Some chicken breeds are more heat tolerant that others. They typically are lightweight breeds with large combs and wattles, sparse feathering, and clean legs. Other breeds are more cold hardy. They generally are the heavier breeds with tight combs, small wattles, and dense feathering. Some breeds, however, are able to handle both warm and cold […]
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All hens start out laying small eggs. As the birds mature, the egg size increases until it reaches the normal size for the breed. Many breeds will end up laying small or medium size eggs, while most baking recipes call for large eggs. Chicken keepers who do a lot of baking therefore prefer chicken breeds […]
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A broody hen stops laying eggs when she starts setting. Therefore, throughout the ages poultry keepers who have raised chickens primarily for eggs have culled persistently broody hens. In other words, they selectively bred in favor of non-setters. As a result, the breeds best known for superior laying ability are less apt to brood than […]
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Black laced red is a relatively new variety of Wyandotte. In appearance the chickens are somewhat similar to black laced golden Wyandottes, which have been standardized as “golden laced Wyandottes” since 1888. To understand the nomenclature, as well as the differences between black laced red and black laced golden Wyandottes, let’s take a brief look […]
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Based on discussions and photos circulating online, there seems to be a bit of confusion about the difference between a blue laced red Wyandotte and a splash laced red Wyandotte. Since the two varieties are related and look somewhat similar, the confusion is justified. Another issue of confusion is the origin of blue laced […]
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Chicken owners who collect and hatch eggs from their backyard breeder flocks may be divided into two camps: the so-called propagators or multipliers, who emphasize quantity, and the breeders, who emphasize quality. Both groups hatch lots of chicks. To the propagator, the end goal is the large numbers of chicks. To the breeder, a […]
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A chicken’s toenails constantly grow, just like a human’s. Unlike a human, though, a chicken can often keep its own toenails trimmed back by scratching the ground while looking for things to eat. Scattering a small amount of scratch grain or some mealworms on the ground encourages chickens to scratch and keep their nails properly […]
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Some chicken breeds make great broody hens. Others are iffy. Still others are completely unreliable. And some never go broody at all. What does broody mean and why does it matter? Broodiness, in a nutshell, is maternal instinct. After a hen has accumulated a nestful of eggs, maternal instinct tells her to keep the eggs […]
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Chickens are endlessly fascinating. The more time you spend with them, the more you discover how intensely complex these creatures are. Here are 20 weird and wonderful facts about chickens: If all the chickens on earth were evenly distributed among all the people on earth, each person would have at least 3 chickens. The chicken […]
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Chick season® for most birds is in the spring. Poultry, like other birds, gear up for laying eggs and hatching them as the days start growing longer in spring. Also like other birds, most poultry are seasonal breeders. The length of the breeding season depends largely on the type of poultry. Chickens and other […]
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