I have lost chicks to cats. Not my cats but stray cats that come into my backyard looking for food. My 2 cats live side by side with chickens. I got them used to be around chickens since they were kittens. Can cats and chickens live together? It is very possible for cats and chickens […]
Which is Better – Metal Feeders or Plastic Feeders? Chicken feeders vary in price, size, shape, and material used to make them. Understanding which material is best for a feeder is very important. The article is meant to compare galvanized metal and plastic sheet materials and to find out which one can best be used […]
We keep chicken for eggs and meat. One in a while, the egg supply drops. Chickens stop or reduce their rate of laying. We get worried about why we are not having enough eggs for breakfast. The kids keep asking for eggs. You tell them that there are no eggs. They respond by telling them […]
Vegetables and fruits not only make great treats for chickens but are also nutritious. While they are not to be a replacement for their daily balanced diet, vegetables and fruits will add some nutrients to your chickens. So the question here is not if chickens will eat vegetables and fruits, but where the vegetable and […]
Dogs have been said to be man’s best friend and chickens are the cheapest provider of proteins to humanity. Dogs will offer companionship, protect people and their properties. Chickens are not only great companions but also provide eggs and meat. Can you keep chickens with dogs? We have heard horrifying encounters between dogs and chickens. […]
Mortality in chickens can be heartbreaking for any chicken keeper. None of my backyard chickens died when I started keeping chickens. Until I decided to hatch my own eggs and scale up my flock. We had traveled for the day. When got back in the evening, I did not check on the chicks. The next […]
Chickens scratch everywhere they can when feeding. This will include the chicken feeder. If the feeder is not made in a way that prevents waster, the feed will be scattered all over the floor. This will lead to wasted feed. Chicken feed accounts for 70% of the cost of keeping chickens. It is this feed […]
One of the most understood chickens are roosters. They are seen as a nuisance by some people while others view them as an integral part of any flock. A visiting friend once told me that I was doing zero work since I did not have a rooster. She went further and explained how I was […]
I first started by placing chicken feed on the floor. Then I realized that in no time there would be no signs of feed on the ground. My chickens would still be hungry. They would scatter the feed all around. Turn around and look at me, expecting more feed. Then I started using flat containers […]
While the red color in chicken poop might be nothing to worry about, it is a good practice to determine if the reddish color is blood or not. Blood in the chicken droppings will most likely be a sign of coccidiosis. If it is not blood, then most likely it is shedding of intestinal linings.
Do chickens need to have food and water inside the coop? Is it sufficient to have food and water in the run? Do chickens eat and drink at night in the coop? A detailed look on to where to place the feed and water station.
What size of feeder do you need for your chickens? 4 chickens? 10 chickens? 100 chickens? We take a look on how to calculate the feeder size required for any number of chickens.
Getting the right size of a chicken feeder will not only cut on the time you need to refill but also keep your birds are well fed and they do not have to fight for space while feeding.
Can You Keep Ducks and Chickens Together? A closer look on how to keep chickens and ducks together, while making sure their unique needs are met
When I first started keeping chickens in my backyard, I always wondered if the neighbors would come complaining about the noise. One of the major concerns for any aspiring backyard chicken keeper is noise. Noise from chickens can be a nuisance in urban and suburban areas. In some localities, there are laws that keep urban […]
After you have been keeping chickens for a while, you may ask yourself if there is a need to add ducks to your poultry flock. This is an issue I am currently looking into. The kids want ducks. They think they are adorable. My wife says ducks are awesome and that I cannot finish one […]
The Brahma originally named Brahmaputra (Brahmapootra) after a river in India, is an American Chicken Breed, developed from birds that had been imported from the Chinese port of Shanghai. In the chickens giant hall of fame, the Brahma chickens sit up there, together with other giant breeds like the Jersy Giant, with Brahma cockerels weighing […]
Though it might sound absurd, a major concern of new poultry keepers is if their chickens will fly away. And never come back. They do not specifically worry if the chickens will fly to another city or country, but if they will get out of their enclosures. For backyard poultry keepers, the concern might be […]
Come rain or snow, it is good to get chickens ready so that they can survive and remain productive throughout the frost. Winter is coming. Temperatures drop. Snow falls. Hours of the natural light become less. There is less food for predators. Your chickens become a target. In this article, we cover some of the […]
When I was constructing my chicken coop, I didn’t make any provision for artificial Lighting. This is because I did not see the need at the time. Since it is time to install one, I am looking at the different discussions around the need for artificial lighting in the chicken coop. The concept of supplemental […]
With an automatic chicken door, you do not have to worry about your chickens getting out of the coop in the morning and getting locked in the evening. They will be securely locked in at night and automatically let out in the morning when the automatic chicken doors open according to the time you have […]
During my early days of keeping chickens, I noticed my chickens’ wings were droopy and they had their mouths open. There were panting. Initially, I thought they might be sick. I called a friend who informed me that that is the way chickens behave when it is too hot. When it is hot, human beings […]
One of the challenges I faced when I started keeping chickens was the odor. When I got my first chicks, I put up the border in the house. I did not know that the smell would be so awful. After 3 days, I had to relocate the brooder. We could not stand the nauseating odor. […]
Chicken coops can attract rats and mice because they offer shelter, food, water, and the perfect breeding ground. Whether the chickens and coop are yours or the neighbors, prevention measures should be taken from the beginning. This is because is usually easier to prevent rats and mice from getting into the chicken coop than getting […]
