Looking After Chickens in Ten Easy Steps
Looking after chickens is relatively easy, but like all animals, they still need care and consideration. Follow these ten steps to looking after chickens, and you’ll soon be collecting eggs from your happy hens! Step 1: Find out whether you can keep chickens First, you need to make sure there are no clauses in your […]
Incubation Humidity
What is the correct incubation humidity for hatching eggs, and how do we measure it? How to get the right humidity for chicken, duck, goose & quail eggs.
The Ultimate Guide to Red Mite
This in-depth guide will tell you everything you need to know about red mite, how to identify them and more importantly, how to control them.
Candling Eggs
What will you see candling eggs? Pictures and videos of candling chicken eggs at 7 & 14 days of incubation and a useful air sac development chart.
How to Tell if Eggs are Fresh
You may have bought some eggs, and they have expired, and you are unsure of their freshness or, if you have free-range chickens like me, you might find a nest full of eggs where your cheeky hens have been laying for a while without you knowing! I have found nests in sheds, hedges and even […]
Magpies – Stealing or Eating Eggs
The magpie is a very distinctive black and white bird that comes from the Corvidae family. Unfortunately, they can be trouble for poultry keepers. Magpies will steal chicken’s eggs and even kill chicks and young birds if they can get to them.
The Ultimate Guide to Chicken Houses
The ultimate guide to chicken houses, exploring features you will need to keep your chickens happy, healthy and safe from predators in their coop.
Omlet Eglu Go Chicken Coop Review
The Omlet Eglu Go, and the Eglu Go Up are two small plastic coops, suitable for about three hybrid hens or five bantams.
How Comfortable Are You with Duck & Goose Down Production?
When I was a small child back in the seventies we had a family eider down. It was a hand me (eider) down from my great grandparents. I loved the eider down, I used it whenever I was feeling poorly or cold in bed. It was a beautiful thing finished in silk with intricate embroidery. […]
Why is my Cockerel White?
My first flock of hens were some Warren Browns, and were essentially spent stock from a local egg producer. My first cockerel was a traditionally coloured farmyard fowl that was somewhere in between large fowl and bantam in size, but after getting no results with fertility we opted to try a different route. My uncle […]
Northampton & District Poultry Club Spring Show 2016
Well, for the Club’s second Poultry Club of Great Britain Regional Show, held on Valentine’s day 14th February 2016, the love of poultry keeping was certainly in the air with a Valentine theme for the day. The show had a total entry of 675, made up of 555 birds and 120 egg entries. Joining us […]
Stop Following Me! Imprinting in Ducks & Geese
Ducklings and Goslings will follow the first moving object they find after hatching. They treat it as their mother. So even if it’s a large man with a big hairy beard, he becomes ‘mum’!
Barred Wyandottes
Grant Brereton, a leading authority on poultry plumage genetics examines the Barred Wyandotte, providing us with some tips on their genetics and breeding.
Reading Bantam Show 2016
The Reading and District Bantam Society Championship show was held last weekend (27th-28th February) and I was again really pleased to be invited to take photos. With 2256 bird and egg entries and more than 500 people coming through the door, the show continues to be the most important event for fanciers interested in bantams. […]
Choosing Equipment for your First Chickens
Although a chicken’s needs are fairly basic, getting the right kit can make life so much easier for the owner.
The Dominant White Gene
The word ‘gene’ is enough to put many people off when it comes to poultry articles. However, let me assure you, I don’t intend to get technical; there will be no complex looking scientific symbols in this article for poultrykeeper – just the basics. The aim is for it to be a fun read! When […]
How to Care for Wild Baby Ducks
Note: This article on how to care for wild baby ducks pertains to wild Mallard ducklings only. Domestic breeds of duck require different types of care. There is information on feeding domestic ducklings here. Mallard ducklings are more likely to be found in the first 24 hours after hatch as the mother may have to […]
Exhibiting Polands: The Breed Standard
In this article, Lawrence talks us through the Poland Breed Standard and provides a few tips for exhibiting Poland chickens.
What are the Best Laying Hens: Hybrids or Pure Breeds?
What are the best laying hens for eggs – Hybrids or pure-breeds? Anne looks at the advantages and disadvantages of the two and makes some suggestions as to which are the best laying hens for the backyard chicken keeper. Most of us start keeping chickens for their eggs – and why not? Eggs warm from […]
Groninger Meeuwe
Uses: Exhibition. Eggs: Number / year?? Colour??. Origin: The Netherlands. Weight: Cock: ? Kg. Hen: ? Kg. Bantam: Cock: ? g. Hen: ? g. Colours: Gold and Silver Pencilled, Citroen, others?. Useful to Know: Non-Standard Breed. Not standardised by the British Poultry Standards. Photo: Silver Pencilled Goninger Meeuwe owned by S.A. Mills. Groninger Meeuwe Chickens […]