Urban Hen House

Urban Chicken Farmer!  Pemco Insurance can relate to me.  I love it! Anything with a Banjo gets my attention and boy did the advertising team nail this profile!  It suits me to a T.  Enjoy the link.

  Barbara Kilarski wrote a terrific book: Keep Chickens!, it encourages, motivates, and inspires me about basic chicken care. One of the (many) things that she shares about, is what she feeds her chickens. Cottage cheese, of all things, is a food that she recommends.  So, I happily gave it... [More]

  Crackers II, Penny and Crackers I are pictured left to right.  Proof indeed that chickens roost on a roosting bar once the sun sets. The girls cozy up with each other now at night, but in their first month together, the blacks forced the red off of the bar.  Since she grew, the red ... [More]

  We found quite the surprise in the hen house yesterday – one whopping big egg!  When you compare this big egg, to the regulars, you can see something is different.  So I checked the egg on the scale –it registered off the charts BIG! Beyond extra large – XXL.   I strongly susp... [More]

I just learned how to butcher a chicken! I went to a class in a local Seattle neighborhood. A lady opened up her yard, and shared her knowledge and skill. I have to admit, I was a little cautious to join a group of complete strangers wielding sharp knives. I half expected to see some PETA protest... [More]

Meet Penny the Rhode Island Red hen.  She hatched in April 2011 and began laying an egg a day in September 2011. She walks right up to us and lets us pick her up.  She’ll eat treats right out of our hands.  She’s a very sweet bird.  Her comb and wattle darkened up in ... [More]

The three hens are producing a total of about 1 dozen eggs each week, as Summer settles into Fall. I’m considering adding a low wattage light bulb out into the chicken coop. Because, some hens require 14 hours of light exposure, to maintain regular egg production. A general internet search will sure... [More]

The American Egg Board says they’re incredible and edible, I still remember that ad campaign and jingle from my childhood.  But, how does an edible egg pop out of one of my hens? Well, we all know the how (and a quick video search on the internet will yield a hen laying an egg to validate your ... [More]

  I’ll bet the question made you think twice. My chickens have nipples.  But not the kind you think!  These nipples are called poultry watering nipples, and they are metal and plastic widgets designed to fit into a vessel, to control and protect a clean water supply to the poultry.
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 I’m really pleased with this little hen house.  On the face of it, I can admit, it looks just okay –a bit of plain Jane really.  My local farm supply sells this set up new in the box for around $400.00.  I bought mine used and spent a fraction of that cost.  I placed garden... [More]