Butchering a Cornish Cross Hen I wouldn’t normally recommend keeping a Cornish X meat bird past the normal butcher age of 6 to 8 weeks. If you can believe it, the hen on the left was a runt and wasn’t large enough to butcher at that age. I kept her…
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Are Chickens Vegetarians?
Are Chickens Vegetarians? By nature, chickens are omnivores. This means they will consume vegetable matter, insects, and animal flesh. With all of the different chicken feeds made with vegetarian formulas and the labels on chicken at the store listing ‘fed a vegetarian diet,’ you might begin to think that chickens…
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Hatching Chicks in Autumn
For complete instructions on hatching eggs, see my post How to Hatch Chicken Eggs in an Incubator Hatching in Spring vs Fall Most people think of cute little chicks hatching in the spring, right around Easter time. It’s the natural time of year for baby animals to start their lives,…
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Too Many Chickens? Make Soup!
Do You Have Too Many Chickens? Nothing puts a damper on keeping chickens like a high feed bill, too many aggressive roosters, and a flock of unproductive hens. Yet many chicken enthusiasts find themselves faced with just this situation. Some of them will find new homes for their old and…
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Egg Production Slowing Down?
Fewer Eggs in Autumn? As the days get shorter you are likely to notice lower egg production in your laying hens. It’s one of those facts of life to take into account when deciding to keep chickens for eggs. Although we have bred chickens for larger size, increased egg size…
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‘Should I Keep Chickens?’
Do You Want to Keep Chickens? With urban chicken websites popping up online, new products for chickens going on the shelves at feed stores, and cute little coops all the rage on Pinterest, it’s obvious that a lot of people are interested in keeping a few backyard chickens. See also…
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Hova Bator 1602N Incubator Review
Hova Bator 1602N Incubator I recently received a Hova Bator 1602N Incubator to review for Incubator Warehouse, a hatching supply company based in Idaho. This model comes with a Gentle Flow fan kit for even heating, and a wafer snap thermostat. A guide to using the incubator is included, with…
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How to Hatch Chicks in an Incubator
How to Hatch Chicks With An Incubator If you would like to hatch chicks in an incubator at home, you’re not alone! Many backyard chicken keepers are interested in hatching fertile eggs from their own flock or from a friend’s hens. There are plenty of reasons to hatch your own…
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How to Care for Day-Old Chicks
How to Care for Day Old Chicks - Your Complete Guide to Caring for Chicks from Day One!
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12 Ways to Save Money on Chicken Feed
Are you looking for ways to reduce your chicken feed bill? Tired of paying a lot more for home-raised eggs than for storebought? Tips to save $ on feed!
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Sprouting Wheat For Chicken Feed
For an inexpensive source of wheat berries or other sprouting seeds, check into Starting a Buying Club. Sprouting Seeds and Growing Fodder I’ve read quite a bit about growing fodder for your livestock over the last year or so. It sounds like a great idea to give them some green…
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Pekin Ducks for Sustainable Meat Production
See also Raising Ducks for Meat & How to Butcher a Duck Raising Pekin Ducks For Sustainable Meat Production One of the reasons we homestead is to provide our own humanely raised poultry for the table. I began raising broiler chickens for meat and I like freezing them for winter. However,…
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How to Get Eggs All Winter from Laying Hens
How to Get Eggs from Your Laying Hens All Winter With proper conditions, your hens are capable of laying eggs in the winter. There are a few things to take into consideration if you would like fresh eggs year-round. Chickens, like most birds, normally would not lay eggs all…
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How to Raise the Best Turkeys
How to Raise the Best Turkeys Have you ever wondered what it would be like to raise turkeys on your homestead? Maybe you’ve heard that these birds are so stupid that they will drown in the rain or that they are very difficult to raise. Not true! They aren’t difficult…
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How to Start a Chicken Co-op
For more information on processing chickens, check out my post How to Butcher a Chicken. What is a Chicken Co-op? A co-op is a group that works together to achieve a common goal. A chicken co-op is a group that either pools their buying power to receive better prices for…
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Can You Keep Cornish X Chickens as Laying Hens?
Cornish X Chickens for Eggs? Cornish X chickens have been hybridized for fast growth and economical meat production, making them unsuitable for keeping as pets or laying hens. They usually grow so big, so fast that their legs and hearts are unable to withstand their bulky size. Normally it isn’t…