Chicken Grit; Grit for Baby & Adult Chickens
This week in our basics series, we’ll be discussing chicken grit, a necessary supplement for your chicks as well as your mature chickens. The need for grit varies depending on your chicken’s diet. To understand when it is necessary, we must first understand the way a chicken digests its food; Chickens do not have teeth…
Super Sized Eggs – Double or Triple Yolks
This week, I’d like to discuss a very unusual occurrence shared by reader, Sandy Elgert… “Dear Duncan and Wendy, I went to gather the last Thursday, and this giant egg was there. My chickens are Rhode Island Reds and Australorp. The egg had 3 yolks in it. It was super-sized, for sure! Is this normal…
Baby Chickens; Chick Care After Natural Hatchings
In the last few weeks we’ve been discussing the transition from incubator to brooding area for your newly hatched chicks. This week in our “Basics Series”, we’ll talk about the first few days of a chick’s life if its mother hatched the eggs. Although it’s true that when mama hen hatches her eggs, there isn’t…
Free Ranging Chickens – Definition
How is “free range” defined? ~ David Helms. When I think of free range chickens, I get a very specific picture in my mind. Let me describe it to you. I see a flock of chickens roaming around green pastures. They happily scratch for bugs and worms. Their days are filled with the wonder of…
Baby Chickens; Feed & Litter Material
Last week we covered your newly hatched chick’s need for water. This week we’ll move on to their feed and litter material. A chick will instinctively peck at and eat anything that is on the same level as their feet so before we address feed, let’s discuss their litter material. Remember last week we talked…
Small Scale Hen Keeping – Reader Success
Hi Duncan and Wendy, Just thought that you’d be interested in my 4 Isa Brown Hens. Have had them since the beginning of February 09 and so far they’ve had 194 eggs. They normally lay one egg per day each except when the ‘supervisor’ and her cousin Peanut terrorized one of them and she wouldn’t…
Baby Chickens; The Importance of Fresh Water
Second to heat, water is the most important thing your newly hatched chicks need and that is the topic for this week’s “Basics Series”. A few weeks ago when we talked your chicks hatching, I mentioned that it’s important to allow the chicks to thoroughly dry before you remove them from the incubator and place…
How Do Chickens Bathe Themselves?
“How do chickens bathe themselves?” ~ Katheryn Nutter Katheryn thanks so much for the question. Chickens are naturally clean animals, particularly if their living conditions are ideal. If they have sufficient space and the coop is kept clean, your chickens will usually look pretty good. An exception to this is just before and when they…
