Chicken laying an egg!

Here is a video of my chicken laying an egg:) Can you say OUCH? Do you think it hurts?


Chicken laying an egg! (CLOSE UP 2) by HomeFarmIdeas

Black Soldier Fly Composter

Hi you guys! So, I wanted to come up with a way to turn my food scraps into a live feed to give to my chickens and in my searching I found out about Black Soldier Flies (BSF)! I found a page (link below) that lays out how to build a composter that will house your BSF's and at the same time they will break down LOTS of waste, all the while turning that waste into nice and fat, tasty larvae for your chickens! It took me like a week to make this composter because I did not have a lot of time but here it is! These BSF's will really compost your trash fast once the flies lay eggs and all the larva start really living in it. Check out all the videos I have done on this and let me know what you all think please.

Building a Mealworm Farm

As many of you know I am starting to breed mealworms to give my chickens a nice and healthy little treat. Well, as a little time has gone by I am also breeding them to feed to tropical fish that I have in my fish tank. If you would like to check out my fish tank and ideas I have for it, please join my other page called The Fish Tank!

I know some of you are also looking to subsidize the cost of feeding your chickens in the winter and this is perfect! Your chickens will go nuts for them:) Not only that, but thus far they are really easy to breed! 

I've seen lots of different ways to breed mealworms but I think the way I did it in this video is going to work the best for me. It's all about low maintenance for me because I already have lots going on in my life and I cannot give these bugs 24 hours of my attention! LoL! 

 

To get started you're going to need some very simple things that you may already have or you can buy from just about any store to get this mealworm farm started.

Chicken Dust Bath - Benefits

Now I am no professional but I know a healthy chicken makes for a happy chicken, and a happy chicken lays more eggs:) Now me wanting more from my feed investment I try and make sure my girls have the best health not only from organic nonGMO chicken feed, but I also want to make sure they do not have anything to harm them and that is why I wanted to touch on some of the benefits to dust baths for your chickens so you can have the same blessings as I have. I mean, fresh eggs just about everyday is so awesome and my chickens are great help in the garden! 

 

Baby Chickens - Learning Experience

Thank you Heather C. for this great blog post!!

You Live and You Learn!

​It is through an unfortunate circumstance I write this post, however a very educational experience that I thought would be beneficial to share. As many poultry enthusiasts, we eagerly await the first hatch and ship dates advertised by hatcheries and breeders. Our intentions were to get in on the earliest shipment order possible which best fit our egg production purpose flock. You know how it goes, the sooner the eggs flow the sooner they start “feeding themselves”. I ordered a small order of peeps (15 minimum) from a hatchery 3 states away (we are located in West Virginia), so the climate here is always cold in the winter months. Lets look at 3 tips on how to best be prepared for your peep's to show up!

Chicken Treat - Pine Cone Treat

Chicken Pine Cone Treat!

Just another great chicken treat to make for your chickens.  This is a project I did when I was a kid for birds.  Make sure the pine cone you use is not from a store and chemical free.  Preferably get one from the great out doors!  Get the kids to help.  Get the materials, and get ready to make a quick and simple treat for your loved chickens.  This will drive them nuts and it will be healthy for them and you!! Yes, healthy for you!  We use ALL the chickens manure in our garden.  That is why we feed our girls as much organic foods as we can!  All organic chicken manure, all organic garden :) 

Lets take a look at how to make this fun and healthy chicken treat!  These are the items you will need for this project.

Your First Egg - Signs your hen will lay!

Hey everyone!

So, today was the day my Rhode Island Red laid her first egg:) I am really excited that we will be finally getting fresh organic eggs right from our backyard! For me and my family our very first egg is going to go to the Lord. As lots of you know I teach my kids to tithe from our garden and this egg is no different. It is our first fruits (so to speak) and that is for The Lord.

Not everyone has to do it this way or even agree with me but this is what I do:) Lets get started...

Chicken Treat - Chicken Cobbler

Have chickens? Here is a fun chicken treat to make at home! Get the kids, get the materials, and get ready to make a quick and simple treat for your so loved chickens.

Remember, this is a treat it is not their main diet. This little treat will make them happy and at the same time reduce stress. A chicken that is less stressed out is proven to lay more eggs:) But, keep in mind as you're giving them treats you want to do it sparingly so that they stay healthy because better health reduces stress as well!

So let's get started.

Live chicken feed!

Like a lot of you out there I'm always looking to feed my chickens as much as I possibly can on bugs or any live foods around my little homestead.

That is why I let my girls free range:) If you have not already done so give this book a read and tell me what you all think please!

I also catch crickets using cricket traps (See how to make one here!) and this is just one more free live food source for my girls:)

The other night I was digging around in my planner boxes and I noticed these huge larva! I also took note that the larva come out way more at night than they do in the daytime, so if you're going to gather them, you want to gather them at night. That's when they are close to the surface of the soil. I've seen them before and I'm sure a lot of you have as well while you're digging around your compost piles. A lot of people call them "June bugs" but I actually bothered to look up what they were before I made this blog. There called "Figeater Beatles".

Brooder Needs!

Check out my DIY's for my chickens:
DIY waterer: ...read here.
DIY feeder pipe: ...read here.

Matt here, Home Farm Ideas!

Today I want to talk to you about this video. I went out this day and got three baby chicks. One is a Rhode Island red the other two are Barred rocks. I wanted to get chickens to help me get rid of pests in my garden, to till the soil for me, and to have them produce as many eggs as they possibly could! Another side benefit of course would be all that rich manure! I had read some books about keeping chickens before I purchase them and so I guess you could say I was somewhat prepared;)

I really wanted to try and give my chickens as much healthy food as I possibly could and so that meant handpicking as many bugs as I could from my garden and around my house to give my girls! As a matter of fact in this video you should be able to see little worms crawling around in their brooder. I purposely put them there so that when my chickens were put in the brooder they would have live food immediately. I was also being very picky about the feed because you are what you eat.