A Minnesota firm has obtained a patent for an incubator that can alter the sex of an egg before it hatches. Naturally hatched eggs result in about 50 percent females and 50 percent males. Anyone who has ever hatched eggs hoping for a majority of laying hens knows the problem — too many roosters. To […]
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In many areas local ordinances prohibit keeping backyard chickens, but regulations vary from one place to the next. Before bringing home your first chickens, check applicable zoning regulations, municipal codes, homeowner association rules, and lease restrictions. You will learn whether you can keep chickens at all, and, if so, what restrictions might pertain to your […]
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If you’ve purchased chicks from Cackle Hatchery in the past, you may have noticed that we offer our customers the opportunity to vaccinate all of our chicken breeds against Marek’s disease. This highly-contagious viral disease causes chickens to develop a variety of devastating symptoms such as vision impairment, partial paralysis and cancerous tumor growth on […]
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Rat snakes are often called chicken snakes because they hang around chicken coops. Their intent is to eat rats and mice, but after they’ve cleared out the rodents they look around for something else to eat. Bird eggs are often on a rat snake’s menu, and poultry eggs are no exception. Young poultry are also […]
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Raising a flock of chickens to put food on the table for you and your family? If so, the Cornish Cross is an excellent breed to consider as it will provide you with more than enough meat to make some delicious meals. Give this herb-stuffed roasted chicken recipe a try with your Cornish Cross hens. […]
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Goose eggs are delicious! Just one egg makes a formidable omelet, although goose eggs are less often used for culinary purposes than for hatching or — because of their large size and thick shells — for creating goose egg craft items such as Christmas ornaments and decorative jewelry boxes. Yet goose eggs may be used […]
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A duck’s legs and feet are made for flying and swimming, not walking. Ducks have structurally weak legs, and the most common affliction of ducks is lameness. A duck may start to limp and eventually go lame for any number of reasons. Injury Ducklings brooded on wire can get a tiny hock caught […]
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Thinking about adding some waterfowl to your flock? Ducks are a great place to start. Many breeds are small, social and easy to handle, and their eggs typically have more protein and healthy fats than chicken eggs. Today we’d like to take a moment to appreciate one of our favorite duck breeds—the Welsh Harlequin. […]
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Keeping chickens in the garden may be picturesque, but chickens can do a lot of damage in a surprisingly short time, especially to freshly planted seeds or tender sprouts. A couple of chickens roaming in a large garden after the plants mature may do little damage, but in a small or newly planted garden just […]
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The Polish chicken breed was not developed in Poland, but in the Netherlands. It was originally intended as a layer of white-shell eggs, but the breed is now considered to be primarily ornamental because of its characteristic puffy head feathers, known as a crest or topknot. The reason these chickens are called Polish has been […]
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