July 10, 2026


What are your chicken goals?

You’ve watched the fun homesteader videos - the chickens amuse you, they’ve got pizazz! You start going to local farmers’ markets and run into homesteaders that always bring up their chickens and how much personality they have. And you think you want to give it a try. (ask me how I know…hahaha)

I have some thoughts as we’ve gone through this over the years and have learned MANY lessons. I’d like to offer some of these lessons in case they can help your chicken journey:

  • Where are you thinking of housing your chickens? 

  • How much of your property are you devoting to their wander area? 

  • Does it have trees around it? 

  • Are you building a fence around their coop? 

  • Are they going to be free range?

  • How is the predator load in your area - both in the sky and on the ground?

  • Do you want to hatch chicks?

  • Are you willing to get a rooster?

We built our chicken coop and enclosed them with fencing to keep them safe due to the predator load where we live. We absolutely let them out to forage when we can - I really hate keeping them cooped up (haha)! They are so great for the ticks, and they were really instrumental eating those green inch worms this spring that seemed to be everywhere! We will have less of the November moths when they emerge in the fall thanks to them.  

This can lead to the predators in your area taking an interest, or potentially call some in, because they’ve heard the dinner bell. 

Plus we want babies. 

This brought us to the rooster decision. Roosters are often misunderstood. Yes - you can absolutely have a REALLY aggressive rooster. There are a few ways to take care of it - you can pick up the rooster (this can involve chasing, this can involve a big fishing net - I use the net), cradle him in your arms while he is on his back, then put him on the ground the same way. I typically put the net on the ground, and make sure the net is covering him so he can’t jump out. It is helpful if there are two of you. Put your hand on his back, take the net off his back and wings - keep holding his back. Reach your hand under his belly and flip him on his back on the ground. Keep him there while the other birds look at him. SHAME - SHAME - SHAME! Hold him there for at least 30 seconds, up to a minute. You’ve gotten the point across. This does two things, it shows him that you are the head rooster without pecking him, or hitting him, or kicking him. You can only control you. He is doing his job of being a protector - which is why you’re getting attacked. It shows the other chickens that he isn't the head rooster. You’re the rooster that is in charge! 

Even if you hand raise a rooster and you’re able to pick him up into adolescence and adulthood, he can still have an aggressive moment. He sees you as the head rooster, and is challenging your position. Or, can become aggressive if you flap your arms - he may think that you’re challenging him. Or, if you have kids, and they run and flap, and squeal, that can bring a rooster running. 

I just actually got stabbed with the spur on my foot last night. He came out of nowhere. Maybe I cut him off, maybe I didn’t bring enough chicken candy, maybe he was challenging me. Who knows?

Please understand that if you are mostly kind, and feed them, and treat them with respect, they should leave you alone a majority of the time, and they are going to be of great help if you are free-ranging your chickens. They protect their girls! They show them food, watch for predators, alarm call - and in some instances jump on the predator. 

You may have an aggressive rooster where these tricks don’t work and putting him on his back doesn’t help. It happens. You have a few more options: you can kill the rooster by cutting off his head, shooting him, or calling people like me to see if they will take the rooster. If someone calls us - we will eat him, so if they don’t want that to happen, they call someone else. But we do spoil our birds before the fateful day. 

Or, are you just looking for eggs and entertainment? Then maybe you only want a few girls…in the beginning…then…chicken math happens. All of a sudden you’re building a new coop to house more chickens, because you’re chicken army is growing! Did I mention they’re great for ticks???

When thinking about your housing, do you have a lot of aerial predators? If you live in Maine - I know what the answer is! Are you going to put a wire roof over your coop area? We use orange tape that you tie around trees mark them for whatever reason. We loop that back and forth in a crazy criss-cross (will make you jump jump) pattern to deter hawks. Hawks like to swoop and the tape makes it a bit difficult - caution tape works great too.

I’m working on attracting more corvids - crows, ravens, blue jays, etc. to our area. They really like peanuts! They will chase hawks, and warn of predators in your area. Blue Jays are also great mocking birds and will sound like crows to help drive off hawks. The chickens listen to them and will take cover! 

