Chicken-Keeping
Raising chickens in your backyard can sometimes feel intimidating, especially if your flock gets sick. But you can keep them safe, happy, and healthy without giving up your free time or spending a fortune. After more than a decade of raising chicks, pullets, and layers, I’ve found that these products make the whole experience easier and more enjoyable.
I installed this door on my chicken coop a few years ago and it was the best thing I ever did! Love how it reliably opens and closes with the sunrise and sunset every day.
I line our egg boxes with these nesting pads and rarely have an egg break. The material keeps everything clean and dry and I just toss them in the compost pile when it’s time to replace them.
I rake this into the wood pellets that I use as chicken coop bedding to keep odors down. It definitely keeps the coop smelling fresh in between cleanings!
Mix a few scoops of food-grade DE into your chickens’ coop bedding or dust bathing area to naturally control chicken lice and mites.
This soy-free feed is the next best thing to give your laying hens if you don’t make my whole grain chicken feed. You can also ferment it for extra nutrition.
These grubs are whole dried black soldier fly larvae, which my chickens devour like candy—but healthy candy! They’re loaded with protein and omega-3s and are grown in the Pacific Northwest.
Offer your chickens oyster shells in free-choice feeders to supplement calcium and help them build strong, thick eggshells.
This metal egg rack is just the right size for my kitchen shelf, saves space, and holds nearly two dozen eggs! Bonus: the kids love putting the eggs away after collecting them.
Every chicken first aid kit needs a bottle of this. It helps heal pecking wounds, vent prolapse, bumblefoot, and other common injuries.
Another first aid essential, this is sort of like a Vicks VapoRub for chickens. Use it to soothe and heal respiratory issues and general lethargy.
Always keep an oral vitamin supplement on hand for your flock. I like this one for boosting their immunity through times of stress (like broodiness, molting, or injury recovery).
Traditional heat lamps are dangerous for many reasons—this is what I use for heating a chick brooder. It mimics the cozy warmth of a mama hen and won’t burn them (or your house).
