Disclaimer: I am NOT a veterinarian, just an animal owner & lover sharing my opinions and experiences. Any advice on caring for animals or diagnosing & treating medical conditions for animals should be evaluated by a trained veterinarian. Whenever possible, you should always have your sick or injured bird evaluated & treated by a trained …
Chickens
If you live in an area with harsh winters, keeping your chickens happy year round can be a challenge. Being prepared for winter weather will help your flock stay healthy & warm all winter long. Check out my top 7 tips for keeping your chickens happy this winter! Winterize your coop & run Right around …
Keeping your chickens healthy isn’t terribly hard. It boils down to three things – keep their living area clean, give them plenty of fresh water, and give them proper feed. The first two are easy, but feeding your flock right can be a little trickier. Starter, grower, medicated, pellets, crumbles…there is a lot to learn! …
Summer is right around the corner! As the weather warms up and we start to spend more time outdoors, the insects of the world are also waking up, ready for a meal. Experts suggest in the coming years we could be in for a “tick explosion”. According to a recent release from the Center for …
Ascites, also called Water Belly, is a common problem with fast-growing meat chickens. It can also be seen in older laying hens. It is not a disease, so it is not contagious to the rest of your flock. It is a symptom of a deeper problem, and unfortunately, the underlying cause is eventually fatal. Symptoms …
Combs, wattles & lobes – oh my! What is up with all those fleshy bits on your chicken’s head? A comb is the fleshy growth that sits on top of the head of chickens (and some other domesticated birds like pheasants & turkeys). Not to be confused with a wattle, which is a fleshy growth …
While chickens do make lovely pets, most people are lured into chicken keeping by the promise of delicious fresh eggs provided daily by their flock. When that doesn’t happen and you have to *gasp* buy eggs at the grocery store in disgrace it’s natural to start wondering what you are doing wrong! One of the …
They say that chickens are the “gateway” animal to further farming adventures. When you are ready to skip through that gateway and expand your farm, lots of people look to adding different kinds of poultry. Common backyard poultry includes turkeys, geese, guineas, & ducks – turkeys are quite large and geese & guineas are quite …
Winter is coming. The mornings are getting brisk as I’m filling up the feed bowl. It won’t be long before I have to dig out the heated water bowls, hauling water to the coop with buckets instead of using the convenience of a hose. My trusty shovel will be placed next to the back door …
In our modern society, many of us have become removed from our food and there are lots of myths swirling around about eggs. One of the most common (and unlikely!) fears surrounding eggs is that you could pull an egg from the fridge, crack it open, and out pops a fully formed chick. So let’s …