Egg Operation Involved in Recent Recall Still Not Complying with Health & Safety Laws

More than two months after the largest egg recall in US history, one of the two egg operations involved still does not meet minimum FDA health and safety standards. Quality Egg LLC has been given a letter from the FDA demanding immediate compliance with federal regulations in order for the operation to resume shipping eggs to consumers.
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Health and Sanitary Violations Still Prevalent Two Months After Salmonella Egg Recall

The federal Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to Quality Egg LLC (operator of Wright County Egg) outlining continuing violations of shell egg regulations. The FDA also informed Quality Egg that they are not to sell eggs for human consumption until the violations have been rectified.
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Are You Afraid of Salmonella in Your Eggs?

The thought of a massive recall of 380 million eggs due to salmonella contamination is enough to make anyone rethink having an omelet. Fortunately, however, those who buy eggs from local, sustainable sources are far less likely to ever have to worry.
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Understanding How Salmonella Gets into Eggs Can Change How You Buy Them

Today's news headlines are frightening. Over 380 million eggs have been recalled across the United States due to suspected salmonella contamination. Salmonella (S. enteritidis) is a foodborne bacteria that can cause illness and even death in humans. The CDC suspects that hundreds of recent cases of salmonella poisoning can be attributed to eggs. 


How exactly does salmonella get into an egg in the first place? There are several ways, but they always have the root cause of poor sanitation at egg factories. 


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Chickens in Urban Montreal

A great report from my friend, Kyla, on the possible re-introduction of laying hens in backyards in Montreal. Not only an important step back towards self-sufficiency but also a step in the right direction for saving the endangered Chanteclers.

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After More Than 40 Years, Laying Hens Return to Montreal
On the eve of Expo 67, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau passed a law that forbid the raising, breeding, slaughtering and butchering of poultry and game in the city. Montreal could see the reintroduction of laying hens in 2011.

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Can You Keep a Pet Chicken in Your House?

Do you really want to deal with chicken diapers?

The Rise in Urban Chickens Has Some Owners Considering Them a House Pet

Chicken ownership in cities and towns has exploded over the past few years as more and more municipalities change their codes regarding keeping chickens in an urban environment. With the rise in city chickens, some owners are taking the next step and keeping pet chickens in their house full time.


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Is Your Farm a Business or a Hobby?

Understanding the Difference Can Save You Thousands in Taxes

The tax rules relating to farmers can be difficult to understand and navigate. One of the most important farm tax rules relates to whether the farm is a business run for profit or a hobby that is run for pleasure. 


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Care and Feeding of Chickens

Some of Tammy's great basic chicken care tips:

If you're going to own chickens, you're going to need to know about feeding them.

A few points about chickens that people sometimes don't realize:


No, you don't need a rooster to have eggs. The hens will lay whether they've got a guy around or not. You only need a rooster if you want fertilized eggs.


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Egg -Eating Chickens: How to Stop the Practice

Training Your Chickens to Ignore Their Eggs is Important to the Welfare of the Henhouse

One of the most frustrating habits that backyard chicken owners encounter frequently is the egg-eating hen. Most chickens will sit on the eggs keeping them warm or will ignore them all together until they are collected but some chickens peck into the egg and eat it shell and all. This can leave a mess all over the hen house and can rob you of eggs.


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Backyard Chickens for Beginners: Basic Requirements

Check out the pictures of Brad's great coop setup by going to the "Read more" link:

What You'll Need to Spend to Get Started with a Small Flock of Chickens
There are many reasons why more and more people are looking into raising chickens in their backyard. Some raise backyard chickens to increase the safety of their own food supply by avoiding the risk of large scale salmonella or E. Coli contaminations that seem to happen on a regular basis with chicken and eggs among other foods. Others prefer the higher nutritional content of grass-fed free-range eggs compared to any eggs found in the supermarket.

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Housing Chickens

If you're wondering whether you really want "free range" chickens or not, check out Tammy's article on chicken housing:

How to house your chickens is an important decision.

Since you want to keep your chickens alive after you've raised them or bought them fully-grown, you need to make sure they have adequate housing to keep them healthy.

Free range? What about predators?

You must first decide if you plan to keep your chickens contained in a chicken yard or pen or let them free-range over your property.

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Getting Started with Chickens

A great chicken primer from Tammy:

Chicks or Adult Birds?
It's not hard - or expensive - to establish your own little flock of chickens to supply eggs.

Eggs are the whole reason I got my chickens. Yes, it's cheaper to buy eggs in the store, BUT they don't have the flavor or nutrition of fresh eggs.

With your own chickens, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your care helped produce those eggs and when you need an egg, you walk out into the yard.

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How to Make a Dust Bath for Your Chickens

A great article from my friend, Marie Anne:

Make a Chicken Dust Bath by Recycling Items On-Hand

Chickens enjoy taking a dust bath to clean their feathers and help with mites and other parasites. Making a dust bath for your chickens is an easy project and can often be made with items on hand or for very little expense. 


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How to Store Eggs Without Refrigeration

It has only been for the past fifty years that refrigerators have been a staple in kitchens across America. Prior to that, fresh foods were stored without refrigeration in a variety of different ways. Households had to store seasonal produce, meats and other homestead products like milk and cheese to tide them over through the winter. 


Storing fresh eggs without refrigeration was a very important task as hens lay more when days are long and begin to shut down production in the winter. Because eggs were a staple not only as a breakfast item but also as an ingredient in many homestead staples, spreading them out throughout the year was a critical skill.

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Worming Chickens Naturally

Treating Your Chickens for Worms Organically and Effectively with Garlic

Like dogs and cats, chickens are susceptible to both roundworms and tapeworms. Chickens pick up roundworms from pecking at food on the ground and ingesting the worm eggs. They pick up tapeworms by eating insects or earthworms that have tapeworms themselves. Chickens that are allowed to free range are more likely to pick up tapeworms and those raised in confinement pick up roundworms more often. 


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