Did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams that you would be putting a diaper (nappy) on a chicken? No? Well, read on my friends. Chicken diapers may have seemed like a harebrained idea a few years back, but now it is commonly done. Around 1% of urban households in the larger US cities (New […]
Read More… from Chicken Diapers 101: Should Your Chicken Use One?
Chicken drinking nipples are a fairly recent innovation in the backyard poultry world although the commercial industry has been using them for several years. In fact, regular drinkers have not been used in the commercial poultry field for years. One of the biggest benefits of drinking nipples is the fact that it keeps the water […]
Chicken feed may not be something you give a great deal of thought to – you go buy a bag for your hens and that’s it. Companies that manufacture chicken feed actually give a great deal of thought, time and research to feeding all poultry exactly what they need. If your hens are eating the […]
We stretched the ‘lap’ chicken to house chicken, but it boils down to the same thing: a chicken that is comfortable to be in a house with people, and can be considered a companion bird. A bird that will thrive in a secure confined space with its favorite owner. We considered ‘good’ egg laying as […]
Sounds like a simple question right? However, there are many costs to ‘having a chicken’, so today we are going to meander through the cost of the birds and their associated needs. Roughly speaking your costs can be divided up into the chickens, feed, housing and maintenance or fixed costs. Without a doubt the most […]
I am always surprised when I’m asked this question. I suppose it’s a logical question for those not too familiar with poultry. Do I need a Rooster for hens to lay eggs? A rooster does serve a couple of useful purposes to the flock which can be a good thing for the hens and keeper […]
Happy New Year! If you are a gardener, you have been poring over seed catalogs, feverishly planning the layout of your garden. If you are a chicken addict you have been studying the catalogs trying to decide which breed you want to add to your flock this year. Perhaps a certain breed didn’t work out […]
Here in the Northeast, we have been blessed with seemingly unending hot, humid days with little to no rain. For us humans, we simply retreat to the air-conditioned house, but what about your flock? Chickens can’t sweat like us, nor can they remove their feather jackets, so what can we do to help them keep […]
For those of you who don’t yet raise chickens, the life of a backyard chicken keeper can seem like a strange and confusing world. It doesn’t need to be though! In this article we talk you through exactly what hens need to be healthy and good egg layers. Many folks spoil their chickens in many […]
Sometimes old wives tales linger on long enough to become folk legends that people still believe in to this day. As people become more and more disconnected from their food source, the ‘legends’ continue and can even expand. Over the years I’ve heard many myths about chickens, some entertaining, but others just outright lies! We […]