How are you going to get clean water for them? Even though you fill up their bowls and water containers with clean, cool water, they opt to drink out of the puddle instead. Fair warning.

Are you free feeding them on the ground, or are you putting some sort of container feeding together? Where are you keeping this food so that vermin or dogs don’t get it? 

Are you going to only grain feed them? Are you going to supplement them with greens? Your left over food from dinner? Allow them to solely feed themselves from what they forage in the summer? 

Are you going to provide them dust baths to help deter them from digging holes in your yard? That is how they help get rid of mites. Are you going to provide outdoor perches for night time in the summer? Keeping a clean coop is helpful to deter mites, but those little blood suckers hide in corners of the coop and thrive in the warm weather. Sun bathing helps keep mites off of them. The mite load in the winter is low to none. 

I never would dissuade someone from getting chickens (unless I thought it was a dangerous situation for the animals), but I want to make sure that you know it isn’t all feathers and clucks. We’ve lost plenty of birds while learning these lessons, and they are hard! I’ve named a lot of them - especially the boys. And, at this point, we have hatched most of them. We have custom made chickens - they have the most beautiful feathers!  

This isn’t an exhaustive list of what we have learned - but these are good starting points. We continue to learn lessons every day - see example of drive-by-spurring above. 

I’m warning you…these birds are addictive. Pretty soon, you’ll see yourself branching out to turkeys, and ducks - don’t get me started!! With their adorable duck cuddle puddles!

I’d love to hear your thoughts and hear about your bird journey!

Best,

Erin





















May 20, 2026


I must confess. I am really feeling imposter syndrome in this health space. I am truly a novice, learning and absorbing information as best I can - I will never claim to be an expert - ever - as there is always more to learn. 

Isn’t that fabulous? We ALWAYS have more to learn if we accept the lessons that are provided to us. 

I haven’t yet connected with someone that I can ask for advice in the health arena. Maybe that is my fault…I’ve met enough people that are doing similar things to myself - but I lack the courage to reach out. Maybe they are interested in having support in this space as well. Community coming together to support each other.

I got to experience this last weekend in my sales job at the expo that we put together. hikeexpocolorado.com (shameless plug). I’ve been so soured on the retail buy more, buy more community. (I guess I have another confession, haha!) I met the most wonderful small business community that are working as married couples, best friends, individuals with incredible stories, and innovation. There wasn’t big business there (they attended as buyers) but no big business was exhibiting, which I think is truly exciting, and I hope this trend continues. The exhibitors who did attend really showed up for each other. We all worked as a team to introduce solutions to obstacles, support talks and presentations, and witness innovative people that created something to help individuals in their lives within this capitalist system that we live in. And they aren’t in it to get rich, they are incredible individuals that are there to be happy in their experience of this life - and share their art with you. I am privileged to have met these individuals and I am more than eager to reach out to them for advice. 

So, what’s that lesson? Not everyone is out to get me, or they have an agenda to injure me in some way. And that I’m smart enough to be able to tell the difference. And if I’m not smart enough? I’ll send love to that lesson and integrate that lesson into my life experience. 

What’s the lesson that I can apply to learning from and connecting with those that I’ve met on the health path I’m on? It’s ok to put yourself out there - a lot of people in this space are interested in supporting the community too. I just saw it in action (see above). MAKE FRIENDS!

So, circling back to my first confession -  (It’s been a while…I haven’t written in a long time, I have a lot to talk about!) I am not approved by the FDA AT ALL - I can’t pay them enough money HAHA, more people are curriculum trained than I - what I offer you is my experience with the tinctures I’ve made and what they’ve done for my family. I test everything on me first. I then put my husband through it, then my animals. Only then, do I offer it to my children - I give them the option. I will not give them anything that I think would harm them. I’m not saying to throw your doctor to the curb AT ALL - that is not my business - I’ve never gone to, nor will go to medical school, I have no authority in that situation. I have the utmost respect for them. I offer some support for what you may be experiencing if that is what you choose to do. Ask your doctor. I assume the answer you will receive is: it’s not tested, you could go overboard, the FDA doesn’t approve it, they could affect all the current medications you’re on - and on, and on, and on. But, that is what they were taught, and that is what they believe. And that is great for them. Your health is your responsibility. 

