TPL Ranch

Have you ever noticed your hens suddenly freezing and squatting when you go to approach them or touch their backs?! This is very normal chicken behavior but it's helpful to know what it actually means!! Basicallų this behavior is a sign of submission! Here are 3 reasons why ypur hen might be doing this! 1. She is nearing the age of maturitų and is close to beginning her egg laying journey. Some people even say that the chicken will lay her first egg just a few days after she begins squatting. 2. The chicken is shifting into mating position for a nearby rooster. She is being receptive to a rooster and showing her submission. Even if you don't have a rooster in your flock, it's normal for her to see a human as her "boss". 3. The "submissive squat" is also a defense mechanism too! By holding her body close to the ground, she can protect the vulnerable parts of her body in hopes to avoid a predator attack. Have you ever seen your chicken do this squat? Did you know what it means?! #ilovemychickens #backyardchickens #chickencare #pastureraisedeggs #freerangechickenfarming #happuchickens #homesteadina #hapouchickens

Have you ever noticed your hens suddenly freezing and squatting when you go to approach them or touch their backs?! This is very normal chicken behavior but it's helpful to know what it actually means!! Basicallų this behavior is a sign of submission! Here are 3 reasons why ypur hen might be doing this! 1. She is nearing the age of maturitų and is close to beginning her egg laying journey. Some people even say that the chicken will lay her first egg just a few days after she begins squatting. 2. The chicken is shifting into mating position for a nearby rooster. She is being receptive to a rooster and showing her submission. Even if you don't have a rooster in your flock, it's normal for her to see a human as her "boss". 3. The "submissive squat" is also a defense mechanism too! By holding her body close to the ground, she can protect the vulnerable parts of her body in hopes to avoid a predator attack. Have you ever seen your chicken do this squat? Did you know what it means?! #ilovemychickens #backyardchickens #chickencare #pastureraisedeggs #freerangechickenfarming #happuchickens #homesteadina #hapouchickens

Its almost chick season! Here are a few tips if you’re just getting started. 1️⃣ Don’t buy chicks from just anywhere. Chicks from big-box stores might be sitting under bright lights for days, and you don’t always know how they were handled or fed. Instead, I suggest ordering from a local hatchery that ships overnight for healthier, less-stressed chicks. 2️⃣ Don’t forget to hydrate them right away. After their journey, chicks arrive dehydrated, and skipping this step can be dangerous. I give mine a nourishing electrolyte water with honey, garlic, and other natural ingredients, then dip their beaks so they know where to drink. I’II post my homemade electrolyte drink another day! 3️⃣ Don’t guess the brooder temperature. Chicks can’t regulate their body temperature, and too hot or too cold can cause major issues. Use a reliable thermometer to keep their brooder at the right temp and adjust as they grow. I linked the thermometer we have in my Amazon storefront in my bio. 4️⃣ Don’t ignore pasty butt. A dried-up vent might seem minor, but it can be fatal if not checked. Gently clean any dried poop with warm water to prevent blockages and keep your chicks healthy. #chicks #chickens #chick

Its almost chick season! Here are a few tips if you’re just getting started. 1️⃣ Don’t buy chicks from just anywhere. Chicks from big-box stores might be sitting under bright lights for days, and you don’t always know how they were handled or fed. Instead, I suggest ordering from a local hatchery that ships overnight for healthier, less-stressed chicks. 2️⃣ Don’t forget to hydrate them right away. After their journey, chicks arrive dehydrated, and skipping this step can be dangerous. I give mine a nourishing electrolyte water with honey, garlic, and other natural ingredients, then dip their beaks so they know where to drink. I’II post my homemade electrolyte drink another day! 3️⃣ Don’t guess the brooder temperature. Chicks can’t regulate their body temperature, and too hot or too cold can cause major issues. Use a reliable thermometer to keep their brooder at the right temp and adjust as they grow. I linked the thermometer we have in my Amazon storefront in my bio. 4️⃣ Don’t ignore pasty butt. A dried-up vent might seem minor, but it can be fatal if not checked. Gently clean any dried poop with warm water to prevent blockages and keep your chicks healthy. #chicks #chickens #chick #homesteadlife

