Molting refers to the shedding of feathers. It is the natural process of losing and re-growing feathers. Most all birds do it including chickens. Molting is generally, not a pretty sight! In fact, it usually is hard to watch a chicken undergo a rough molt. Every chicken has about 8,500 feathers...
Let’s be honest: In the summer, when it’s hot and humid, it can sometimes discourage us from spending as much time with our flock as we normally would. However, the summer makes for a great opportunity to spend time with the birds. Spending time with our chickens is healthy for both them and us...
Herbs, Flowers, and Weeds for Chickens
Chickens are scavengers. Foragers. Omnivores. They eat herbs, flowers, and weeds along with insects and worms. They dig in the ground for foods they like. If allowed access, chickens will eat greens and bugs every day, all day. It makes us happy to see...
How To Tame Chickens from the Start
Many chicken keepers these days have friendly, tame flocks of birds they consider to be their pets. People see these chickens and are astonished. Who knew chickens could be such docile creatures? But, have they always been that way? Were they friendly from...
Like any living creature, chickens grow old. They start out as tiny embryos inside an egg and end up as large, clucking birds full of life. Chickens have a life expectancy of 5-8 years on average. However, some chickens have been known to live past 10 or even 15 years! Throughout these years...
Introducing New Chickens: Using the “See but don’t touch” Method
Chicken keeping is addicting. Along the road of your own chicken raising adventure, you are bound to add new chickens to your flock. This cannot and should not be taken lightly. When new chickens are introduced to an old flock...
Chicken eyesight is amazing! They can see better in color than humans, can detect and see light and color shades better than humans, have three eyelids, can move each eye independently, and have a 300-degree field of vision without turning their head.
How Chickens See
Although their eyes are on...
Tips for Successfully Sexing Your Chicks
Well, it’s that time of year. The chicks are in, we’ve fallen in love with their adorable appearances and peeping, we realize just how fun they are to keep…and we start asking the age-old question: “What gender are my chicks??” Sexing birds is one...
What a Chicken’s Comb Can Indicate
The comb, or the red crown atop a chicken’s head, can indicate many things. But before we look at these things, let’s see what the chicken’s comb’s purpose is. Its primary purpose is to act as a blood circulator. It helps keep the bird cool during hot weather...
Does Chicken Keeping Ever Get Boring?
Can or does chicken raising ever get dull? I’ve been at this chicken keeping business for years now. I don’t know about you, but when I first began my journey, it seemed as though I couldn’t learn enough about chickens. I read every book about chickens at...
Grass for Chickens-Taking a look at the natural health benefit provided by this everyday green
We all know that fresh grass is good for your backyard chickens as part of a balanced diet. However, the grass actually...
Table Scraps and Leftovers for Chickens
Fun fact: chickens like to eat…a lot! Being omnivores, they will happily gobble down most anything you provide them with. This can be very convenient for us when it comes to disposing of our leftover table scraps and other unwanted food. Additionally...
Lots of times when we get excited about things we jump right into them before even considering what is involved. I know I have certainly done that! Chickens are wonderful animals to keep but they can also be a big problem if you aren't prepared and/or you don't consider what is involved. Below I...
How to Raise Peafowl: Information on the Basics
Peafowl are a beautiful bird whom people love to see. Their big, blue and green colors will take your breath away. They are one of the most detailed animals in the world. However, although gorgeous, peafowl are a lot of work. This article will...
Dust Baths: What they are and why they are important
We bathe to keep clean. Chickens take baths too. The interesting thing is chickens bathe in the dirt! And yes, this keeps them clean. Dust bathing is very important for chicken health. The dust keeps their feathers clean and absorbs excess...
Nesting Boxes:
Everything You Need to Know About These Coop Essentials
While most chicken keepers are familiar with nesting boxes, some may not know of their importance and significance in the chicken coop. Many people think of a nest box as just that: a simple box birds use for laying their...
Happy hens lay healthy eggs. We all love those fresh eggs and do our best to get the most out of our hens. But sometimes we forget all the hard work hens put into making just a single egg. We forget that they like privacy and peace when laying an egg. And most of all, we forget nest box...
Well BYC, it's been a good while since I was last on here! In the past couple days I've suddenly been bit by the writing bug again, and thus I thought I had better write on this website seeing as my last article was published over a year ago!:th
I've been at this chicken raising thing for a...
Breeding, Hatching and Raising Peafowl
Just like chickens and other poultry, peafowl are addicting. Every spring we go out and buy more chicks at the farm store. Soon, we start asking the questions: “Should I incubate, breed and hatch peafowl so I can have more?” If you have the time, money...
[Photo credit: backyardchickencoops.com]
We as chicken keepers should want to know everything we can about the creatures we care for. When it comes to chickens and other kinds of poultry, one of the most essential characteristics of all flock behavior is the pecking order. And it is very...