Salmonella is a type of bacteria related to food poisoning in form of a disease called salmonellosis. It affects the intestinal tract of humans, chickens, and other poultry and mammals in general. According to a July 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, humans can become infected with the Salmonella bacteria after eating […]
I started keeping chickens without a plan. My mum gave us 2 hens and a cockerel for processing as meat for the children. We decided to keep them in the dog kennel. We had just let go of Sparky, our old dog, who used to get sick now and then, due to diseases spread by […]
As I was growing up, I never saw chicken being scalded. Never witnessed chicken being plucked using mechanical pluckers. My grandmother, together with my mother would hold the chicken, and pluck it very fast before it lost its body heat. As long as the chicken was warm, the feathers would come out with little resistance. […]
I have been processing my own chickens for a while now. Along the way, I have learned that to make the process easy for you and your chickens, it is good to have the right chicken processing equipment. This will not only make the butchering process shorter but also leave you with some energy to […]
Cornish cross (Cornish X) is the darling of the commercial chicken meat industry. Cornish X is also known also as Cornish Rock If you have bought broiler chicken meat at the grocery store, high chances are that the meat came from cornish cross chickens. The cornish cross, also referred to as the cornish rock is […]
You got chickens in your backyard with the intention of getting fresh eggs for your family. You might be keeping chicken as a means of self-sufficiency, with eggs as the cheapest source of proteins available to man. When the eggs start coming, you have them for breakfast, every day. As you take good care of […]
The Australorp breed of a chicken has been around since the 1890s or thereabout. It is still here today, thanks to it being a great egg-layer as well as good meat yield. A dual-purpose breed, the Australorp is a good choice for anyone who wants to keep chicken in their backyard or homestead. Australorp background […]
Have you been thinking about raising chickens, but your backyard is small? Once you have decided, you need to choose a breed or breeds that suit the backyard. Below are some popular breeds that will help you figure out the best fit. Buff Orpingtons Orpington is a fairly recent breed. A coachman from England was […]
Many chicken owners find it so distressing when their chickens stop laying eggs. An experienced chicken owner knows how to tell that this is a part of the natural cycle of a hens’ life or other reasons that their chickens are not laying eggs. To be able to deal with the causes of chickens not […]
Culling is one of the practices that has been done for ages in livestock keeping. When it comes to chickens, culling is the process where you identify and remove the non-laying or low producing chickens from a laying flock. It is a continuous process from the time your chicks hatch to the peak of their […]
As much as we dislike the small disturbing insects, flies usually come along if you are keeping chicken. Those black pestering creatures are usually at every nook and cranny in the farm and multiply pretty quickly with one female fly getting sexually active just after 24hours of being in the adult stage. A female fly […]
All around the world, every animal keeper has to deal with the smell of animal droppings. Chicken being no exception, can generate a whole lot of awful smells that might even land you in trouble with your neighbors. You do not have to struggle to hold your breath every time you enter a stinky chicken […]
Choosing the right type of chicken fencing can be a matter of life and death for your chickens. The type of chicken fence selected should be able to serve the purpose of protecting your chicken, while at the same time controlling their movements. Sometimes a combination of different chicken fencing materials is used, taking advantage […]
In this article, we look at how high a chicken fence needs to be, including factors determining the height. We will also answer some frequently asked questions on the height of chicken fences.
The American game chicken breed, also known as the American gamefowl, was developed to be a game fowl, a bird for cockfighting. With its many varieties and colors, the American gamefowl is mostly kept as a show bird (Ornamental bird), due to the stick laws on cockfighting. An interesting fact about the American fowl is […]
The Wyandotte is an American chicken breed that is reared by homesteaders and backyard flock keepers for its yellow-skinned meat and brown eggs. Bred to be dual purpose, the Wyandotte chicken breed was to solve a particular issue. Back then, there existed no breed that could produce meat and eggs well. The chicken breeds that […]
The Orpington chicken breed is a large-sized bird developed in England in the late 1800s, by William Cook. Gentle and friendly the Orpington is available in 4 recognized varieties which are the buff, blue, white and black. Developed to be a dual-purpose chicken breed, the Orpington gains weight fast, has good egg production, and has […]
The Jersey Giant, as the name suggests is one of the largest chicken breeds in the world. When you encounter one, you will probably never forget it. Though the popularity had gone down, due to its poor feed-to-weight conversion ratio, the Jersey Giant is becoming popular among backyard poultry keepers. The poor feed-to-weight conversion ratio […]
The Cornish chickens breed, previously referred to as the Indian game is an impressive chicken breed that has been used to develop most of the present meat chickens, including the popular Cornish Cross. Muscular, broad, Widely spaced legs with a large diameter, the cornish chicken was bred for one purpose only; war. It was meant […]
The Sussex chicken, originally bred in Sussex, Britain has become one of the most popular chickens for small backyard farms and homesteads. Initially bred to be a market chicken, for sale at the market, the Sussex chicken breed was known for fine table meat with its tender juicy flesh, white skin, feet, and legs. Reared […]
Docile, gentle, hardy and good sitters, Plymouth Rock Chickens have been one of the most common chickens in America where they were developed using crosses of Java, Brahma, Cochin, and Dominique. The initial Plymouth Rock had barred Plumage, hence the common names were Barred Plymouth Rock, Barred Rock or simply Rock. Other varieties were developed […]
