About the Author
Doug Ottinger
Articles by Doug Ottinger
Hungarian Yellow Chickens
Hungarian Yellows: a beautiful landrace heritage breed and national treasure of Hungary.
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Bird Flu 2022: What You Should Know
Highly lethal and easily transmitted, this particular strain of influenza can cause severe illness, especially in chicken and turkey flocks. The resulting mortality losses can reach 75 to 100% within days.
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Chicken Feather Patterns: Barred, Cuckoo, Mottled, Splash
What distinguishes the chicken feather patterns barred, cuckoo, mottled, and splash? And why is the barring stronger in a Barred Rock rooster vs hen?
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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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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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9 Lesser-Known Facts About Chickens and Ducks
Do chickens have tonsils? Can chickens get rabies? How do ducks mate? Do questions about these facts about chickens ever keep you up awake at night?
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Bielefelder Chicken and Niederrheiner Chicken
Meet the Bielefelder chicken and Niederrheiner chicken, two breeds with long heredities, originating in the farmland of the Lower-Rhine region (or Neiderrhein) of Northern Germany.
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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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