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 […]
Continue Reading
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 […]
Continue Reading
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 […]
Continue Reading
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 […]
Continue Reading
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 […]
Continue Reading
Goose eggs are delicious! Just one egg makes a formidable omelet, although goose eggs are less often used for culinary purposes than for hatching or — because of their large size and thick shells — for creating goose egg craft items such as Christmas ornaments and decorative jewelry boxes. Yet goose eggs may be used […]
Continue Reading
A duck’s legs and feet are made for flying and swimming, not walking. Ducks have structurally weak legs, and the most common affliction of ducks is lameness. A duck may start to limp and eventually go lame for any number of reasons. Injury Ducklings brooded on wire can get a tiny hock caught […]
Continue Reading
Keeping chickens in the garden may be picturesque, but chickens can do a lot of damage in a surprisingly short time, especially to freshly planted seeds or tender sprouts. A couple of chickens roaming in a large garden after the plants mature may do little damage, but in a small or newly planted garden just […]
Continue Reading
The Polish chicken breed was not developed in Poland, but in the Netherlands. It was originally intended as a layer of white-shell eggs, but the breed is now considered to be primarily ornamental because of its characteristic puffy head feathers, known as a crest or topknot. The reason these chickens are called Polish has been […]
Continue Reading
Most eggs sold at the supermarket have white shells. So where do brown eggs and blue eggs come from? The color of the shell is determined by the breed of the hen that laid the egg. Most white eggs sold at the supermarket are laid by Leghorn hens. Many other breeds lay eggs with white […]
Continue Reading