Posted on Leave a comment

Get Your Chickens Ready for the Fair

A chicken keeper holds her bird and the award she won at a local fair.

Before you get your chickens ready for the fair, a good idea is to attend a few shows and become familiar with the procedures. Once you have an idea how things are handled, you’ll be better prepared to get involved. And by making friends with people who regularly exhibit, you’ll be more relaxed and have […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

Feeders for Baby Chicks

Two baby chicks feeding out of a chick feeder

One of a chick’s first instincts is to peck. As soon as chicks are in a brooder, they look for things to peck. On newspaper they will peck the print. If they don’t see anything else to peck, they’ll peck their own toes. Suitable feeders for baby chicks will help them find the starter ration […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

15 Common Questions about Chicken Behavior

A bird taking off

Cackle Hatchery® customers, especially first time buyers, ask a lot of questions about the behavior of chickens. Here are answers to 15 of the most common questions we answer about chicken behavior. Are chickens intelligent? Yes. Chickens are intelligent. Among other things, they learn quickly, they can do basic arithmetic, and they have good memories. […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

How Many Eggs Does a Turkey Lay?

Turkey eggs

The best laying turkeys don’t lay nearly as well as the best laying chickens. Plus, given that a turkey is bigger than a chicken, and therefore eats more than a chicken, keeping turkeys strictly for eggs is not a practical endeavor. However, if you have turkeys anyway, you may as well enjoy their delicious eggs. […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

17 Common Questions about Feeding Chickens

A group of backyard chickens eating a watermelon

Customers who contact Cackle Hatchery® frequently ask questions about feeding their flocks. Below are 17 of the most common questions our team is asked regarding feeding chickens. What do chickens eat? What chickens eat depends on their stage of growth. Confined chickens eat commercially formulated chick starter when they’re young and commercial layer ration when […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

Selecting Guinea Fowl

Guinea Fowl together in an open outdoor space.

Guinea fowl are terrific foragers that wander around gobbling up ticks and other harmful insects. They are also wonderful watchdogs, noisily sounding an alarm whenever they detect something amiss. If you’re thinking of adding these unusual birds to your flock, the first thing to understand when selecting guinea fowl is the difference between African guineas […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

How Many Eggs Does a Duck Lay?

Ducks together in a backyard

Some duck breeds lay as well as chicken breeds. However, ducks kept mainly for meat or ornamental purposes do not lay nearly as well as those that have been selectively bred for their laying ability. Below is a look at how many eggs you can expect each duck breed to lay per year. How Many […]

Continue Reading
Posted on 1 Comment

Protect Your Chickens from Infectious Coryza

A chicken suffering from Coryza

Infectious coryza is one of the most common bacterial diseases of backyard chickens. It is, in fact, the chicken version of the common cold. Avibacterium paragallinarum bacteria cause this respiratory disease. Like the common cold, infectious coryza is particularly prevalent in the fall and winter, especially in the southeastern and northeastern United States and in […]

Continue Reading
Posted on Leave a comment

Starve-Out in Turkey Poults

Baby turkey poults

Starve-out occurs when turkey poults (baby turkeys) fail to eat. As a result they literally starve to death. But, as dire as it sounds, preventing starve-out is not difficult with proper poult management. Reasons for Starve-Out Poults learn how to eat from the mama hen. Since chicks are quicker learners than poults, “I recommend including […]

Continue Reading