My chickens are stars!

Today I joined Amanda Tatom on KXAN's Studio 512 to promote this year's Funky Chicken Coop Tour. Check out the video below.


Screen capture courtesy Studio 512

Chicken greens

Greens unfit for the table wind up in the chicken run

Chicken stare down

From left Artoo, Mabel, Pearl, and Noxema

Stunning frizzles

Two frizzles, a female in black and male in red. Stunning!

Ox beetle thrive

Ever since I started gardening, loads of unfamiliar friendlies have shown up. Ox beetle, the largest in the United States, feed on decaying wood, accelerating decomposition and aerating soil. Males have distinctive horns that make them resemble a triceratops.

Statesman | Love of chickens leads to attractive coops

I was honored when Nancy Flores of the Austin American Statesman asked to interview me about my backyard chicken coop. I submitted photos of my coop, but the quality was not good enough to print. It was fun to talk chicken and describe the work I did!


Photo gallery:
Facebook | Building a crate coop


Read the story:
Statesman | Love of chickens leads to attractive coops

Chicken run expansion

Ever since I got chickens, they've mostly  had the run of the back yard. That gives them access to bugs and grass, but they poop all over the patio. Time to give the chickens their own yard, so I gathered up a bunch of material.

Austin Chronicle | Bicycle Tour de Funky Chickens

This year's Funky Chicken Coop Tour featured an official bicycle ride to select chicken coops, which I organized and led with the help of Bicycle Austin and Social Cycling Austin. We had more than 50 participants join us for the inaugural ride and everyone had a wonderful time!


Read the story:
Austin Chronicle | Bicycle Tour de Funky Chickens

Photo by Margaret Shugart

Making compost with chickens

Backyard chickens aren't just a source of food and endless entertainment -- they can also help turn food waste into nourishing compost. Every few months, I harvest about two wheel barrows of compost my chickens help produce. They scratch and peck their way through loads of organic material, turning it into every gardener's favorite soil amendment.

Chicken coop upgrade: nesting boxes

After one of my chickens went broody (obsessive about hatching eggs), the other 4 chickens had to share the one remaining nesting box, which sometimes resulted in eggs all over the yard or the compost bin. The best solution is to add more nesting boxes.

Building a chicken coop out of shipping crates

I made a chicken coop out of mostly reclaimed material and two shipping crates. The coop can hold up to 10 birds, has a secure chicken run, and includes an attached compost bin. This is how I made it.