Seven guides
What's inside 🐣
Real husbandry advice, written the way you'd explain it to a friend over the fence. Start at the beginning, or dive into whatever you need right now.
Getting started
Local rules, coop sizing maths, choosing chicks, the six brooder weeks, move-in day, and what to expect from the first egg. The whole path, roughly five months.
Start here →
Feeding & nutrition
Feed by life stage, the 90/10 treat rule, the foods that are genuinely toxic and why, water logistics, and the grit-versus-oyster-shell distinction everyone gets wrong.
Feed them right →
A year in the yard
Spring mud, summer heat stress, the autumn moult, and why winter frostbite is caused by moisture rather than cold. Heat kills faster than cold ever will.
Season by season →
The breed directory
Thirteen breeds with honest temperament notes, eggs per year, shell colour and cold-hardiness — filterable, so you can find the friendly ones or the blue-egg layers fast.
Meet all 13 →
Eggs & the Egg-dex
Why blue soaks through the shell and brown is painted on the outside, what's inside an egg, the float test, and what every odd egg you'll ever find actually means.
Collect the rainbow →
Crack a fact
Twelve gloriously useless chicken facts, each with the reason it's true. They remember your face, they see ultraviolet, and they are the closest living relative of T. rex.
Crack all twelve →
The coop shop
Six things worth owning, what to look for on each, a buy-this-not-that table, and an honest list of the gear you can skip entirely.
See the gear →The short answers
Things people ask first
Do I need a rooster for eggs?
No. Hens lay whether or not a rooster exists — he's only needed if you want fertilised eggs that could hatch. Most towns ban them anyway.
How many should I get?
Three minimum. Chickens are flock animals and a lone hen is a stressed, noisy one. Three good layers give roughly 12–15 eggs a week.
Will they survive winter?
Easily — cold is much less dangerous than heat. The real winter job is ventilation, because frostbite comes from trapped moisture, not low temperature.
Is it cheaper than shop eggs?
Honestly, no. Once you've paid for a coop, nobody comes out ahead. The eggs are better and the birds are good company, but this is a hobby, not a saving.
Why is my hen eating her eggs?
She's not a monster — she's a hen who found a broken egg and discovered it's delicious. It usually starts with an accidental break, then spreads because chickens copy each other. Collect eggs often, keep nests clean and dark, and keep oyster shell available.
Why is my hen sitting in the nest all day, hissing at me?
That's a broody hen — a hormone-driven urge to hatch eggs. She stops laying, barely leaves the nest, and defends her spot. Totally normal. Want chicks? Give her fertile eggs. Don't? Keep her off the nest until the urge passes.
Why is my chicken rolling in the dirt?
That's a dust bath — a chicken's favorite spa treatment. They roll in loose dirt to clean their skin and feathers of parasites, dead skin, and irritants. Give them a dry, sandy patch and they'll handle the rest themselves.
Why are my chickens pecking each other?
That's the pecking order — the social hierarchy chickens form to decide who eats first and who's boss. A little pecking is normal. Persistent feather loss or blood isn't: that needs more space and enrichment.
Do I really need to lock them up at night?
Yes, every night. Chickens are helpless in the dark, and raccoons, weasels, and owls are patient. The rule: roost inside a secured coop with every door closed AND locked, and use hardware cloth buried at least 12 inches so diggers can't tunnel in.
Say hi
Join the flock 💬
Brag about your first egg, show off your coop build, ask the "is this normal?!" questions. We're hatching a community on: