When you raise hens from baby chicks, finding their first eggs can be exciting. Chickens don’t all start laying at the same time, so you’ll likely find an occasional small egg, then maybe one each day. Before long you’ll be finding multiple eggs daily. But since most chickens don’t lay an egg every day, how […]
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As spring weather begins to warm in March and April, a lot of people start thinking about ordering chicks. Unfortunately, everyone else has the same idea, and hatcheries rapidly sell out of many breeds during those months. If you place your order in March or April, you may end up waiting a month or more […]
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Chick Days occur during a brief period in spring when local feed, farm and home stores offer baby chicks — and sometimes ducklings, turkey poults and guinea keets — for sale. Nearly all stores have chicks around Easter time. With the ever-increasing popularity of chicken keeping, some stores start Chick Days in early February and […]
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How do you spell the chicken breed that lays eggs with blue shells: Ameraucana or Americana? If you said Ameraucana, you are correct. So how did this breed get such an oddly spelled name? To answer that question requires reviewing the breed’s origin. Araucana In 1925 a breed of chicken discovered in Chile was […]
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Australorp and Black Jersey Giant chickens look and behave a lot alike. Both are good foragers, and the hens of both breeds tend to become broody and raise their own chicks. Both breeds have a bright red single comb, red earlobes, a black beak, and dark brown eyes. Australorps come in one color — black. […]
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Geese can get pretty aggressive. The behavior relates to the fact that they are large, clumsy birds. They can’t easily hide when threatened, so they resort to aggression to ward off danger. The best way to avoid aggression aimed in your direction is to take time to greet your geese whenever you enter their […]
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Chickens lose feathers for any number of reasons, some of which are seasonal, while others can occur at any time of year. Here are the most common reasons chickens and other poultry lose feathers and what you can do to help your feathered friends remain feathered. Feather Picking Feather picking is most likely to […]
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A Minnesota firm has obtained a patent for an incubator that can alter the sex of an egg before it hatches. Naturally hatched eggs result in about 50 percent females and 50 percent males. Anyone who has ever hatched eggs hoping for a majority of laying hens knows the problem — too many roosters. To […]
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In many areas local ordinances prohibit keeping backyard chickens, but regulations vary from one place to the next. Before bringing home your first chickens, check applicable zoning regulations, municipal codes, homeowner association rules, and lease restrictions. You will learn whether you can keep chickens at all, and, if so, what restrictions might pertain to your […]
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Rat snakes are often called chicken snakes because they hang around chicken coops. Their intent is to eat rats and mice, but after they’ve cleared out the rodents they look around for something else to eat. Bird eggs are often on a rat snake’s menu, and poultry eggs are no exception. Young poultry are also […]
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