Every item on this page came off our own order history. We bought each one for the flock at Chehalis River Farm and put it to work before it earned a spot here. Where we ordered something more than once, we say so. Looking for used gear instead? Check the equipment listings from members near you.
21 items in 8 categories, every one off our own Amazon history since 2024.
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Four short lists for the four days that send a flock keeper shopping. Each one is what we would set up again from scratch.
Ten hens, day one.
Add a five-gallon bucket from the hardware store for the nipples.
Water that stays open in January.
The heater base goes under the nipple bucket. The book is for the dark evenings.
A dozen eggs to a brooder full of chicks.
A cheap thermometer and hygrometer belong in the box too.
Six cockerels before lunch.
Scald water, a sharp knife, and a hose finish the list.
Chicken waterers that don't freeze and feeders the rats can't get into. Water and feed come first, since that is where the mess and the losses start.
Four orders since spring 2024. The egg-shaped port keeps feed in the trough and out of the litter.
Four orders since 2024 says most of it. Feed stays in the port until a hen reaches in, so the litter under the bucket stays dry and the rodents lost their free lunch. Buy again: yes, and we did.
Cup-style drinkers that mount through a bucket wall. Pairs with the feeders from the same maker.
Went on a run bucket in summer 2025. The hens learned the cups in a day. A cup holds a little standing water, so we flush them when we top off. Buy again: yes, for a pen where nipples run too slow.
Side-mount nipples for bucket waterers. We have bought two batches, forty in the last round.
Two batches, forty in the last one, which is our vote. Side-mount, so the bucket can sit on the ground or a block. The first install wants a drill bit sized to the thread and a steady hand. Buy again: yes.
A 304 stainless float-valve bowl with a drain hole. Sized for anything from chickens to goats.
Newest thing on the page, in since February 2026. Hook it to a hose and the float does the rest. The drain hole turns a scrub into a two-minute job. Too early for a winter verdict. Buy again: ask us in March.
A 125-watt heater base that shuts off on its own at 77°F. Western Washington winters ask for one.
First winter was 2025 into 2026 and the bucket on it stayed open through the cold snaps we got. It shuts itself off above 77°F, so it stays plugged in from November to March. Buy again: yes.
A walk-in run that stands up to rain, a door that shuts itself at dusk, and nest boxes that keep eggs clean.
Too much for a run? Members near you sell used coops and runs. See the equipment listings.
A walk-in spire-shaped run with a waterproof cover. Ours has stood through two wet winters.
Two wet Chehalis winters under the cover and it still sheds rain. Assembly is an afternoon with two people. Stake it well. Our wind comes up the river. Buy again: yes.
Solar powered with a timer, a light sensor, and a remote. Closes the coop when you forget to.
Since spring 2024. The light sensor closes the door after the last hen is in, and the remote covers the evenings we run late. Keep the panel clean through the grey months. Buy again: yes.
Plastic roll-away boxes with a pull-out egg tray. Eggs roll clear of the hens, so they stay clean and unpecked.
Ten went up in summer 2025. An egg rolls out of reach the moment it lands, so the tray holds clean eggs. Give the hens a week to trust plastic over straw. Buy again: yes.
Small incubators for a backyard hatch, and brooder heat that lets chicks sleep in the dark.
Too much for an incubator? Members near you sell used ones. See the equipment listings.
Automatic turning, humidity display, a 360° view dome. We liked the first one enough to buy a second.
Bought one in May 2025 and a second soon after, which is the review. The dome lets the kids watch the pips. Keep a separate thermometer and hygrometer in it, as with any small incubator. Buy again: yes, twice.
The bigger of our two incubators. Automatic turning and humidity monitoring, with an egg candler in the box.
Our bigger box since January 2025, for the rounds when the 24 fills up. Turning and the humidity display work the same way as the smaller one, and the candler in the box is one less thing to hunt for. Buy again: yes.
Heat without light, so chicks sleep on a natural cycle. We keep two running in brooder season.
Two running every brooder season since 2025. No light, so the chicks sleep dark and wake calm. Pair it with a ceramic socket rated for 250 watts. Plastic sockets melt. Buy again: yes.
Dewormer and electrolytes, the two bottles we reach for when a bird looks off.
Covers tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms, with a measuring syringe included. A staple of the farm medicine cabinet.
In the cabinet since July 2026. The syringe makes dosing by weight simple. Check the label for egg withdrawal before you dose a laying flock. Buy again: yes.
Electrolytes, probiotics, and oregano for a stressed bird. We keep it on hand for heat waves and predator scares.
Since March 2025. It goes in the water after a heat wave or a hawk pass. A bottle lasts a season for a flock our size. Buy again: yes, before summer.
Cartons for selling eggs at a farm stand or a market table.
Clear dozens for farm-stand and market sales. Buyers see the eggs before they lift the lid.
Since June 2025 for farm-stand dozens. A blue or olive egg sells through the lid. They stack, and buyers bring them back. Buy again: yes.
A plucker and kill cones for butchering day, when the cockerels pile up.
Too much for a plucker? Members near you sell used processing gear. See the equipment listings.
A 1.2 HP drum plucker with 111 soft fingers and a built-in irrigation ring. Turns the worst hour of butchering day into minutes.
First butchering day with it was December 2025. Scald right and a bird comes out clean in under a minute. It pays for itself on the first batch of cockerels. Buy again: yes.
Flat-back stainless cones rated to 18 pounds, gloves included. Sized for meat birds and turkeys.
Hung in December 2025 for the meat birds. The flat back screws to a post or a board. The gloves in the box are worth wearing. Buy again: yes.
The layer-sized companion to the large cones, rated to 8 pounds. We hang both sizes on butchering day.
Same day, same wall, the smaller cone. A layer stays put in a medium where it would slip through a large. Buy again: yes.
The one reference that covers the whole barnyard.
The reference we reach for first. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, and game birds in one volume.
The book we open before we open a browser. It covers every bird we keep and a few we might. Buy again: we'd replace it the day it went missing.
Small things for the coop wall and the window. Most of these end up as gifts.
Farmhouse-style wall art for the coop. A little charm where you collect the eggs.
Hung in December 2025. Printed metal, still readable after a wet winter on the coop wall. Buy again: as a gift, yes.
Chicken-silhouette wall hooks for baskets, feeders, and lanterns around the coop and garden.
Since December 2025 on the garden side of the coop. It holds a basket or a lantern fine. Buy again: as a gift, yes.
A 9.8-inch stained glass rooster for a window or the garden. Makes a good gift for the chicken person in your life.
In a south window since December 2025. Ten inches of glass rooster, and it reads as a gift from someone who noticed the flock. Buy again: yes, for someone else.