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 […]
At dusk, chickens instinctively seek a high place to spend the night where they feel safe from predators. Lacking a comfortable place to roost inside their coop, they may seek an outdoor roost. It might be the top of a fence or gate, in a tree, or even on the coop roof. Chickens that roost […]
Newly hatched poultry come equipped with yolk reserves that provide baby birds with nutrients for many hours after they hatch. It’s nature’s way of allowing the early hatchers to remain in the nest until the whole brood has hatched. Hatchery chicks shipped by mail take advantage of these yolk reserves during the day or two […]
An egg tooth is a tiny horn-like projection at the tip of the upper beak of a newly hatched chick. Soon after the chick hatches, the egg tooth falls off. Domestic poultry and other birds share this trait in common with most reptiles. When a chicken egg is incubated, the egg tooth begins to […]