This piece was published in Edible Hudson Valley, and offers a closer look at the rhythm of daily flock care—the small, often unnoticed things that shape the wellbeing of a flock over time. What appears simple from the outside is anything but. Care is built on small observations, repeated daily—water, feed, safety, behavior, subtle shifts. The kinds of things that don’t announce themselves, but matter deeply when they’re missed. This is a look inside that work. Read the full

There’s a quiet assumption many people make about backyard flocks—that once the coop is set up and the routine is in place, chickens can largely take care of themselves for a few days. And sometimes, under the right conditions, they can. But most of the issues I’m called in to handle don’t happen when everything is going right. They happen in the absence of attention. Water that looked full yesterday may be tipped, fouled, frozen, overheated, or impossible for the birds to ac

There’s a common solution when people travel or step away from home: ask a neighbor, a friend, or a family member to check in. And in many ways, it makes sense. There’s trust there. Familiarity. A willingness to help. But caring for chickens isn’t always intuitive—especially if you haven’t spent time learning what to look for. Most of the time, nothing goes wrong. Until something small does. The difference isn’t intention. It’s observation. Someone unfamiliar with chickens/du