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These are the winners of the 2017 Cackle Hatchery Photo Contest: Runner ups:
Continue ReadingAccording to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, there are nearly 19 billion chickens being raised as livestock worldwide. Chickens are the most populous farm animal in the world, and every day they shed thousands of tons of feathers. In some cases, these waste feathers are converted into low-grade animal feed. In others, they’re simply […]
Continue ReadingIt’s no secret that farm fresh eggs are tastier and better for baking and cooking than the store bought kind. Raising chickens for their eggs can be a very rewarding endeavor, but there’s a lot of preparation that goes into it. So what do you need to know to get started? Prep Before […]
Continue ReadingEuropeans raised geese for food and feathers long before they were brought to the United States by settlers. They are now used for exhibition, meat, eggs, feathers, down, and guard duty. Cackle Hatchery carries four breeds of geese: White Chinese, African, Toulouse, and White Embden. The Toulouse and Embden are the most popular breeds and […]
Continue ReadingFolks, we’ve officially entered the Year of the Rooster, so Cackle Hatchery went on a hunt to figure out what that really means for 2017. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, there are five types of rooster combinations, and animal signs must also coincide with one of five elements (fire, wood, water, earth, metal) that […]
Continue ReadingWe know that eggs must be properly incubated in a warm environment for them to form healthy, well-developed chicks. But what if the amount of light that eggs are exposed to during incubation could have an effect on the temperament of chickens as well? According to a paper recently published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, […]
Continue ReadingPeople who haven’t spent much time around chickens might not think they’re particularly bright, but those of us who raise our own flocks have probably noticed that these birds can actually be pretty shrewd when it comes to finding food and securing their position in the pecking order. In fact, an academic paper recently published […]
Continue ReadingWith the days getting shorter and the cold weather driving us indoors, we could all probably use a little extra vitamin D this time of year. Well, according to a study conducted at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, you can find a whole lot of the “sunshine vitamin” right in your back […]
Continue ReadingOn December 15, 2016 the US Department of Agriculture announced that it will institute three new rules designed to protect the rights of livestock and poultry farmers who work with large meat processing companies. The Obama administration proposed a similar set of rules in 2010, but Congress blocked their funding. After the spending ban was […]
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