About the Author
Doug Ottinger
Articles by Doug Ottinger
Broody Chicken Breeds: A Frequently Under-Valued Asset
A broody hen or two is a wonderful resource that can be used to increase one’s flock. Many times, poultry keepers undervalue this heredity-linked trait in broody chicken breeds.
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Genetics of Black-Skinned Chickens
In the Western world, there is a preference for white chicken meat, with dark meat as a second choice. Different breeds and strains are known for the production of different colors, flavors, and textures of meat. A modern Cornish Cross is almost all white meat, including legs and thighs. Breeds such as the Buckeye are known for production of darker meat.
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Avoiding Kidney Damage in Laying Hens
Most backyard poultry keepers rarely give such damage and disease in poultry much thought. Kidney malfunction in poultry may show very few signs until the sudden and final stages when it is often too late to remedy.
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Bielefelders and Niederrheiners
Meet the Bielefelders and Niederrheiners, two breeds with long heredities, originating in the farmland of the Lower-Rhine region (or Neiderrhein) of Northern Germany.
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Poultry Bones
Avian skeletons, including those found in songbirds, gallinaceous birds such as chickens and turkeys, and most waterfowl are unique and complex structures
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How to Break Up a Broody Hen
There may be times when a broody hen is not in your best interest. Broodiness is infectious. Once one hen starts setting in earnest, it is highly likely that another hen will also start. And then another. Before long, there goes your egg production, most likely for several weeks. How do you break a broody hen?
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How Long do Chickens Lay Eggs? Breeds that Go the Extra Mile!
How long do chickens lay eggs? Even hens from the best egg-laying chicken breeds eventually stop producing. Here is some general information about length of egg-production and some breeds that seem to have extra-long laying lives.
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What Breeds Go The Extra Mile?
I polled a large number of veteran chicken keepers as to what they believed were the best egg-laying chicken breeds. For a breed to even be considered, one stipulation was that the breed had to lay at least three or four eggs per week and had to keep laying fairly consistently for at least three or four years. Most breeds chosen were brown-egg-layers.
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