Do Turkeys Need a Coop?
A turkey coop needs to be designed differently from a chicken coop, especially for the larger, less agile broad-breasted turkeys. Broad-breasted turkeys tend to accept coop life more readily than their heritage turkey relatives.
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All Cooped Up: Erysipelas
Erysipelas is found worldwide and most commonly affects turkeys. Fighting, picking, and artificial insemination in birds like broad-breasted turkeys are risk factors for contracting erysipelas because they all have the potential to create lacerations.
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Breed Profile: Narragansett Turkey
The Narragansett turkey is a heritage variety of American origin, valued for its hardiness, self-sufficiency, excellent mothering skills, and superior flavor.
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One Rooster Too Many?
The hen-to-rooster ratio refers to the ideal number of hens per rooster. The average optimal ratio for heavier breeds is eight hens per rooster, although a peak-form rooster can handle 12 or more.
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Chicken Behavior Shows Your Birds May be Smarter Than You Think
How smart are chickens? Their behavior indicates they are intelligent, complex creatures and research has identified at least 24 distinct chicken noises, a kind of chicken language.
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Breed Profile: Ameraucana Chicken
Amercaucana chickens have tails and muffs, with eight varieties recognized in both Bantam and large fowl. Lavender Ameraucanas are a very popular newer variety that is not yet recognized by the APA or ABA.
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Homemade Suet for Chickens
Need some ideas for what to feed your backyard chickens over the winter? As the weather gets colder, the treats I feed my flock focus more on energy and warming properties instead of being cooling and hydrating like summer treats.
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Respiratory Distress in Chickens
The average respiratory rate of a chicken is normally from 15 to 30 breaths per minute. This, however, will vary greatly with the breed and size of chicken.
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All Cooped Up, Again
Add to Favorites By Mark Hall, Ohio It was a mild November morning in the year 2011. The ground was littered with autumn leaves that crunched under my boots as …
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What’s the Best Chicken Coop Light?
When we supplement light to our chickens in winter, does it matter what type of bulb we use? Between incandescent, fluorescent, and LED bulbs, there are benefits and drawbacks to each, but do the chickens have a preference?
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