Why Are My Chickens Not Laying Eggs? 10 Causes and Fixes
Ten reasons hens stop laying, from short days and the fall molt to broody hens, hidden nests and illness, each with what you see, the fix and how long until eggs come back.
Self-reliance tips, rural living guides, and off-grid skills, every Friday.
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Find your ham's weight and read across: dry-cure days under three extension rules, wet-brine days, how much salt and sugar to mix, and the finished…
Read More →Three field guides worth bookmarking — canning times, cellar storage, and safe cooking temps.
| Food | Pressure | Pint |
|---|---|---|
| Green beans | 10 lb | 20m |
| Corn | 10 lb | 55m |
| Tomatoes | water bath | 35m |
USDA/NCHFP processing times & pressures for common foods.
View full chart →| Item | Store | Keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Onions | cool, dry | 9 mo |
| Potatoes | cellar | 4–6 mo |
| Apples | cellar | 6 mo |
How long fruit & veg keep in the cellar, fridge and freezer.
View full chart → Network| Doneness | Target |
|---|---|
| Rare | 125–130°F |
| Medium-rare | 130–135°F |
| Well-done | 160°F+ |
Safe pull temps for steak & burgers, from Popular BBQ.
View full chart →Reader Favorites
Ten reasons hens stop laying, from short days and the fall molt to broody hens, hidden nests and illness, each with what you see, the fix and how long until eggs come back.
Sixteen common firewoods ranked by heat per cord at 20 percent moisture, from one university table, with splitting, smoke and spark notes and the seasoning rules that matter more than species.
What extension poultry specialists and fire officials say about keeping a flock warm through winter, with one row each for heat, water, ventilation, frostbite, feed, light and bedding.
Where to keep potatoes through winter, place by place: the temperature, humidity and keeping time for a root cellar, basement, garage, pantry or fridge, plus how to cure them first.
A garlic planting window for every USDA zone from 3 to 10, built from 19 university extension services, plus depth, spacing, mulch and why grocery store garlic is a gamble.
Roast, boil, steam or pressure-cook a pie pumpkin into puree, keep it in the fridge or freezer, and can pumpkin the only tested way: as cubes in a pressure canner.
Homemade applesauce from the NCHFP procedure, with yield math by the pound and bushel, both tested canning methods, freezer headspace and the egg-swap ratio.
The tested NCHFP apple butter recipe, cooked on the stove or in a slow cooker, with both doneness tests, a batch scaler and canning times for every altitude.
How to dry herbs four ways, with the temperatures and times from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and Minnesota Extension.
How to make apple cider at home: picking a blend, grinding, pressing, pasteurizing at 160°F and storing it, from three extension services.
Why chickens molt, how long it lasts, the order feathers drop, and what to feed molting hens so the eggs come back.
Wondering what to plant in July? These 12 crops sown over the holiday weekend still deliver a full fall harvest. Get the count-back math and zone timing.