I offer you my experience and how they’ve affected us - that’s all I can offer you. And I’m happy to share my experience if you’re interested. 

Indigenous people were able to keep themselves healthy until the colonists introduced disease to their community. It was safe for them - what would have changed since then with plants that they’re no longer healthy? 


Thanks for reading this long one - with so many different trails on it, it took me a while to sit down and write. The human experience gets so busy. Am I right?

If you have questions, I’m always happy to chat. 

I’m working on setting up some vendor opportunities - yup, I’ve procrastinated again. Imposter syndrome much? Sigh…learning lessons, and sending love and forgiveness to myself. I’ll be somewhere, and post the location when I sign up. 

I wish you so much joy - Happy Spring!!! 

Best, 

Erin

May 20, 2026

Confession Time…

I must confess. I am really feeling imposter syndrome in this health space. I am truly a novice, learning and absorbing information - I will never claim to be an expert - ever - as there is always more to learn. 

Isn’t that fabulous? We ALWAYS have more to learn about everything! 

I haven’t yet connected with someone that I can ask for advice in the health space. That is my fault…I’ve met enough people that are doing similar things to myself - but I lack the courage to reach out. Maybe they are interested in having support in this space as well. Community coming together to support each other.

I got to experience this last weekend in my sales role at the expo we worked on. hikeexpocolorado.com (shameless plug). I’ve been so soured on the retail buy more, buy more message. (I guess I have another confession, haha!) I met the most wonderful small business community that are working as married couples, best friends, individuals with incredible stories, and innovation. Big business didn’t exhibit, they attended as buyers. Which I think is truly exciting, and I hope this trend continues. The exhibitors who did attend really showed up for each other. We all worked as a team to introduce solutions to obstacles, support talks and presentations, and witness innovative people that created something to help individuals in their lives within this capitalist system that we live in. And they aren’t in it to get rich, they are incredible individuals there to be happy in their experience of this life - and share their art with you. I am privileged to have met these individuals and I am more than eager to reach out to them for advice. 

So, what’s that lesson? Not everyone is out to get me, or they have an agenda to injure me in some way. And that I’m smart enough to be able to tell the difference. And if I’m not smart enough? I’ll send love to that lesson and integrate that lesson into my life experience. 

What’s the lesson that I can apply to learning from and connecting with those that I’ve met on the health path I’m on? It’s ok to put yourself out there - a lot of people in this space are interested in supporting the community too. I just saw it in action (see above). MAKE FRIENDS!

So, circling back to my first confession -  (It’s been a while…I haven’t written in a long time, I have a lot to talk about!) I am not approved by the FDA AT ALL - I can’t pay them enough money HAHA, more people are curriculum trained than I - what I offer you is my experience with the tinctures I’ve made and what they’ve done for my family. I open books, I research. I test everything on me first. I then put my husband through it, then my animals. Only then, do I offer it to my children - I give them the option. . I will not give them anything that I think would harm them. I’m not saying to throw your doctor to the curb AT ALL - that is not my business - I’ve never gone to, nor will go to medical school, I have no authority in that field of study. I have the utmost respect for them. Ask your doctor. I assume the answer you will receive is: it’s not tested, you could go overboard, the FDA doesn’t approve it, they could affect all the current medications you’re on - and on, and on, and on. But, that is what they were taught, and that is what they believe. And that is great for them. Your health is your responsibility. 

I offer some support for what you may be experiencing if that is what you choose to do. I have my experience and how they’ve affected us. I’m happy to share my experience if you’re interested. 

Indigenous people were able to keep themselves healthy. Plants were safe for them then - what would have changed since that time that plants are no longer healthy? 

