These are the winners and runner ups of the 2018 Cackle Hatchery Photo Contest. Winners: Runners Up:
Continue Reading2018 Cackle Hatchery Photo Contest Winners and Runner Ups
Differences Between Heritage Turkeys and Broad Breasted Turkeys
In comparison to other poultry species, little is known about how turkeys were originally domesticated. What is known is that wild turkeys are indigenous to the Americas and were kept by Native Americans centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Various tribes ate turkey eggs, as well as enjoying turkey meat, both cooked fresh and dried […]
Continue ReadingHow to Help Your Chickens Stay Warm in Winter
Whether or not your chickens experience cold stress in winter depends on a number of factors, including how rapidly the temperature drops, how cold it gets, how long it stays cold and the chickens’ ability to stay dry and out of the wind. A well-feathered bird can be perfectly comfortable at an air temperature of […]
Continue ReadingHow Chickens Keep Themselves Warm in Winter
Chickens have a naturally high body temperature, averaging around 106°F, which allows them to remain active despite cold weather. As the temperature drops, a chicken’s metabolism speeds up to keep the bird warm. At the same time, the flow of blood to a chicken’s legs decreases to minimize the escape of body heat from […]
Continue ReadingCan Backyard Chickens Alleviate Poverty?
Giving chickens to underprivileged women will lift them out of poverty. So says Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is getting a lot of flak from his country’s political elite. But consider this: Chickens were once the savior of poverty-stricken rural Americans, according to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace (1933-1940). In the 1900s, […]
Continue ReadingWhat to Do with Unwanted Roosters
It’s a problem every chicken keeper eventually faces: What to do with unwanted roosters. If you purchase chicks, or hatch your own, you’ll have this problem sooner rather than later. Even sexed chicks that are sold as pullets (young hens) almost invariably include one or more cockerels (young roosters). If you end up with more […]
Continue ReadingHow Long After Mating Does a Hen Lay Fertile Eggs?
When a rooster mates a hen, his injected semen is stored in numerous sperm storage tubules (SSTs) located in the area where the hen’s uterus joins the vagina. That is, provided the hen likes the rooster. If she doesn’t, she can squirt out the semen to avoid hatching his offspring. Assuming the hen approves of […]
Continue ReadingYour Christmas Goose
Geese were traditionally harvested when they were the fattest, toward the end of the year and in time for the holidays. Fat is essential for good meat flavor, and rendered goose fat makes a delicious shortening. Any goose breed is suitable to raise for meat, although the different breeds vary in size. You may want […]
Continue ReadingCan You Stop a Rooster From Crowing?
Here’s a common scenario: You cannot legally keep a rooster in your area, so you got sexed chicks that were supposed to be all female. By the time one of them started crowing, and you realized he was a rooster, he had become a beloved member of your family flock. What to do? It’s hard […]
Continue ReadingWhich Chicken Started Laying Eggs?
When you raise hens from baby chicks, finding their first eggs can be exciting. Chickens don’t all start laying at the same time, so you’ll likely find an occasional small egg, then maybe one each day. Before long you’ll be finding multiple eggs daily. But since most chickens don’t lay an egg every day, how […]
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