Category: Feeding, Watering & Nutrition

Automatic feeders, waterers, and nutrition guides for backyard chickens.

Galvanized steel feed cans with clamped lids storing chicken feed rodent-free in a shed
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jul 22, 2026

Rodent-Proof Feed Storage for Your Chicken Coop

The fastest way to invite rats and mice into a coop is to leave a bag of feed where they…

Handful of scratch grains scattered as a dusk treat for backyard chickens
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jul 21, 2026

Scratch Grains for Chickens: Treat, Not a Meal

Scratch grains are the most overfed thing in backyard chicken keeping. Scratch is a treat — a cracked-corn-and-grain mix that…

Jar of fermented chicken feed ready to serve to a backyard flock
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jul 21, 2026

Fermented Chicken Feed: A Practical Keeper Guide

Fermenting chicken feed is the cheapest upgrade in the coop that actually earns its place. Soaking complete feed in water…

Backyard chickens eating safe vegetable treats within the ten percent rule
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jul 20, 2026

What Treats Can Chickens Eat? Safe and Unsafe Foods

Chickens are enthusiastic about almost anything you hand them, which is exactly why treats are where good intentions wreck a…

Separate dishes of insoluble grit and crushed oyster shell offered to backyard chickens
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jun 26, 2026

Grit and Oyster Shell for Chickens: What Each One Does

Grit and oyster shell are the two supplements every chicken keeper hears about and almost everyone confuses. Grit is hard…

Chicks, pullets and laying hens representing chicken feed protein needs by age
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jun 19, 2026

Chicken Feed Protein Requirements by Age: A Keeper Guide

Protein is the nutrient that builds a chicken from the inside out — feathers, muscle, and the egg itself —…

Layer feed and grower feed side by side showing the calcium difference for chickens
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jun 18, 2026

Layer Feed vs Grower Feed: When to Switch Your Chickens

The difference between layer feed and grower feed comes down to one mineral: calcium. Layer feed carries roughly 3.5 to…

Backyard chickens at a feeder with layer feed, grit and oyster shell for complete nutrition
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jun 18, 2026

What to Feed Chickens: The Complete Feeding and Nutrition Guide

What you feed chickens decides almost everything you care about: how many eggs land in the nesting box, whether combs…

Fresh backyard eggs handled and stored from nest box to kitchen
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition Jun 4, 2026

Egg Handling and Storage: Nest Box to Kitchen

My eggs sit unwashed in a bowl on the kitchen counter, not the fridge, and that’s not neglect — it’s…

Coop runoff as hydroponic nutrient
Beginner
Feeding, Watering & Nutrition May 12, 2026

Coop Runoff as Hydroponic Nutrient: Closing the Waste-to-Food Loop

Chicken coop runoff contains dissolved nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at concentrations that make it a viable nutrient input for hydroponic…