When it comes to keeping backyard chickens productive, most keepers focus on feed, coop design and health care. But one detail that often gets overlooked is nesting material. What you put inside your hens' nesting box matters more than you might think! The right nesting material not only keeps eggs clean and safe but also reduces breakage and helps prevent parasites. Many people don’t realize how important nest box material is, and as a result, many are using the wrong materi

One of the greatest joys of keeping chickens is watching them roam freely, scratch for insects, dust bathe in the sunshine, and express their natural behaviors. Free-ranging provides enrichment, exercise, and access to fresh forage, but it also comes with increased exposure to predators. Learning how to keep free-range chickens safer from predators is an important part of responsible flock management. Unfortunately, there is no way to completely eliminate predator risks when

The Mite Myth: Why Chickens Are Really Losing Their Feathers Introduction Scroll through social media and you’ll quickly find countless posts of bald or patchy chickens, often paired with confident advice pointing to mites—especially “depluming mites”—as the cause. This explanation gets repeated so often that it’s become the default assumption. But in most cases, that simply isn’t what’s going on. With ongoing conversations I have daily about poultry health and nutrition, one

Spring is when chickens naturally become more active with breeding behaviors. As daylight hours increase, roosters begin mating more frequently, and this is often when hens start showing signs of feather wear across their backs and wings. If you keep roosters with your hens, you may notice some of your girls looking a little ruffled. Missing feathers, irritated skin or even small wounds are common signs that your hens are being over-mated. The good news? There's an easy way t

Understanding One of a Chicken’s Most Natural Behaviors Few sights are more entertaining to a chicken keeper than watching a hen suddenly collapse into a shallow hole in the dirt, flap wildly, toss soil over herself, and lie there looking completely content. To someone unfamiliar with chickens, it can look alarming. But in reality, you are witnessing one of the most instinctive and important behaviors in a chicken’s life: dust bathing. Dust bathing is often misunderstood onli

Chickens are naturally curious, active foragers. In the wild, they spend much of their day scratching, pecking, and exploring in search of feed. In modern backyard flocks, that natural behavior can sometimes be limited, especially during confinement, winter weather, or when space is restricted. This is where enrichment matters—but not all enrichment needs to involve extra foods or treats. Why Too Many Extras Can Work Against Health It’s common for chicken keepers to offer a v

Backyard chicken enthusiasts are often tempted to supplement their flock’s diet with insects. After all, chickens are natural foragers, and the idea of feeding them mealworms, grubs, or black fly larvae seems both natural and beneficial. But while these creepy-crawlies might seem like a protein-packed treat, the truth is that they offer little to no nutritional benefit and can actually undermine the carefully balanced diet your chickens receive from their feed. In this blog,

🧭 Introduction: Do Chickens Need Grit and Oyster Shell? Chicken grit and oyster shell are often marketed together. This can lead many backyard chicken keepers to believe that both are essential for everyday flock health. However, these two products serve completely different purposes. In many cases, one is far more necessary than the other. Understanding the difference between chicken grit and oyster shell helps you avoid unnecessary purchases. You can then focus only on wha

When people think about free ranging chickens, the first image that often comes to mind is hens happily scratching through grass, hunting for bugs, and supplementing their diet naturally. While that does happen, it’s not the main reason people often discuss the advantages of free ranging chickens. While many assume nutrition is the main advantage, the biggest benefit is actually exercise and movement , not food. Advantages of Free Ranging Chickens: More Than Just Foraging Ch

Helping Your Flock Develop Healthy Habits from the Start One of the most important steps in raising well-behaved backyard chickens is teaching them how to properly use their coop — especially the roosts and nest boxes . These aren’t just accessories; they are essential for your flock’s safety, comfort, health, and egg-laying success . Whether you’re introducing young pullets to the coop for the first time or retraining adult hens, patience and the right setup go a long way .

Quarantining new birds is one of the most important steps you can take to protect the health of your existing flock. Even chickens that appear perfectly healthy can carry disease, parasites, or infections without showing obvious symptoms right away. Introducing new birds too quickly can put your entire flock at risk. One of the biggest things many backyard chicken keepers do not realize is that moving chickens from one place to another is very stressful on them . That stress

The Importance of Eggshell Quality Eggshell quality is crucial for both the health of your hens and the success of your backyard flock. When eggshells are weak or soft, it can lead to a host of problems. Not only do these eggs have a higher chance of breaking, but they can also indicate that your hens are not receiving the proper nutrition they need. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the factors that affect eggshell quality and how to ensure your hens lay strong, healthy e

Keep Your Coop Fresh, Healthy and Low-Maintenance Year-Round - Simple Chicken Coop Care Maintenance Keeping your chicken coop clean doesn’t have to be a full-time job. With a few smart systems and the right tools in place, your coop can largely manage itself—saving you time, saving you money from unnecessary products, keeping your flock healthy, and making coop care almost effortless. Here are the five systems that make it happen, with practical tips and tools to make mainten

Internal parasites, especially roundworms , can silently affect the health and productivity of backyard flocks. In Canada, deworming backyard chickens, options for egg-safe, over-the-counter dewormers are limited, so it’s critical to use them strategically and responsibly . For most small backyard flocks, Piperazine , available here at the Ranch, is a safe and effective option. This guide will help you understand when, why, and how to deworm , with practical tips, dosing gu

Dirty vent feathers are one of the most frequent questions in backyard poultry groups. Soiled feathers around the vent often signal that something in the flock’s diet or management needs adjusting. In most cases, the issue stems from excess treats, low-digestibility grains, or digestive upset . Parasites or cloacitis (vent gleet in backyard chickens) may contribute in some situations, but they are far less common than simple nutrition-related causes. Before jumping to medicat

Not all parasite treatments work the same way — and not all are safe for laying hens producing eggs for people. Understanding the differences is key to keeping your flock healthy and your eggs safe. Safe parasite control in laying hens requires understanding not just what works, but what is appropriate for food-producing birds and the eggs they produce. When you keep laying hens, you are managing food-producing animals . That makes treatment decisions different from pet birds

Just as babies need complete nutrition from breast milk or formula, chickens thrive on a complete feed - no extras required. A helpful way to understand poultry nutrition is to compare it to infant nutrition. Breast milk and infant formula are considered nutritionally complete foods. They are carefully designed to provide everything an infant requires for growth, development, and survival—in precise amounts and ratios. Because of this, no one would consider diluting breast mi

If you've ever noticed one of your hens walking with a swollen abdomen or appearing uncomfortable, you may have come across what many backyard chicken keepers refer to as "water belly." The proper term for this condition is ascites, and while it can look alarming, it's important to understand that this is not a disease in itself, but rather a symptom of an underlying issue. What is Water belly? Water belly in laying hens is characterized by the buildup of fluid in the abdom

When buying chicks, you’ll often see “vaccinated for Marek’s” or “MG-clean / MG-vaccinated” listed as major selling points. While vaccinations absolutely have value, they are often misunderstood. Vaccines are tools for risk reduction , not magic shields—and they do not replace good management, biosecurity, or genetics. This article explains what Marek’s disease and MG actually are , how the vaccines work, why vaccination alone is not the end-all, be-all solution, and our a

A prolapsed vent in laying hens is one of the most alarming conditions a chicken keeper can face. It appears suddenly, looks dramatic, and often leads people to believe it was unavoidable or simply “bad luck.” In reality, a prolapsed vent is rarely random. In backyard flocks, it is most often the result of long-term nutritional imbalance, even when the foods being offered are considered “healthy.” Understanding why this happens is key to prevention — and in some cases, early