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Poultry Glossary of Terms
I wanted to put one of these together for this category. I ran across this list when browsing for other things this morning and figured posting a link to it saves me time. 😄 A few are new to me, and some have been missed. Certain words may be used in some regions and not in others. Even so, this should give a good start to…
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Another chicken butchering method
I bought an interesting used book yesterday. It was printed in the 70s. It covers a lot of projects. Among all of the other information on how to make _____, I found this contraption.
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Chicken coop & run flaws & fixes
There are many thing a person can use to make a coop. There are also many pre-made coops or paid/free plans available. I have found that most coops, sometimes even advertised "predator proof" ones, do not use 1/4" hardware cloth. This is essential if you want to keep any predators out larger than a weasel. Chicken wire is…
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I just geeked out on chicken math
I bought 8 pure silkies (4 pullets, 4 cockerels) @ $15 ea. I'm keeping 1 cockerel. It cost me $30 for the keepers. A breeder in my province is selling pullets at $55 each. I'm going kinda low & assuming cockerels are at $20 each. So, I hope to sell the extras at $20/cockerel & $55 for the one pullet. If that's successful,…
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I forgot to collect eggs, and this happened!
I have so much food growing! Serious abundance. I got busy with projects.... forgot to collect eggs for a few weeks (the chickens were well fed though), and this is what happened!
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Incubating call duck eggs
Yes, I'm a sucker. I'm incubating these once again, for our oldest daughter. The part I get stressed over is the helping out at the end. Safety holes & then helping soon after... every time. Otherwise, the resulting ducklings are cute & lots of fun. Here is what I saw today (not me in the link below), day 3 & 5. There are…
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What do I do about two broody hens fighting over eggs?
I have one hen that loves to hatch duck eggs. Anytime she is broody I let her take a clutch of duck eggs. She is currently sitting 4 jumbo pekin eggs and has been for about 2 weeks. A couple of days ago another hen became broody. Both of them are now constantly fighting over those eggs. I have no rooster so the chicken…
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A dream bird I'll never have: an Ocellated turkey
Such eye candy! But, they are beyond expensive & super fragile requiring very special care. Now if I lived in Belize...
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Joel Salatin: Poultry Sickness & Mortality...a good read
Here is a very well thought out article on the most publicized animal virus of our day. He makes some very good points...and says them out loud.
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The games chickens play
My chickens have been laying eggs so well for this time of year. the other day there were no eggs? What I get at least 4 a day, sometimes more. Great for this cold time of year. So I looked around and they moved their laying area. The next day it's moved back to where it was before. So, each day I have to play the egg hunt…
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First egg of the season!
I found the first egg of the season yesterday. I was surprised and happy with the price of feed my girls need to produce well to just cover feed costs. I am not sure if it's one of the new hens or one of the older ones. Its earlier than normal this year by one month and I hope the gals continue to lay. It was one of my…
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Coop Latches
Here are my promised latch pictures. Some wires were put through the hardware cloth, & some through drilled holes in the doorway frame. Our doors are 1/2 the size of people doors, and above a 2' solid ponywall. It's basically just like a gate. 😉 This should make getting stuck in the coop & predators opening the door less…
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Injured duck
I have a jumbo pekin that is about 3 months old. She injured he back end somehow yesterday. I can't figure out how she did it. She was fine when I was out with her in the morning. A couple of hours later my son went out to refresh the waterer and she was all bloody. The only thing I can think of is that maybe one of the…
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Peachicks
Well, I keep learning. I asked someone (on my favorite newly revived poultry forum) about raising peachicks. Im trying to do more troubleshooting and learning before the next hatching season, which is humorously enough, quickly approaching. Many high end breeders open up for ordering hatching eggs on Jan 1. Mind you, I can…
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New ducklings!