Thanks for reading this long one - with so many different trails on it, it took me a while to sit down and write. The human experience gets so busy. Am I right?

If you have questions, I’m always happy to chat. 

I’m working on setting up some vendor opportunities - yup, I’ve procrastinated again. Imposter syndrome much or another lesson to learn (probably both)? Sigh…learning lessons, and sending love and forgiveness to myself. I’ll be somewhere, and post the location when I sign up. 

I wish you so much joy - Happy Spring!!! 

Best, Erin ❤️

12.6.25

Happy Holidays!

To those that picked up our card from the recent BMS Spirit of Christmas Fair, or anywhere else you’ve run into us:

I really appreciate those few who picked up our card, and those fewer who actually clicked through our site to find this post. I’m humbled that you’ve made it this far. And if you’ve purchased from us, THANK YOU! I truly wish each and every one of you the most joyful holiday that you’ve ever had. I know that everyone who is reading this letter has a hurt that needs healing. I hope that you find the healing you need this season YOU DESERVE IT. For yourself, your family, your friends - all of your friends that need healing this season - that you maybe haven’t truly reached out to for some time, with REAL care - from your heart to theirs. Please know, EVERYONE has struggles that are hidden, your neighbor, the driver that just cut you off - the person following too close to you, your parents, your children, your sibling, the CEO that can’t stop drinking, the janitor that has two kids and their spouse is unable to find a job - or has been sick, the ex that you hate, your boss, the secretary, the pastor, the priest, the nun, the rabbi, the imam, the thief, the prisoner, the prison guard, the cop, the politician, the nurse, your best friend, your enemy. Please treat each other kindly - EVERYONE STRUGGLES.

Thank you for your patience and interest in our little business - we’ll add and update things periodically as we also work other jobs - and figure this business thing out! 🙂

We wish you a most joyous holiday season as you embrace what it should really mean - Love for our common human, feeling the true spirit - not a corporate, commercial, need everything, buy everything appetite. But that is sadly what this world has turned to. Please be kind to each other - it’s a gift that keeps on giving! We can help each other in our community for everyone’s benefit - and you don’t need to post anything about it on social media - maybe you’ll be that shining light that someone else needed-  and this is a secret good feeling that is just yours, and no one gets to share that good secret feeling with you - it’s just yours - it will make your heart grow one more size, and hopefully that person will show kindness to the next human, and so on - I hope you find that feeling - it’s the best gift.

Another best gift? Forgiveness. Of yourself. You deserve it.

The happiest of holidays to you!

Much love, 

Jay and Erin ❤️❤️




Rewilding Farm . Rewilding Farm .

Are we crazy?

It all begins with an idea.

I think most people who meet us believe we are crazy. But - to us, we’ve never felt more sane.

Jay and I have been in the corporate world. We drank - a lot. Like a lot, a lot. I was up to four bottles of wine by myself per night. I had no idea where my money was going. I was sick all the time - I was miserable and didn’t care if I died. I knew, underneath it all that was where I was headed. I was masking and hiding from myself.

I was in sales, a manager. My teammembers told me I was a pretty good manager. I adored my team - they are all amazing humans. I learned a lot about being a good manager versus a not great one. I was a great sales rep. I still am in sales to help keep our farm running and bills paid. Selling tinctures doesn’t pay our electric bill. I sell expo booths for a national hiking show if anyone is interested. www.hikeexpocolorado.com

I was lost - one day, there was a moment when Jay said he needed to stop drinking. That was my catalyst to examine where I was headed, and if I wanted to continue down the road of doom that I was on.

The answer was thankfully, that I wanted to live. And I discovered that I not only wanted to live - but that I wanted to be full of joy while doing it. For our children, for Jay, but mostly for me. Because I am worth it.

While we figured out who we were while not consuming alcohol, we looked around our property and realized that our home was our Heaven, and that she was meant to be a homestead. The transformation into Heaven began.

We’ll post more blogs in the future. This one’s pretty good as a start.

Erin

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