It’s a problem every chicken keeper eventually faces: What to do with unwanted roosters. If you purchase chicks, or hatch your own, you’ll have this problem sooner rather than later. Even sexed chicks that are sold as pullets (young hens) almost invariably include one or more cockerels (young roosters). If you end up with more […]
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When a rooster mates a hen, his injected semen is stored in numerous sperm storage tubules (SSTs) located in the area where the hen’s uterus joins the vagina. That is, provided the hen likes the rooster. If she doesn’t, she can squirt out the semen to avoid hatching his offspring. Assuming the hen approves of […]
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Geese were traditionally harvested when they were the fattest, toward the end of the year and in time for the holidays. Fat is essential for good meat flavor, and rendered goose fat makes a delicious shortening. Any goose breed is suitable to raise for meat, although the different breeds vary in size. You may want […]
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Here’s a common scenario: You cannot legally keep a rooster in your area, so you got sexed chicks that were supposed to be all female. By the time one of them started crowing, and you realized he was a rooster, he had become a beloved member of your family flock. What to do? It’s hard […]
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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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If you’ve spent much time around chickens, you’ve probably noticed that these birds can be surprisingly vocal creatures. Roosters may have earned a reputation for crowing at sunrise, but you can often hear hens clucking and squawking to one another as well. In fact, recent research suggests that chickens are capable of making as many […]
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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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Are your hens laying more eggs than you know what to do with? Making a casserole is a great way to put all those eggs to good use. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about what to fix for breakfast in the morning. Just take a helping of your casserole out of the fridge and […]
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