I was asked to hatch a few tiny call ducklings for our oldest daughter. These are ducks that I said Id never want to hatch out again. Mother ducks are way better than me at hatching them, and it is way less stressful for me. Three have hatched. This breed of duck is notoriously difficult to hatch because of their short…
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I don't know everything, really, I don't...tell me the solution to your story
I had a mystery issue with my little Serama rooster. I thought maybe he had bugs...after a check, I saw none. Then with ongoing and strange behaviors that affected his head & balance, I thought ear mites. I treated...nope, not that either. I didn't think it was worms because he has always been strictly indoors & isolated…
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How do you minimize chickens from spilling their food?
My daughter's chickens use their beaks like shovels to drag out the pellet or crumble food out of their food containers. We use a chicken feeder like the included picture. We have tried hanging it, putting it up on cement blocks, but the chicken litter gets clogged in it to the point where the chickens do not eat from it.…
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Growing your own duck feed
I see quite a few articles about home grown chicken feed, very few about duck feed. Thought I post this one out here for our duck owners.
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how long will a 50 lb. bag of feed last for a flock of 6 laying hens?
Can you help me with this math? Laying hens will need about 0.25# per day of approximately 16% protein feed, 6 hens would consume a total of 1.5 lb. per day. So (50 lb. / 1.5 lb.)/ day = 33.3. So 33 days? About a month? Does that seem right to you?
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Coop Deep Cleaning the Natural Way
You can just use a shovel/manure fork & then wash down your coop on the inside and let the sun disinfect. But if you have an issue with mites &/or disease, it is wise and perhaps necessary to go further with your cleaning methods. You want to clean every nook & cranny, all corners, nest boxes & perches when you do a…
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OMG, renting chickens is a thing!
When I first saw the headline about "renting chickens" I almost fell off my chair laughing. Then I checked to make sure it wasn't April 1st . Now the more I think about it, I'm like, "yeah, why not?". So here is a fun article about a possible way to make a living from the folks over at Backyard Poultry magazine.
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4 Peas in a Pod
We have successfully hatched 4 India Blue peachicks. We did it! One required new shoes to correct his crooked toes while they are still malleable. It is getting used to them. It's toes should be just fine in a couple of days. I am letting the peas dry off. Tomorrow, I'll get some pictures for everyone. They are not fluffy…
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Quail Head Problem
Hello all. I'm raising quail for eggs and meat. Has anyone had issue with the top of their heads getting bloody? I use Hatching Time cages. They are getting plenty of protein.
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Keeping chickens cool in extreme heat.
Here in Michigan we don't get a ton of hot weather. When I researched chicken breeds I made sure to get birds that could handle extreme cold well because I didn't expect heat to be an issue. We are experiencing extremely high temperatures for our area and have been under extreme heat advisory from the National Weather…
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Which hen is laying/Will my pullets lay soon
Here is an excellent article explaining how to know who is going to lay soon, who is still laying, and who has become a freeloader.
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Chicken Egg Hatching Cycle
A really interesting article from Mother Earth News.
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Chicken Tractors: the good, the bad, and the ugly
😄 I couldn't resist! Make sure you build a tractor large enough for the birds you have to not be stressed or plan on making more as needed. I think the latter is the wiser choice. Most tractors and many coops I've seen seem to be quite flawed in the proofing department. If they claim "predator proof", it's a challenge for…
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Article about raising mealworms for your chickens
Thought this was rather interesting.
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Bird Flu
PCR testing chickens all over the world and destroying flocks as well as backyard chickens. Leads right into all the fake lab grown meat. Not sure what else to say except this is terrible!
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Starting up the incubator!
I am starting late and with very few eggs this year. I haven’t separated most birds yet, and that isn't desirable. They will need a minimum of 1 month, not mixed with the other breeds, to be pure. Then I need to collect, and only then do I set them. These are our youngest's Jersey Giant chickens' eggs and they will go into…
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Egg Hatch Rate & Egg Fertility Rate
Here you'll find the hatch rate explained. It is rather wordy (I suspect to fill the space for the article). If you scroll down fairly far, you will find the formula. https://cluckin.net/what-percentage-of-chicken-eggs-will-hatch.html This is the chart I use, that I got from a member on the now defunct Alberta Chickens…
