With the continued transition from conventional, caged layer farms towards alternative egg production systems, veterinarians, researchers, and farmers have been heavily scrutinizing the behavioral needs of chickens in their new group-housed environments.
Historically, poultry farms optimized the ability of laying...
A child’s initial experience with chickens is often the most memorable. To ensure that the youngster’s introduction to chickens is pleasant and fun, consider these qualities when choosing the best first chickens for kids:
They are calm in disposition
...
For decades, the Stott family has wholeheartedly embraced farming, viewing it not only as a profession but as a way of life. Led by the proud 3rd generation farming family, which includes Kevin, Jeff, and Don Stott, along with...
Once you feel comfortable caring for domestic pets like cats and dogs, taking the leap to farm animals usually starts with poultry. And for good reason: they’re relatively easy to keep in suburban areas, and with a little flexibility,...
For exhibition purposes, large chicken breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) are organized into six classes. Most of the classes represent the geographic region where the breeds originated or were developed. Knowing a chicken’s APA class lets...
Gangrenous dermatitis (GD) is a disease that causes severe economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. Blue wing disease and cellulitis are other common names in chickens and turkeys, respectively. Clostridium septicum, Clostridium perfringens type A, and occasionally Clostridium...
Let’s say that you want to start a farm, and you’re going to use that farm to replace your current income. That’s a beautiful goal, I love it, but where do you start?
Whether you want to raise vegetables, beef,...
Whether it’s scrambled eggs, chicken sandwiches or Thanksgiving turkey, Americans love their poultry. The average American eats around 115 pounds of poultry every year, compared with just 34 pounds in 1960, and chicken is now the most widely consumed...
Headlines are flying after the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected dairy cows around the country. Tests have detected the virus among cattle in nine states, mainly in Texas and New Mexico, and...
Heredity describes how traits are passed from a hen and rooster to their offspring. These traits are encoded in genes, which in turn are found on chromosomes. Since only the end results — but not the genes and chromosomes...
