21st Century Poultry Breeding Book Review
This book has been long-awaited by poultry breeders but being a novice when it comes to genetics, to be honest, I was a little worried about reviewing it. I was pleasantly surprised though, it is certainly not just for experienced breeders and I was able to improve my knowledge a great deal from this book without getting too confused!
A Cheap Chicken or Duck House
The ‘cheap’ Chicken or Duck house cost me about £25 to build, yet is the most sturdy, well-insulated house I have! Normally my advice to people looking to buy a chicken house is to spend a little more on the house as very cheap houses tend to need replacing after a few years but this […]
Raising Guinea Fowl Keets
Young Guinea Fowl or ‘Keets’ to give them their correct name should be kept warm until they are fully feathered. If you have hatched your keets under a broody hen, she will keep them warm and there are a number of advantages of hatching guinea’s eggs under a broody hen: she will usually teach them […]
Flubenvet 1% – 60g Packs For Worming Chickens
The backyard poultry market is growing rapidly but many novice poultry owners are unaware of simple preventative health routines that can significantly improve the health and wellbeing of their birds. Worms are not always visible and infection can be asymptomatic but worms can also affect egg quality and yield – fewer, smaller, paler, brittle eggs […]
The Pleasure of Rehoming Ex-Battery Hens
Re-homing a few ex battery hens is an incredibly rewarding experience. Battery hens have never been able to express some of their most natural behaviours; like foraging, scratching the ground or nesting to lay their eggs and seeing them able to do this for the first time is certainly very satisfying.
Housing Guinea Fowl
Guinea Fowl are very capable when it comes to flying and given the choice, will usually prefer to roost in trees, rather than in the housing you provide. Just like other poultry, guineas like routine and if you can provide them with suitable accommodation and get them used to it (from an early age as […]
Rehoming Battery Hens FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions: from coop and run size, what you’ll need to buy and feed these special ladies, and other general care questions new owners have about rehoming battery hens.
Crows and Rooks
Crows and Rooks can be very damaging to your birds. Chickens or ducks that are sitting on a nest, or have young and are not enclosed are particularly attractive to them, however they will also take fully grown birds on occasions. I have even heard of full-sized Indian Runner Drakes being killed by crows in […]
Pendulous Crop
You can feel a chicken’s crop on the lower part of her neck when it’s full after eating. It will empty overnight, but if it becomes blocked, a condition called pendulous crop can occur.
Sour Crop in Chickens
A fungal yeast causes sour crop in chickens. It is identified by a putrid smell coming up from the crop and out of the chicken’s mouth. Treatment of sour crop is necessary to prevent serious illness.
Sheltering Chickens from the Rain
Chickens can cope well with cold weather, but what shelter do you need to provide for them during wet weather? Of course, small runs can be covered, however; larger areas in the garden, especially open or exposed areas, don’t offer much protection from the rain, so we need to think about sheltering chickens from the rain. […]
Introducing New Geese to Your Flock
If you acquire one or more new geese, you may want to add them to an existing flock. Introducing new geese can be tricky at times. They are intelligent birds and often form strong family bonds that need to be respected when making introductions.
How Many Geese Per Gander Should You Have?
Whilst it is possible to have one gander to many geese in a flock, the chances of getting a high percentage of fertile eggs from all of the geese are low. The average gander can cope with up to four geese but a lot depends on the size, strain and age of the gander as well […]
Will Geese Damage Young Fruit Trees?
Orchards are a popular place for geese; they provide shade, and geese can keep the grass short, especially in hard to reach places, but what if you’re planning on planting some young fruit trees? Will geese damage young fruit trees?
Llamas as Guardians for Chickens
Michelle Garner keeps two llamas in her field with her chickens and has seen them chasing off foxes and dogs that have entered the field. She tells us a little more about her llamas and how they can protect chickens from predators. So you want some hens, but you have a family of foxes next door? […]
Infectious Bronchitis
Infectious bronchitis (I.B) is the most contagious poultry disease. It has very similar symptoms to mycoplasma. The main difference is the number of birds it affects. Mycoplasma tends to affect a few birds in the flock but IB spreads within a few days to the whole flock. I.B. causes respiratory disease and kidney damage in growers […]
Newcastle Disease
Newcastle disease is fairly common around the world but thankfully, the UK doesn’t have many outbreaks (the last one according to DEFRA was 2006). The symptoms of Newcastle disease can be quite varied. Newcastle disease together with Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) is a notifiable disease in the UK. A notifiable disease is a disease named […]
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is quite rare. A laboratory test can identify it. It is usually kinder to dispatch birds with this condition because it usually ends in death anyway.
Prolapsed Oviduct
A prolapsed oviduct is when the lower part of a hen’s oviduct turns inside out and is left hanging outside of her vent. This condition is most common in young hens that have started laying too soon but can be inherited in some pure breeds, especially from exhibition lines. Prolapse is caused by the tissue […]
Reproductive System Tumors in Chickens
Tumors are quite common in an older hen’s reproductive organs. This is an area that hasn’t really undergone a great deal of research and because of this, there is little I can say about this, other than they do exist in all kinds of poultry and can be a common cause of death in an older […]