head
The Pros & Cons of Coop Heating: Do Chickens Need Heat in Winter?
Recently, I’ve been writing about safely heating backyard chicken coops and addressing the question: Do chickens need heat in winter? In New England, we get buried under heaps of snow and experience temperatures in the negatives.
Read More
The Phantom Chicken of London: Tastes Like Spooky!
What has feathers, a British accent and goes cluck in the night?
When we booked a trip to England this past summer, I wasn’t thinking, “Hey, let’s check out some ghost poultry while we’re gallivanting in jolly ol’!”
Read More
A Guide to Duck Shelters for Winter
With their double coat of waterproof feathers over thick, warm fluffy down and a layer of body fat, ducks (regardless of duck breeds) are exceedingly cold-hardy. They love being outdoors year-round in most climates, perfectly happy playing in the rain and even the snow.
Read More
Chicken Clothes for Halloween and Christmas
Whether it be for a competition, holiday, or just for pleasure, many people enjoy putting clothing and accessories on their chickens in order to dress them up. If you are going to costume your chickens, advises Brigid McCrea, PhD, associate professor at Delaware State University and extension poultry specialist, for the health and safety of your birds keep the following clothing guidelines in mind:
Read More
Your Options For Chicken Mite Treatment
Before starting a chicken mite treatment it’s important to know if your flock has mites. So the first step is to perform a Chicken Health Exam.
Read More
No Jolt During The Molt: Chicken Care in 7 Steps
Lana Beckard, Nutrena® Poultry Expert – Ready or not, here comes the molt. Chickens shedding feathers and a drop in egg production in the fall are good indicators that your birds are going through molt.
Read More
All About Araucana Chickens
The Araucana chicken has some bizarre features; they are rumpless and have ear tufts. Oh yes, and they lay blue eggs. These rumpless birds are missing more than just tail feathers; they are missing the entire coccyx.
Read More
What Killed My Chicken?
Keep a flock for long and sooner or later you’ll be asking yourself, “What killed my chicken?” Many marauders love our backyard chickens as much as we do, and each leaves a calling card that offers a clue as to which predator you’re dealing with.
Read More
Eliminating Flies in the Chicken Coop
Flies in the chicken coop are a common nuisance, but sometimes conditions allow the populous to get out of hand. Nobody wants to batt flies from his or her face when feeding their chickens, and no chicken wants to be inundated in biting flies or be the victim of flystrike.
Read More
Raising Sicilian Buttercups in America
My love for raising chickens didn’t begin with the Modern Games and the Black Sumatras my two boys raised in 4-H here in San Luis Obispo, California. But they got me started.
Read More