My Pet Chicken Blog

Several years ago I got it in my head I needed a pet duck or two. A normal person would discuss this with their significant other and plan how to tackle the new addition to the family. I, however, got sneaky. A friend gave me some fertile eggs and I set them under some broody [...]

A couple of months ago, I dreamed my flock was destroyed. I bolted upright out of bed, fuming mad at those (!@*$) darn raccoons… and then, in a fog, realized it was just a dream. The coop in my dream was the wrong one–it was from a house we lived in years ago. The chickens [...]

In an earlier post I mentioned the damage done by hurricane Irene to our enclosed chicken run. Our run hadn’t been predator-proof for almost a year. Things have been very busy at My Pet Chicken and it took a scheduled one-week family vacation this summer to finally pull me from behind the keyboard and put on my [...]

We’ve never heard any meaningful reasons against keeping a small flock of pet backyard chickens. Objections to urban and suburban chicken keeping usually spring from basic ignorance or a lack of education about chickens, and occasionally just a plain lack of common sense. Below are the basic objections you will hear… and as you will [...]

When I go out in the morning to bring treats to my girls and collect our little egg gifts for the day, I’m greeted at the run door by hens begging for me to let them out. How could I turn down those sweet little faces?

Chickens aren’t the only birds we care for around here. We seem to have a rotating cast of winged stars that stay at our cottage a while before returning to the wild. Or, in most cases, our cottage *IS* the wild, and we’re just friendly neighbors who mind our business. Some birds stay for just [...]

For years we enjoyed the native wildlife that was attracted to the pond on our property.  One year a gorgeous Great Blue Heron male began frequenting the property.  He would show up early in the morning or late in the evening to fish.  The bird was used to humans, it appeared, because we could sit [...]

For people new to chicken keeping, deciding how they will manage their flock—free range or confined— can be pretty daunting. Part of the problem is that there isn’t really one BEST way to keep a flock. A lot will depend on your own situation. For instance, my chickens free range in the true sense. That [...]

Living in the city, with a tall block wall surrounding our back yard, I had a false sense of security regarding the safety of our flock. For about 2 1/2 years our chickens enjoyed peace in the backyard. They roamed free each afternoon and co-existed peacefully with our 3 dogs. Each night, before bed (which [...]