Backyard Chicken Update

We can’t believe the fluffy bits of down I wrote about a few weeks ago are now fully-feathered, chicken-shaped girls.  With the help of my amazing dad Jerry, who worked hard with me here while Tom was in Ethiopia and Senegal, our coop is finished. We think it’s pretty wonderful.  …

Raising Chicks: A Simple Biddy Box/Brooder (for first world chickens)

Last summer we spent two months traveling in Kenya and Tanzania, spending a fair bit of time in small, off-the-track villages.  There, nearly everyone keeps chickens, which roam free in the dirt roads, alleys, fields, and schoolyards.  Most homes have a shelter for their chickens, with a roof and a …

Why We’re Raising Chickens in the City

I write against the background sound of  constant sweet cheeping–three baby chicks now inhabit a corner of our mudroom, just off the kitchen.  We first raised chickens about nine years ago, when it was still something of a curiosity to do so in the city.  Now backyard chickens in Seattle …