If you’re wanting eggs this summer or more hens that will add to your egg numbers by summer time, you need to be buying chicks NOW!! If you wait to get chicks in the spring, chances are you won’t see eggs until the fall. ➡️Some chickens will start laying as early as 18 weeks, but typically most chickens take at least 6 months to begin laying. It’s definitely helpful to plan when you should expect to see eggs and that starts with when you get chicks!! Some early laying breed options are: 🥚 Leghorns 🥚Rhode Island reds 🥚Australorps 🥚Red Sex Links 🥚ISA Browns & Golden Comets We will be adding some more chicks this year but will probably wait until April. So I’m not expecting to see more eggs until this coming fall. When are you going to add new chicks? Or do you already have some?! #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #backyardchickens #homesteadlife #homesteadliving #chickens101 #farmfresheggs #pastureraised #fresheggsdaily #layinghens #happychickens

You *NEED* to be doing these 2 things for your flock in 2025!! 1. Soaking your feed 2. Adding red pepper flakes into your feed Both of these things are super easy and simple to add into your normal chicken feeding routine and will reap some great benefits! Soaking feed: 💦Soaking feed will help the feed expand, in turn will cut down on feed costs. You can feed less volume and after soaking it yield the same amount of dry food as you were feeding before. 💦Fermented feed is healthier and easier for chickens to digest 💦Chickens typically LOOOVE wet feed and prefer it over dry. Red pepper flakes: 🌶️They are a great natural dewormer. 🌶️Adding red pepper flakes into your feed will help your chickens fight bacteria. 🌶️They are high in vitamin C and will help improve blood flow and circulation. 🌶️Your egg yolks will be that dark rich orange color! *And don’t worry! Your chickens don’t have heat receptors like us humans. So they can’t taste the *heat* of the peppers! Are you going to try these to things for your chickens this year? Or maybe you already are! Let me know in the comments below!👇 #raisingchickens #homesteadinglife #chickenhacks #backyardchickens #healthychickens #happychickens #chickensofinstagram #ilovemychickens #farmfresheggs #chickenmath

When I first started keeping chickens, all my roosting bars were 2 inch wide boards. I eventually made all my roosting bars removable and also turned them over to the 4 inch wider side facing up. I have listed some benefits of using a wider roosting board in your coop: 🐓By using a wider roosting board your chickens’ feet will stay warmer in the winter since they are able to position their warm bodies and feathers over their feet when they are in a flat footed stance. Yes, I know in the wild chickens roosted overnight in trees but they also didn’t have a coop or feeders or water containers either🤪 🐓If you live in an area where your winters are brutally cold this is especially important as it can also help prevent frostbite on their feet since the extra width allows them to hunker down over their feet. 🐓Using a wider roosting board helps chickens keep their balance and prevents falling off the roost. Yes, this does happen because we all know chickens squabble over roosting positions 🙄😂 Just a little side note on my roosting bars. I round out the squared edges with my electric hand sander🥰 How do your chickens prefer to roost? #backyardhens #roosting #chickencoops

When I first started keeping chickens, all my roosting bars were 2 inch wide boards. I eventually made all my roosting bars removable and also turned them over to the 4 inch wider side facing up. I have listed some benefits of using a wider roosting board in your coop: 🐓By using a wider roosting board your chickens’ feet will stay warmer in the winter since they are able to position their warm bodies and feathers over their feet when they are in a flat footed stance. Yes, I know in the wild chickens roosted overnight in trees but they also didn’t have a coop or feeders or water containers either🤪 🐓If you live in an area where your winters are brutally cold this is especially important as it can also help prevent frostbite on their feet since the extra width allows them to hunker down over their feet. 🐓Using a wider roosting board helps chickens keep their balance and prevents falling off the roost. Yes, this does happen because we all know chickens squabble over roosting positions 🙄😂 Just a little side note on my roosting bars. I round out the squared edges with my electric hand sander🥰 How do your chickens prefer to roost? #backyardhens #roosting #chickencoops

How well do you know your breeds? Can you guess the 4 different breeds of hens in this video?? Also, who else can watch chickens drink all day? I think it so fun to watch them 😉 . . . 🥁Ok, here are the answers!! From left to right ➡️ 1. Olive Egger: 🐓This hen is Olive (original I know). Olive eggers lay large olive green colored eggs! They lay around 150-200 eggs per year and are pretty consistent layers. They tend to be friendly and curious and in my opinion are a must have in your flock. Did you know that an olive egger is a cross between a dark laying chicken (barnevelder, maran etc) and a blue egg laying chicken (crème legbar, ameraucana etc)?! Pretty cool, huh! 2. Ameraucana: 🐓This hen is Talulah, she is an Ameraucana. Ameraucana’s come in a variety of colors. They lay gorgeous blue eggs! These chickens have unique facial feathers such as cute beards and muffs around their beaks. This breed of chicken does well in both cold and hot climates. They are pretty consistent layers and rarely go broody. 3. Welsummer: 🐓This hen is Dory. She is a welsummer! Welsummer’s lay unique dark brown eggs that usually are speckled too! They are friendly and intelligent and are good layers with good size eggs. Welsummers also sport beautiful feather colors that range in browns and a reddish breast. 4. Blue Copper Maran: 🐓This is Violet. She is a maran and specifically a blue copper maran. Within the maran breed there are a few different variations. Some marans are a dark black in color and some are lighter like this hen. Marans typically have large combs and lightly feathered legs. This breed can act as a good dual purpose choice for both laying and meat production. They are also good foragers and lay dark rick brown eggs! A definite must have in your flock! Do you have any of these breeds in your flock? Which would be your favorite?! #backyardchickens #poultryofinstagram #chickenbreeds

