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Studies Find Light and Sound Can Affect Chicken Productivity

Studies Find Light and Sound Can Affect Chicken Productivity

Nothing can foul up your day like losing sleep to the persistent beeping of a dying smoke detector. And is there anything more agitating than waking up from a dead sleep with a bright line shining in your eyes? We rely on a good night’s sleep to get the rest and relaxation we need to […]

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Homegrown Chicken Tastes Great Without 11 Herbs and Spices

Homegrown Chicken Tastes Great Without 11 Herbs and Spices

Colonel Sander’s recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken, made with 11 herbs and spices, is no longer a well-kept secret. The original KFC recipe appeared in the Chicago Tribune after being submitted by Colonel Sander’s nephew Joe Ledington. Mr. Ledington found the recipe in a scrapbook belonging to his late Aunt Claudia, the Colonel’s second wife. […]

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How to Remove Dried Mud Caked on a Chicken’s Shanks and Toes

How to Remove Dried Mud Caked on a Chicken's Shanks and Toes

Anyone who has had chickens for more than a few days soon discovers that they will eat or trample all the vegetation growing near their coop, eventually turning lush grass into bare soil. In a rainy climate, or during times of unusually heavy rainfall, the soil can rapidly become a sea of mud in which […]

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Farmers Use Chickens as Alternative to Pesticides

Farmers Use Chickens as Alternative to Pesticides

Chemical pesticides might do a fine job of protecting crops from harmful insects, but they can also have a decidedly negative impact on local ecosystems. In recent years, agriculture experts have become especially concerned about the threat chemical pesticides pose to pollinators such as honey bees. That’s why some farmers have begun searching for other […]

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Are Broiler Chickens About to Get Smaller?

Are Broiler Chickens About to Get Smaller?

For the better part of the last century broiler chickens have been selectively bred with one trait in mind: size. In the 1950’s, the average broiler chicken was just one fourth the weight of today’s chickens. On factory farms, bigger hens have equated to bigger profits for decades. Soon, however, that might be about to […]

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More Places Using Chickens as Therapy Animals

More Places Using Chickens as Therapy Animals

Since they were first domesticated in China roughly 10,000 years ago, Chickens have been kept almost exclusively as livestock, rather than companion animals. Sure, we might appreciate their unique personalities and distinctly comical behaviors, but that’s not why we typically raise chickens. For the vast majority of people, it’s all about the meat and eggs. […]

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The Complex Relationship Between Chicken and Mosquito

The Complex Relationship Between Chicken and Mosquito

Scientists from Sweden and Ethiopia have discovered that malaria-causing mosquitoes don’t like the smell of chickens. Malarial mosquitoes avoid live chickens, as well as steering clear of compounds extracted from chicken feathers. Researchers are now investigating whether chicken-odor extract might be used as a malarial mosquito repellent, according to a recent BBC report.   Since […]

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Four Kitchen Scraps Not to Feed Your Chickens

Four Kitchen Scraps Not to Feed Your Chickens

Chickens have a wide range of likes and dislikes when it comes to what they eat. Unless they don’t otherwise get enough to eat, most chickens won’t eat things that are bad for them, or at least they are unlikely to eat enough to make them sick. Feeding kitchen scraps can be a nutritious way […]

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