Preventing heat stress in your backyard chicken flock involves a combination of commonsense management measures. The following seven simple strategies will help your chickens stay cool in summer. Heat Tolerant Breeds If you live in a climate that’s warm year-around, you might consider keeping a heat tolerant breed. Some chicken breeds naturally tolerate warm weather […]
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16 Chicken Breeds that Tolerate Warm Weather
Chickens have no sweat glands, so chicken breeds that originated in hot climates have developed other features to help them stay cool. One is to grow a large comb and wattles, through which blood circulation increases in hot weather to help dissipate body heat. Another warm-climate adaptation is to avoid trapped heat by developing sparse […]
Continue Reading5 Chicken Breeds that Have 5 Toes
Most chickens have four toes on each foot. Of the chicken breeds found in the United States, five breeds typically have five toes on each foot. The condition is technically known as polydactylism — from the Greek words poly meaning many, and daktylos meaning a finger or toe. The trait of having five toes represents […]
Continue Reading10 Least Broody Chicken Breeds
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 […]
Continue ReadingWhat Is the Definition of Poultry?
If you would wonder what the word poultry means, you might think first to look in the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection. At the front of the book is a glossary covering 8-pages of terms from “A.O.C.” to “yearling,” but no “poultry.” So, what is poultry? Definitions of Poultry Even though the Standard doesn’t […]
Continue ReadingBreed Spotlight: Lovely Longtail Chickens
A longtail chicken is one of several breeds selectively bred for growing particularly long tail feathers. The roosters have two specialized genes that allow their tails to grow longer than those of other breeds. One is a nonmolting gene that causes some of their tail feathers to not molt. The other gene produces rapid tail-feather […]
Continue Reading4 Ways to Tell Male and Female Chicks Apart
Four traditional methods are used to tell male and female chicks apart. Which method is most appropriate for any specific batch of chicks depends on their breed and variety, their age, and the skill of the observer. Vent Sexing Vent sexing, also called cloacal sexing, is a method of determining a hatchling’s gender by examining […]
Continue Reading10 Reasons Hens Eat Their Own Eggs
Egg eating is a nasty habit that, left unchecked, can spread from one hen to many or even all the hens in the flock. Not only do you lose eggs, you also end up with messy egg residue in the nests. Here are 10 reasons hens eat their own eggs, and how to stop them. […]
Continue Reading5 Things To Know Before Building A Chicken Coop
Building a chicken coop can be an extremely easy, fun, and educational experience for your family. However, it can also be a challenging and stressful experience if you don’t know where to start. There’s a lot to keep track of when building your own chicken coop, and every step is extremely important for keeping your […]
Continue ReadingMedia and Resources
Periodicals Raising Backyard Chickens: How to Start a Flock – Fox News Backyard Poultry Magazine Poultry Press An international newspaper devoted to breeding, raising, conditioning and showing purebred exhibition poultry. Poultry Health Report Poultry Times Cackle Hatchery® In the News From The Tailgate – Season 3 – Episode 14 – Cackle Hatchery […]
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