The joys of having farm fresh eggs means that sonmetimes those eggs will have some imperfections that are totallų normal AND harmless. You see the eggss that you buy in the grocery store go through a pretty rigorous process of washing and being analyzed. Each egg is candled by a special machine that detects any imperfections or defects such as a "meat spot" so it would be Very rare to find a grocery store egg with a meat spot. Having said that, that doesn't mean you have to freak out about eating farm fresh eggs. Meat spots are totally normal and is so something to worry about. You just simply pick it out and then continue on. What is a meat spot? Basically a meat spot is just a brown discoloration within the egg that typically occurs when a blood vessel ruptures while the egg is forming. It may not look very appetizing but is something not to be concerned about. Have you ever had a meat sppt in one of your farm fresh eggs? Did you eat the egg or toss it?! chicken essentials guide. #chickenladyproblems #chickensoninstagram #chickensofig #ilovemychickens #farmfresheggs #fresheggs #layinghens #chickenfarmer #homesteadlife #pasturedeggs #growyourownfood

The joys of having farm fresh eggs means that sonmetimes those eggs will have some imperfections that are totallų normal AND harmless. You see the eggss that you buy in the grocery store go through a pretty rigorous process of washing and being analyzed. Each egg is candled by a special machine that detects any imperfections or defects such as a "meat spot" so it would be Very rare to find a grocery store egg with a meat spot. Having said that, that doesn't mean you have to freak out about eating farm fresh eggs. Meat spots are totally normal and is so something to worry about. You just simply pick it out and then continue on. What is a meat spot? Basically a meat spot is just a brown discoloration within the egg that typically occurs when a blood vessel ruptures while the egg is forming. It may not look very appetizing but is something not to be concerned about. Have you ever had a meat sppt in one of your farm fresh eggs? Did you eat the egg or toss it?! chicken essentials guide. #chickenladyproblems #chickensoninstagram #chickensofig #ilovemychickens #farmfresheggs #fresheggs #layinghens #chickenfarmer #homesteadlife #pasturedeggs #growyourownfood

💡⁉️Should you put an artificial light in your coop this winter? This seems to be one of the big chicken keeping debates. Some people say you should and some people say you shouldn’t. ❌✅I don’t necessarily think there is a right or a wrong. But there are definitely pros and cons when giving a light and it’s helpful to understand them. First off, let’s understand the science behind light and the laying cycle of a hen⬇️ 💡Chickens needs a certain amount of daylight hours to be able to lay. Light triggers egg production and stimulates the pituitary gland which is needed for consistent egg laying. 💡Chickens need between 14-16 hours of daylight hours to be able lay. When the days get shorter and less daylight hours, your chickens will start laying less and may take a break completely until spring! Basically supplementing an artificial light just tricks your chickens into thinking there are more daylight hours even when during the shorter days and winter months. Now here are the pros and the cons….. ✅The biggest pro to putting a light in your coop is that you will STILL get eggs through the winter months. You won’t have a flock of free loading chickens for a few months 😉 ❌A big con to giving a light to your chickens and making them lay through the months with shorter days, is that you will shorten their egg laying life. Chickens are born with the amount of eggs they will lay. So if you have your chickens lay year round they will just run out of eggs faster. In the past I have always allowed my chickens to take a break through the winter months as that is what they would naturally do as the days get shorter. However, I do miss my chickens paying me rent throughout those months 😉 What do you do?? Do you give a light or not? Maybe this year I’ll switch it up. #chickensofinstagram #backyardchickens #ilovemychickens #farmfresheggs #freerangeflock #pasturedeggs #happychickens #homesteadlife #farmtoplate #chickenkeep