David A. Berlin

3 weeks ago | writersweekly.com | David A. Berlin |Cindy Ladage

We’ve been raising chickens for the last year and a half to ensure a steady egg supply, as well as to ensure we have some source of meat if needed in an emergency. Along with the six hens we bought from a neighbor to get started, we also received a rooster. He was one of two that the neighbor had, and they were father and son. The younger rooster had become mature enough to be a “threat” to his father so they were beginning to fight. The neighbors were happy to give us the young rooster for free.

Oct 12, 2024 | theglobeandmail.com | David A. Berlin

Aug 23, 2024 | writersweekly.com | David A. Berlin

We have had a brooding hen in the hen house for a couple of weeks. She was sitting on only one egg. A few days later, it was two eggs. For about a week and a half, our other hens stopped laying (or they were laying in the yard or woods somewhere). About a week ago, Brian went out to check on her and the other hens had started laying again. She had abandoned the box with two eggs, and was now sitting on 12 eggs!We spent a couple of days trying to figure out what to do.

Jun 7, 2024 | writersweekly.com | David A. Berlin |Cindy Ladage

A few weeks ago, with our the blessing of all of our neighbors, we started letting our rooster and chickens free-range. I don’t know how they know where our property line is but they ALWAYS stay inside it. Until this past Wednesday…I was sitting on the back porch, taking a late afternoon eyeball break, when I heard the commotion. I stood up, and turned my head to the left. Our neighbor’s dog, Archer, had Randy the Rooster in his mouth, and was violently shaking him back and forth.

Jun 1, 2024 | writersweekly.com | David A. Berlin

Howdy folks!As Angela explained last week, we had a chicken with a bum leg, or foot, or something, We were never able to pinpoint the exact source of her pain. All we knew for sure was that she was limping pretty bad. Suspecting the dreaded “bumblefoot,” we went ahead and cleaned up the chicken’s foot, applied various antibiotic products, and bound it up in some pretty pink veterinary wrap. We kept the chicken in a large dog crate, and changed the wrap regularly for several days.