#eFowl

Yes, you read that right.  If you’re a beginning poultry raiser or farmer, maybe you haven’t heard yet, but your hens can get a little hungry.  And as you and I both know, eggs are kind of delicious.  Maybe not raw eggs, but your hens don’t really know the difference.  Preventing hens from eating eggs will save you a lot of stress, and a lot of eggs.

How Does This Behavior Start?

It’s typical to…

Having a hen go broody can be great for your flock.  It means that she will naturally incubate your eggs until they hatch.  Unfortunately though, you don’t always want a hen to go broody.  While a broody hen can mean no incubators and no responsibility for you as the owner, it can also be unhealthy and/or pointless for a hen and therefore not in your best interest.  Maybe you just aren’t trying…

In an age where your food comes from all corners of the country and even the globe, people understandably want to know how their food came to be and where it came from.  When it comes to poultry, there are many different descriptions and words used to describe how a bird was raised.  Terms like free range chickens, “pasture raised” chickens, or cage free chickens all describe how a bird was…

The American Poultry Industry: Red, White, and Bird

As we are fast approaching America’s 240th birthday, we thought it’d be fun to reflect a little bit on the history of poultry and the poultry industry in our great nation.

  Just the Beginning

Though many people think of the poultry farming industry as mass producing facilities, until about the mid 20th century the industry was centered around family farms or small poultry colonies.  Of course,…

Sometimes you’re supposed to cook your chickens, just not in your backyard… and not by using the sun.  Keeping your chickens cool in the summertime is something that every flock owner should actively monitor.  While chickens can cool themselves down to some extent, there are some definite measures you can take as the flock owner to help create an environment that keeps your birds as comfortable…

Fashion Report: The Chicken Comb is Officially In

If you’ve ever tried to draw a chicken, you’ve probably included that little red thing on their head.  Chances are that little red thing you drew looks nothing like the actual little red thing on a chicken’s head.  Well, that “little red thing” is called a comb, and there are many different kinds of combs that come in all shapes and sizes.  The comb is formally defined as a “fleshy growth” on top…

All Cooped Up: Finding the Right Chicken Coop

Building or buying your chickens a coop is a major part of the flock-raising “process.”  A proper home protects your birds from the elements and predators, as well as gives them a place to roost, nest, and mate (kidding, they’ll mate anywhere.)

Chicken Coop Basics

If you’re really trying to invest some money into a coop, or if you’re just not that handy, there’s an endless amount of different…

The Cochin’s Impact on Breeding and Poultry Farming

“…[the Cochins’] introduction was the most memorable event that has ever happened in the poultry world; there has been nothing like it before or since.”

S.H. Lewer

  The Power of Poultry

“This kid doesn’t match my feathers. Let me try another one, something that is a bit more sporty, yet stylish.” Courtesy: Flickr

Chickens are all the rage….once again. Yes, again.  If you wait long enough, things…

A Guide On Brooding Baby Chicks

If you plan on your hens laying fertile eggs and then hatching more chickens, you’re going to need to know how to brood baby chicks.  Luckily, with a little background information and some basic tools or supplies, just about anybody can get started brooding baby chicks.

  The Basics of Brooding

While there are incredible options for just about any size or type of brooder that’s fully equipped…

Battling Bumblefoot: What You Need to Know

The Lowdown

Spells of wet weather = softened feet. You may see more of these bumbles during wet weather.

We’ve all seen it, that little bump under the bird’s foot or between its toes. Colloquially called bumblefoot, scientists call it Plantar Pododermatitis. Given their outdoor lifestyle, this is a fairly common chicken issue.  Due to its characteristic black scab, bumblefoot is also known as…

Colors of the Chicken World – Learn Your Feather Patterns

Within chicken breeds there are a variety of different color patterns that describe their plumage and their particular “design.”  When you read the name of a bird, this “color variety” is usually the first word.  For example, there are Plymouth Rock chickens, but within the breed of Plymouth Rock chickens you have the Barred Plymouth Rock, Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock, Partridge Plymouth Rock…

Silver Spangled Banner: An Intro to Hamburg Chickens

The History of Hamburg Chickens

The Hamburg is one of the oldest documented breeds of domesticated poultry.  Originating in Holland, the first recorded descriptions and illustrations of Hamburg chickens were made in 1599 by an Italian naturalist named Aldvovani.  Aldvovani originally named the breed the “Turkish” chicken.  The Dutch developed what we now call Golden Penciled and Silver Penciled…

Choosing the Right Pet Ducks

Understanding Your Duck Breeds

There are many different reasons to own ducks.  They can be kept as pets, egg layers, table birds, or all three at the same time!  Ducks are versatile animals who can be as productive as they are beautiful.  One thing many people don’t know about ducks is they make one of the best natural forms of pest control around.  Many breeds enjoy foraging and eat all kinds of…

Love Those Leghorns- Best of the Mediterranean Chicken Breeds

Be as a tower firmly set; Shakes not its top for any blast that blows. Dante Alighieri

Buongiorno!

La donna bella! Leghorns have a lightness of carriage and a sense of nobility.

Dante described the razza Livorno to a “T” in that passage from Paradiso.These stunning chickens are best immortalized by one celebrity. I’m not talking about Sophia Loren or Isabella Rossellini. I am referring to Foghorn…

Top 5 Questions on Raising Backyard Chickens

Farming is for everyone. If you are 8 or 80, it’s time to get raising those chickens.

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field. Dwight D. Eisenhower

People have moved quite a distance away from agriculture. Agriculture has been stereotyped as dirty, gross and fly ridden…it wasn’t for the progressive and cultivated (pun intended).…