seen in this vicinity, so any number of predators could be the culprit.

Since our roos absence, one of our hens, Hobbles, has started taking on the characteristics of a rooster. She’s gained a lovely tail, larger and redder comb and wattle, and is now crowing in the mornings! Continue reading “When A Hen Is A Rooster Is A Hen”

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Building A Chicken Coop For (Almost) Free

Today we finished our 3′ x 5′ chicken coop (yay!) and were able to move our thirty-two chicks out of the green house.

I know a 3′ X 5′ seems a little small for thirty-two chickens, but they are all under a month old right now and have plenty of space. And fifteen of them are meat birds, so they won’t be living in the coop to long. We made a stockade style “cabin” chicken coop as we needed to clear some trees, anyway. We were able to come up with quite a few 4 ft long pieces roughly the same diameter. So then we picked a spot and Kyle started digging!

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How To Raise Chicks Without Electricity

How To Raise Chicks Without Electricity - SledDogSlow.com

I love chickens, I always have ever since raising my first batch of chicks as an FFA project in high school. So when Kyle and I moved off grid, chickens were a must on my list, both for meat and eggs. However, raising chicks without electricity comes with quite a few challenges, so here is what’s working for me.

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