If you are going to raise chickens, you are going to have to know how to talk the talk. So, we thought we would include a quick primer to get you up to speed on how to talk chicken like a pro. Like many species, chickens come into this world as either male or female.…
After deciding to raise chickens, the first major decision you will need to make is which breed or breeds you will raise. There are over 100 chicken breeds that have been identified, which means you could spend days researching each breed and making your selection. Before getting too caught up in the details, we recommend…
How many chickens should I raise? The best advice is to start out small, and build your chicken flock as you gain more experience. While raising chickens is not as complicated as rocket science, you will undoubtedly be better at it with each year of experience. If this is your first time raising chickens, you…
When doing research on raising chickens, one of the most common questions is “how much does it cost?” There is a variety of items to consider when creating a budget for raising chickens. However, the direct expense is not all we need to consider. It is also important to assess the value of a healthy…
It may come as a shock to you, but chickens are not vegetarians. In fact, given the opportunity, a chicken will eat a very well balanced and varied diet of fruits, vegetables, greens, grains, insects, grubs and even meat. Since their natural tendency is to consume a variety of foods, it is important that you…
Simply put, omega-3 eggs are eggs rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Let us emphasize “rich” in Omega-3. All eggs have Omega-3 of approximately 50mg. Many eggs offered in the store that boast “Omega-3” have about 100mg which is better. But, eggs rich in Omega-3 can have up to six times the amount of omega-3 than…
The little known fact among newbies is that you do not need a rooster in order for hens to lay eggs. It’s worth repeating… hens lay eggs just fine without having a rooster! We often get questions about roosters. The common fear for first-timers seems to be waking up to the lovely sound of a…
One of the most common reasons to have backyard chickens is because the hens produce such wonderfully healthy fresh eggs. Once you crack open an egg that was produced by one of your own hens, you will realize the true differences in flavor, texture and color that fresh eggs have over supermarket eggs. There really…
Eggs are not all the same. In fact, they come in many different shapes, colors and sizes depending on the breed of chicken. Larger breeds have bigger eggs than smaller breeds. Batams have the smallest eggs, for sure. The color of an egg can be white, brown, green or even blue. No matter what color…
The goal is always to collect eggs as soon after they are laid as possible. Occasionally though, you may run into a situation where you are not 100% sure how recently an egg was laid. In this circumstance, it’s a good idea to test the egg for freshness before putting it in your fridge. The…
Nobody wants to cook with or eat an egg that has a dirty shell. “Dirt” on the outside of a shell can range from mud to manure and anything in between. Regardless of what special combination of materials is involved, if the egg is visibly dirty on the outside, you will want to clean it…
Finding some imperfect eggs? It is likely that the vast majority of the eggs you harvest from your hens will be nearly perfect. Some may be oddly shaped, some make be larger than others, and some may be different shades of the same color. But, all in all, most eggs will be “normal”. In case…
One of the craziest realizations we all make as we first learn about raising chickens is that the live chicks are actually delivered in the mail. If you hadn’t made that realization that you can order chicks yet, don’t feel badly, but now you know! Because chicks arrive in the mail, there are several considerations…
If you are thinking about buying your first chicks, then you are getting ready to embark on a wonderful adventure filled with lots of learning and many fresh eggs! We are going to assume that you are starting from scratch. Here are a few of the basics that you will need to own before your…
There are some important steps you need to take to get ready for your shipment before your chicks arrive. Basically, your goal is to get everything you need set up and ready to go. That way, when your chicks arrive, you won’t have to worry about scrambling to keep them warm, protected, fed and watered.…
A brooder is a small pen designed to protect, warm, feed and water your newly born chicks until they are strong enough to survive on their own. Basically, a brooder takes the place of a broody hen who under normal circumstances would be responsible for taking care of her clutch. There are three primary types…
Some may consider incubating eggs under hens to be “old school” because of the availability of commercial incubators, but it’s hard to deny the many year of success that Mother Nature has under her belt. There are a few tricks to incubating eggs naturally that we cover in this article. Since you are not using…
Using an incubator to hatch chicks is a good approach if you plan to hatch eggs each season and would like maximum control over the process. Alternatively, you may also try allowing one of your broody hens to do the incubation for you. Taking advantage of Mother Nature saves you the investment cost of purchasing…
Back in the day, people used candles to peer though the eggshell and into the egg. Nowadays, there are specially designed flashlights for this purpose. Regardless of how you illuminate an egg, it’s important to understand this process if you plan to hatch fertilized eggs into chicks. The process of candling involves shining a light…
Professionals use a practice called vent sexing, which is one of the most accurate ways to differentiate male chicks from female chicks. Don’t underestimate the value of experience in this field though. Even the experts make mistakes, and you will more certainly gain accuracy with practice! The process of vent sexing includes the following steps:…
A straight run of chicks will be approximately 50% male (cockerels) and 50% female (pullets). If you had the ability to test a chick’s chromosomes you would be able to know the gender for sure. Since that’s not the case, you will likely have to rely on a little “art” and a little “science” to…
The best policy for keeping your flock hydrated is to make sure they never run out of water. This mantra is as true for freshly hatched chicks as it is for fully grown hens. So long as water is available, chickens will drink water whenever their body needs it. Each of your chickens will drink…
The term “broody” refers to a hen that is fixated on hatching an egg. In general, you want to avoid having your layers go broody on you because their egg production drops down to 0. Basically, when a hen goes broody her body is going into egg incubator mode as opposed to egg producer mode.…
If you are a newbie to raising chickens, we do not recommend starting your adventure trying to hatch a fertile egg. Instead, we recommend ordering live chicks because it simplifies your project and gives you a higher likelihood of success. That said, if you are experienced at raising chickens or simply want to see the…