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Understanding Sex-Link Hybrid Chickens
At Backyard Poultry we get questions all the time asking for help identifying the breed of various chickens. Many times the chickens pictured are not purebred chickens at all but crossbreeds / hybrid chickens hatcheries produce for very specific purposes – such as egg production.
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Treats for Baby Chicks Can Be Fun and Nutritious
Your initial focus when getting baby chickens was probably the basics: selecting a breed, setting up a chick brooder, and what you can feed chickens. When you were researching this last part, did you consider treats for baby chicks?
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Chicken Feather & Skin Development
Add to Favorites Doug Ottinger lives in northwest Minnesota with his wife, Connie. They raise chickens, ducks and geese on their small hobby farm. Doug’s educational background is in agriculture, …
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How to Protect Chickens from Hawks
When I walked out to the chicken coop and looked up, I was horrified to see a red-tailed hawk calmly eating one of my White Leghorns. When the hawk spotted me, it flew off and dropped the Leghorn’s body.
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The Scoop on Using Prebiotics and Probiotics for Chickens
When chicken keepers get their birds, they often wonder what to feed chickens. It’s probably the first question most newcomers ask.
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The Realities of Guinea Fowl Care
Owning guinea fowl can be uplifting … or cause problems with the neighbors!
When an old friend, Roy Miller, invited us to camp on his field in Lincolnshire, he didn’t mention the bird life, so it was an unexpected delight to be greeted by a flock of guinea fowl on arrival.
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Winterizing Your Flock; A Winter Menu for Poultry
I receive calls each winter concerning loss of chickens or the reduction in egg production. Both of these issues are related to diet.
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Simple Turkey Brine Techniques
We love our turkey dinners, especially toward the end of the year, but we’ve all suffered from dry, tasteless white meat that must be smothered in gravy to be palatable.
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Toxins in the Environment
Poisoning is relatively unusual in backyard poultry, especially if you use common sense in keeping your flock away from pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, fungicide-treated seed (intended for planting), wood preservatives, rock salt, and antifreeze.
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Protein-Packed Smoothies for Molting Chickens
The shorter days heading into fall will usually find the backyard chicken keeper with a flock of molting chickens. Chickens losing feathers during autumn should be no cause for concern.
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