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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We know that eggs must be properly incubated in a warm environment for them to form healthy, well-developed chicks. But what if the amount of light that eggs are exposed to during incubation could have an effect on the temperament of chickens as well? According to a paper recently published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, […]
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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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People who haven’t spent much time around chickens might not think they’re particularly bright, but those of us who raise our own flocks have probably noticed that these birds can actually be pretty shrewd when it comes to finding food and securing their position in the pecking order. In fact, an academic paper recently published […]
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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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On November 23, the Oklahoma-based company National Steak and Poultry issued a recall of roughly 17,000 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products that had been packaged in early October. These products included a number of pre-cooked products including the popular Hormel brand of roasted chicken breast strips. This initial recall stemmed from concerns that the products […]
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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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