Written from our own garden
Everything here comes from birds we actually keep. Where we got it wrong the first time, we've said so.
Keeping chickens through a British winter
Frozen water, mud, and why heating the coop is the one thing not to do.
02Before you get free range chickens, read this
The honest list of everything nobody mentions until after you have bought the coop.
03Quail or chickens? How to pick your first birds
Two very different birds, and the honest case for each of them.
04What backyard chickens actually cost
Real numbers, including the ones people leave out of the cheerful blog posts.
05Our first year: what we would tell ourselves
Twelve months of mistakes, arranged helpfully in the order you will make them.
06Quail 101 — the complete guide
Everything we know about coturnix quail, from hutch to first egg.
07Setting up an incubator for quail eggs
Temperature, humidity, turning, and why the thermometer in the box is lying to you.
08From egg to adult quail: the whole journey
The seven-week arc, and what needs to happen at each stage.
09Hatch day: what actually happens
The longest 24 hours in poultry keeping, and when to sit on your hands.
10Quail chicks, days 1 to 7: mistakes to avoid
The riskiest week of a quail chick’s life, and how to get them all through it.
11Quail chicks, days 8 to 14: the scruffy stage
They get gangly, patchy and startlingly fast. All of it is normal.
12Quail chicks, days 14 to 30: the teenage phase
Sexing, squabbling, and moving them out of the brooder.
13Keeping Brahma chickens
The gentle giants of the chicken world, and what they need that smaller breeds do not.
14Introducing new chickens to an established flock
The quarantine, the see-but-do-not-touch week, and the fights.
15Too many roosters: spotting it and fixing it
What goes wrong when the ratio tips, and the options when it does.
16Raised beds and chickens in the same garden
Growing vegetables alongside birds who would very much like to eat them.
17Twelve years with a French bulldog
The honest version, from someone who would still do it again.
18Living with a pug: the truth about owning one
Enormously good company, with a list of caveats you should read first.