Melissa Caughey

Melissa is an award winning, best selling author who is the creative force behind her multi-award winning blog, Tilly's Nest. Since 2012, Melissa has been sharing her adventures in backyard chicken keeping, beekeeping, gardening, crafting, art projects and culinary talents. Melissa has worked for HGTV, DIY Network, Angie's List, Grit Magazine, Community Chickens and Keeping Backyard Bees. She also travels the country speaking on a variety of topics at both public and private events including Country Living Magazine Fairs, Mother Earth News Fairs and Purina Animal Science Headquarters. Melissa has been featured on NPR and in People Magazine, Reader's Digest, Forbe's Magazine, Country Living Magazine and Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.Melissa Caughey is the author of many books. Her title, A Kid's Guide to Keeping Chickens, won the Learning Magazine Teacher's Choice Award and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science's Prize for Excellence in Science Books. Her second book, How to Speak Chicken, has been named as one of the Best Bird and Birding Books by Forbes Magazine and was awarded the Silver in the Foreward INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Pets and Animals Category. Her latest book, How to Read a Chicken's Mind released in 2025. When she is not writing or creating, Melissa works as a nurse practitioner with a focus in geriatric medicine. She calls Cape Cod home.