These are the winners of the 2016 Cackle Hatchery Photo Contest: Runner ups:
Continue ReadingHow Does an Egg Develop Inside a Chicken?
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 […]
Continue ReadingAcademic Study Sheds Light on Chicken Intelligence
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 […]
Continue ReadingHow to Take Care of Baby Chickens
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 […]
Continue ReadingStudy Finds Free-Range Eggs Contain More Vitamin D
With the days getting shorter and the cold weather driving us indoors, we could all probably use a little extra vitamin D this time of year. Well, according to a study conducted at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, you can find a whole lot of the “sunshine vitamin” right in your back […]
Continue ReadingHow to Recognize and Treat Frostbite in Chickens
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 […]
Continue ReadingUSDA Announces New Rules to Protect Livestock Producers
On December 15, 2016 the US Department of Agriculture announced that it will institute three new rules designed to protect the rights of livestock and poultry farmers who work with large meat processing companies. The Obama administration proposed a similar set of rules in 2010, but Congress blocked their funding. After the spending ban was […]
Continue ReadingHow to Protect Your Chickens from Frostbite
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 […]
Continue ReadingNational Steak and Poultry Expands Chicken Product Recall
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 […]
Continue ReadingThe Best Mating Ratios for Poultry: How Many Hens per Rooster?
The optimal mating ratio for chickens, turkeys, and other poultry is not the same ratio in which they typically hatch. Most poultry naturally hatch approximately 50 percent females and 50 percent males. If your goal is to obtain fertile eggs for hatching, that ratio will result in males fighting excessively with each other, and when […]
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