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Garden Gold

Now that the chickens and goats are here, we have one of the main ingredients for growing great produce. Composted animal bedding makes an incredible difference in garden productivity, especially since I prefer to fertilize naturally rather than chemically. I learned about natural vegetable production early – it was the way my grandfather, who’d grown up farming, raised vegetables to feed us.

Annually, grandpa grew a bountiful garden that provided the families produce all year long. He started by adding composted horse manure from the neighbor’s stable to the same sunny patch of land each year. Then he’d plant his favorite [...]

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Chickens Don't Take Water Baths - They Take Dust Baths!

Will & Bab Really Dusting

One of the funniest chicken behaviors to watch is dust bathing. The chickens find some warm, dry, loose material like dirt, sand, or mulch; and proceed to dig themselves in. They’ll dig and dig, throwing dirt all over themselves, and make happy noises while doing it. One place ours like to bath is beneath a window with a bench seat, and we enjoy sitting there watching and listening to them bath.

Why Dust Baths

Chickens take dust baths to get clean and rid themselves of the parasites that tend to afflict them (mites, fleas, etc.), because instinct has taught [...]

Continue reading Chickens Don’t Take Water Baths – They Take Dust Baths!