It might seem strange to learn that even chickens can become infested with lice. They eat bugs, after all, but these external parasites are not the typical run-of-the-mill chicken treat-type bug. They spread fast and can cause severe problems for the entire flock. Identifying an infestation early, and treating the flock quickly, is extremely important […]
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Healthy, happy hens lay more eggs. Has it been proven scientifically? I don’t know, but from my experience, a healthy hen will produce more eggs than an unhealthy, miserable chicken. Chicken treats can make your hens happy and healthy. Obviously, we can’t speed up the ‘egg clock’, but by keeping your hens in tip-top condition, […]
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In the fifth chapter of The Definitive Guide To Keeping Chickens In Winter, we look at chickens molting in winter. So, you opened up the hen house in the morning and thought it was a crime scene from CSI. Feathers strewn around the floor in heaps…you think the worst! A predator killed the girls, but no, […]
Read More… from Chapter Five: Chickens Molting During Winter
The Cream Legbar has become a firm favorite here in the US at least, in part for its’ blue eggs. It is a fascinating study in genetics as few breeds have had their origins so well mapped. As you may imagine, the breed was not created overnight, in fact, it took several decades of study, […]
Read More… from Cream Legbar Chicken: Is This Blue Egg Wonder The Chicken For You?
We are all guilty of buying toys for our hens – we just love to spoil them rotten! That’s ok, they deserve it after working hard laying those eggs and raising chicks. One ‘toy’ that has been popular for a while now is the chicken swing – wait, what? A chicken swing? Yes, you heard […]
Read More… from Chicken Swing: Which One to Buy and How to Train Your Chickens
Chicken anatomy is a huge subject to cover in one article, so we have really pared it down to the basics for ease of understanding. The references provided will give you greater in-depth knowledge if you want to delve further into chicken anatomy. The areas we will cover here today are: Feathers and skin Digestive […]
Read More… from Chicken Anatomy 101: Everything You Need To Know
The creation of the Wyandotte breed came about from the desire to have a chicken breed that was suitable as an ‘all-rounder’ – that is, for both eggs and table fare. Wyandotte’s are good layers of light to dark brown eggs averaging about 200 eggs/year. Of course, other colors came along later, but the Silver […]
Read More… from Silver Laced Wyandotte: Egg Production, Temperament and More…
The winter weather here in upstate New York during the winter can be brutal, and certain breeds of chicken don’t survive here. It’s crucial that when you’re considering which breed of chicken to get, you take into account your local climate in addition to the bird’s natural climate. A mismatch of the two can prove […]
Read More… from 7 Chicken Breeds That Do Well in Cold Climates
Most people know the approximate age of their birds when they first get them. But how do you know their age if you are given some birds or rescue some? Knowing the age of your chickens is crucial. Without it, it isn’t easy to know their egg-laying ability, what to feed them and what their […]
Read More… from The Simple Way to Tell How Old Your Chickens Are
Small but mighty, the Serama lays claim to the smallest chicken globally and one of the most expensive! It is a relative newcomer to the Western world but has been known in Singapore for many years. Serama breed has the distinction of being a true bantam – there is no large counterpart chicken. It has […]
Read More… from Serama: Is This Tiny Chicken Right For Your Flock?