All About Incubation, with Chicken Hatching Video

Of all the memorable experiences you can share with your kids at home, I’d say incubating an egg and watching a baby chicken hatch provides the most fun per dollar by far. We received our fertilized egg from a friend for free (because chicken people are...

Rooster Laying an Egg: Buckbeak Video

I wrote last week about Buckbeak, the unusual Easter Egger. For months now, everyone who knows about chickens has been telling me I have a rooster. Buckbeak’s color pattern, saddle feathers, and spur buds all seem to confirm that. We were a bit disappointed,...

How Long do Chickens Lay Eggs?

Chickens usually lay their first eggs when they’re between five and seven months old. They start out strong, laying nearly every day, then gradually lay fewer and fewer eggs as they age. How long a chicken lays depends on her breed, her diet, and how many hours...

Target Dress Challenge? Yes Please!

.”it hfit t  I first noticed a post about the Target dress challenge in early January. Someone was making fun of some new dresses at Target that looked like they’d fallen right out of a time capsule from 1862. It was good for a laugh, but I was skeptical...

Cocktales with Buckbeak

  Baby chicks are sold under one of three labels: pullets (young hens), cockerels (young roosters), or straight run (unsexed, you get to be surprised later). We bought pullets to grow up with our home-hatched chick, because we weren’t sure if it might be a...