Lining your hens’ nests with something clean and soft protects eggs from getting cracked in the nest and also simplifies nest clean-out. Every chicken keeper has a favorite nest liner. Here are some poplar options: Turf Nest Liner Plastic turf nest pads have grass-like tufts on the upper side and a smooth surface on the […]
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Chick Chain is a 4-H activity that introduces youngsters, and often their parents, to the fun of growing baby chicks into laying hens. It’s called Chick Chain because participating youngsters receive baby chicks in the spring and sell some of their grown layers in the fall, with the proceeds funding the purchase of chicks […]
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Some chicken keepers deworm their chickens too often. Others don’t deworm often enough. How often your chickens need deworming, or whether they need it at all, depends on numerous factors. These factors include your climate, how your flock is housed and managed, the kind of worms that are present in your chickens’ environment, and the […]
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After handling poultry or visiting the coop, you should thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water, as recommended in “Protect Yourself and Your Family From Germs,” a poster distributed by the Centers for Disease Control. If soap and water are not readily available, the CDC recommends using a hand sanitizer until you are able […]
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The eggs you collect from your chickens develop through a process that is nothing short of miraculous. A hen’s reproductive system consists of two main parts: an ovary and an oviduct. A young female chicken, or pullet, starts life with two ovaries. As she matures, the right ovary remains undeveloped and only the left one […]
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When you raise baby chickens in a brooder you must gradually change the brooding facilities as the chicks grow. After about the first two weeks of brooding, start making necessary changes to the following features: Adequate space for the number of birds Initially chicks don’t need much room, because (like other babies) they spend much […]
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Frostbite occurs when fluid freezes in the cells of a chicken’s comb, wattles, or toes, depriving the tissues of oxygen. After a short period of having been frozen, the affected part may recover. If the part does not soon thaw, the cells may die and perhaps become infected. Further, a bloody comb or wattles resulting […]
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Frostbitten combs can be a problem for chickens that live in damp, drafty conditions during freezing weather. Toes may also be frostbitten, but not as commonly as combs and wattles, especially when the chickens have a place to rest where their feet are not in direct contact with a frozen surface. The easiest way to […]
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The optimal mating ratio for chickens, turkeys, and other poultry is not the same ratio in which they typically hatch. Most poultry naturally hatch approximately 50 percent females and 50 percent males. If your goal is to obtain fertile eggs for hatching, that ratio will result in males fighting excessively with each other, and when […]
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At dusk, chickens instinctively seek a high place to spend the night where they feel safe from predators. Lacking a comfortable place to roost inside their coop, they may seek an outdoor roost. It might be the top of a fence or gate, in a tree, or even on the coop roof. Chickens that roost […]
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