POULTRY CARE TOPICS
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Chicken Coop Spring Cleaning
Cleaning a chicken coop after winter is essential to maintaining a healthy and safe environment for your chickens. Here are some tips on how best to clean a chicken coop after winter: Clean out bedding material: Start by removing all bedding material from the coop, as well as any feces and feathers. Sweep and scrub the coop: Sweep the coop thoroughly, and scrub the floors and walls with warm, soapy water to remove any dirt
Basic Health Assessment of Chicks
If you are purchasing and/or raising baby chicks, it is important to regularly monitor their health to ensure they are thriving. In this article, we will discuss how to make a basic health assessment of baby chicks. Appearance The first thing to look at when assessing the health of a baby chick is their appearance. Healthy chicks should have bright, alert eyes and clean, fluffy feathers. They should also be active and moving around, rather
Good Riddance to Rickets
Causes of Rickets Rickets in humans’ chickens and every other animal that gets rickets is caused by a deficiency of Vitamin D3, phosphorus, or imbalance between Calcium and Phosphorus. Of all these, a deficiency of Vitamin D3 is the most common, and that is often secondary to bad feed that has been depleted of fat-soluble vitamins including Vitamin D. Ultimately, rickets usually occurs due to improper nutrition which results in poor skeletal calcification. Signs and
Molting in Chickens
In birds, molting is the seasonal process of shedding feathers and regrowing new ones. Feathers are similar to hair or fingernails in both their composition and in the fact that once they are damaged or worn, they can only be replaced by regrowth. Molting allows birds, including chickens, to keep their plumage in good condition and to adjust their plumage to seasonal temperature changes. How Does Molting Work in Chickens? To understand molting, you must
What Exactly is 4-H???
First of all: what is 4-H??? 4-H is the largest youth development organization in the United States. It's designed to teach children a variety of skills between the ages of 8 and 18. Its set-up to be cost effective and flexible with respect to learning opportunities and meeting times. The overall goal of 4-H is to provide critical learning resources for kids and teens throughout the year by empowering them to be leaders using a
Common Chicken Breeds for Backyard Owners
When you think about a flock of backyard poultry, what kind of chicken comes to mind? Do you dream of Delawares, plead for a Plymouth Rock or wish for a Wyandotte? Here we will describe the most popular and commonly found chicken breeds for California backyard owners so you can better identify which bird will best suit your needs. What to Look For First, let’s go over a few defining features that will help with