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Help Chickens Keep Their Cool
Some people love a summer heat wave, or for that matter, sweating it out in a sauna. Not chickens. For our feathered friends, steamy summer days — which are increasing, due to climate change — can mean trouble.
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Do Chickens Sweat to Cool Down?
Some people love a summer heat wave, or for that matter, sweating it out in a sauna. Not backyard chickens.
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How to Compost Chicken Manure
Chickens provide us with hours of companionship, fresh eggs, and manure! Lots of manure. About one cubic foot of manure is produced by each chicken in approximately six months.
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The History and Future of Marans Chickens
Marans chickens are synonymous with chocolate brown eggs. Marans chickens originated in the French village of the same name about 240 miles southwest of Paris or 100 miles north of Bordeaux.
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How to Make a Dust Bath For Chickens
A healthy and good smelling chicken NEEDS to take a dust bath on a regular basis. Chances are if your chicken is “not too fresh,” then they do not have access to a dust bath.
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The Brakel (Braekel) Chicken
Although not exceptionally rare, the Brakel (alt. Braekel) breed always needs more keepers and is also a historic, interesting race. In Flanders, Belgium where it originates, the “Brakel Hen” is known as the oldest large laying breed that still exists today, the Ardenner being the oldest Belgian breed of the French speaking Waloon area of Belgium.
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Reusing Chicken Coop Trash for a More Self-Sustaining Living
Self-sustaining living on our farm means I try to reduce the amount of waste that the farm sends to the landfill. It’s not always easy and I try to think creatively in order to reduce the waste.
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Chickens and Compost: A Match Made in Heaven
While compost piles are not a critical element for healthy hens, it is certainly a match made in heaven. It’s not just the extra protein the birds get from their foraging.
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How to Keep Your Hens Happy
Keeping your hens happy is easy once you know what motivates their behavior. Nearly all of a chicken’s activities are motivated by three basic needs: to get enough to eat, to avoid being eaten, and to make more chickens.
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Top 10 Chicken Nesting Boxes
Finding ways to cut costs on the farm by making or designating items for poultry farming can boost the family budget—or at least not tap it for new items.
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