Another way to reduce stress is to make sure your hens have a safe and enjoyable run to spend time in if they aren’t able to’ free range. Add enrichment to the run with branches and stumps, creating hiding places for them to tuck under if they’re bullied. Put out a kitty pool filled with leaves for them to scratch through.

Think like a chicken and try to make things fun for them.

Welcome to the Mother Earth News and Friends podcast at Mother Earth News for 50 years and counting. We’ve been dedicated to conserving the planet’s natural resources while helping you conserve your financial resources. In this podcast, we host conversations with experts in the fields of sustainability, homesteading, natural health, and more to share all about how you can live well wherever you are in a way that values both people and our Mother Earth.

We’d like to thank our sponsor for this episode, Brinsea. That’s B R I N S E A, chick incubation specialists. They’ve been focusing on egg incubator design continuously since [00:01:00] 1976, resulting in egg incubators, chick brooders, and incubation accessories. They offer unparalleled practicality, reliability, superior hatch rates, and healthy chicks. Innovation you can trust.

Welcome to this edition of Mother Earth News and Friends Audio, I’m Josh Wilder, and today I’ll be reading an article from Mother Earth News’s sister publication Backyard Poultry. The article is entitled, How Do You Increase Egg Production in Chickens Naturally by Heather Levin.

Brinsea products are designed to be long lasting and energy efficient. Their Advance Series incubators and brooders feature the [00:06:00] latest state of the art digital control systems, providing instant readings of temperature and humidity to ensure successful hatches and healthy chicks.

Heather Levin is an educator, herbalist and chicken wrangler of 30 plus chickens. She’s also the founder of the Backyard Chicken Summit and Chicken Health Academy, a pioneering online learning academy that teaches natural and emergency chicken care strategies. This article was originally published in the August, September, 2025 issue of Backyard Poultry, and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Thanks again to Brinsea, our sponsor for this Mother Earth News and Friends podcast episode. You too can experience the Brinsea difference and maximize your hatch rates with Brinsea incubators that monitor temperature and humidity and are made of antimicrobial materials.

Brinsea ships worldwide and provides stellar customer support to answer all your questions. Hatch your chicks with Brinsea, the leader in innovative incubation research. Learn more at Brinsea.com. Again, that’s [00:09:00] www.Brinsea.com.

Josh Wilder: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Mother Earth News and Friends. To listen to more podcasts and get connected on our social media, visit www.MotherEarthNews.com/podcast. You can also email us at podcast@ogdenpubs.com with any questions or suggestions. Our podcast production team includes Alyssa Warner and myself, Josh Wilder.

Music for this episode is the Song Hustle by Kevin McLeod, the Mother Earth News and Friends Podcast is a production of Ogden Publications.

And don’t forget to love your mother.