Life on the Farm
A rule of thumb is a general guideline that offers a starting place, but does not strictly apply in every specific circumstance. Adjustments may be necessary when a rule of thumb doesn’t exactly fit your situation. Chicken keeping rules of...
Treading, or the rapid movements of a rooster’s feet while mating, can result in feather loss and deep wounds on a hen’s back and shoulders. To prevent such injuries, and to protect deplumed areas while feathers grow back, hens may...
That chicken soup is magic medicine was known as far back as the 12th century, when it was extolled for its ability to relieve respiratory symptoms caused by the common cold. More recently Stephen Rennard, MD, proved that chicken soup...
Guinea fowl and chickens are both Galliformes. They are similar in size and shape, and both lay eggs. But guinea fowl are not just chickens only different. They are different, period. If you wish to add guinea fowl to your...
For most dairy goat breeds, kidding season generally starts in November and runs through April. In the warm southern states, the season runs a little later — from about December through May. So most goat owners know when to get...
At the end of the gardening season, when frost threatens, I wander around looking for stragglers that might freeze. I invariably find a few young dill plants that missed their scheduled spring sprouting. That’s when I think of making Thousand...
Stress leads to changes in a chicken’s behavior, and prolonged stress reduces immunity to disease. When you are familiar with the way your chickens normally act, you can tell if your chickens are stressed out by observing these three basic...
Stress is normal in every chicken’s life. Most chickens are able to adapt, even to times of peak stress. Natural times of peak stress include hatching out of an egg, arriving at sexual maturity, and molting. Weather and other environmental...
The herb mache is as easy to grow as a weed — because it is a weed, or once was. Mache (Valerianella locusta) started out as a weed growing in European grain fields. It has become so popular as a...
Most chicken eggs are oval in shape, with one end rounded or blunt and the other end somewhat pointed. An egg is shaped in the part of the hen’s oviduct called the isthmus, where shell membranes wrap the yolk and...
