Building a chicken coop can be an extremely easy, fun, and educational experience for your family. However, it can also be a challenging and stressful experience if you don’t know where to start. There’s a lot to keep track of when building your own chicken coop, and every step is extremely important for keeping your […]
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Media and Resources
Periodicals Raising Backyard Chickens: How to Start a Flock – Fox News Backyard Poultry Magazine Poultry Press An international newspaper devoted to breeding, raising, conditioning and showing purebred exhibition poultry. Poultry Health Report Poultry Times Cackle Hatchery® In the News From The Tailgate – Season 3 – Episode 14 – Cackle Hatchery […]
Continue ReadingCackle Hatchery® History About Us
We are a 4th generation family-owned and operated hatchery offering over 230 varieties of poultry shipped directly from our facility here in Missouri. It’s our mission to enhance your life by providing you with quality poultry for showing, meat, enjoyment, eggs or pets. We specialize in hatching purebred poultry and shipping day old chicks right […]
Continue ReadingWhat Kind of Music Do Chickens Like?
British farmer Glenn Haggart is the latest to discover that playing music for laying hens reduces anxiety and stress, creating a safer environment for the chickens. After four years of playing music for his layers, he’s become a strong advocate. But what kind of music do chickens like? Music and Chicks Let’s start with embryos […]
Continue ReadingAll Chicken Keepers Face These 3 Challenges
Chicken keepers vary in levels of experience, from novice to expert. But no matter how knowledgeable we might be, and how carefully we manage our flocks, all chicken keepers face the same three challenges. Predators Everyone who keeps poultry sooner or later experiences that heart-stopping moment of realization that a predator has come to call. […]
Continue ReadingDealing with Scaly Leg Mites in Chickens
The scaly leg mite (Knemidocoptes mutans) is a tiny pale gray round creature, only about 1/100-inch in diameter. Despite its small size, in large numbers it can cause big problems by digging under the scales of a chicken leg and deforming the shank, feet, and toes. Unfortunately, dealing with scaly leg mites is a common […]
Continue ReadingThe Origin of Modern Chickens
Since the 1800s humans have believed chickens were domesticated from red jungle fowl of Southeast Asia. The main reasons for this assumption are that red jungle fowl (pictured above) look similar and can interbreed with modern chickens. However, we had no real proof of the origin of modern chickens until the advent of gene sequencing. […]
Continue ReadingOther Eggcellent Layers
Looking to compare different features of poultry? Look no further. These are some of the breed facts about all of our other poultry including, ducks, guinea fowl, peafowl and turkeys. Click the name of the poultry type to view photos, purchase or learn more about that breed. Click here for a comparison of chicken breeds […]
Continue ReadingThe Coronavirus Pandemic Is Renewing Interest in Raising Backyard Chickens
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down businesses, closed schools, and disrupted supply chains. It has also led to a dramatic increase in chick sales. “We are totally swamped,” says Jeff Smith of Cackle Hatchery. “It’s a little overwhelming.” Indeed, at Cackle Hatchery alone, sales have doubled over the previous year as more and […]
Continue ReadingEnglish Marans or French Marans Chicken?
The Marans chicken breed originated in the French port town of Marans. The breed is known in France as Poule de Marans, or Chicken of Marans. French Marans have sparsely feathered legs. British poultry enthusiasts prefer birds with featherless legs. So when the Brits imported French Marans, they bred them to be clean legged. Today […]
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