Table of contents for May - June 2025 in Chickens

The Old English Game breed comes in a variety of colors and is most used in show. Hens lay well for a game breed and make nice mothers. Due to its hardiness, vigor and longevity, it’s been used to develop a number of chicken breeds. The Old English Game, arguably the first chicken breed developed in England, directly evolved from birds used for cockfighting before the hobby was outlawed in 1849. Its ancestors are said to predate the British Isle conquest of Julius Caesar around 55 B.C. The breed’s popularity rose once poultry shows began to replace cockfighting as a form of competition. Of all domestic chicken breeds, the Old English Game has the most similarities in appearance to that of wild jungle fowl and has not seen much physical…

These munchies are easy-to-make morsels that consist of a few ingredients ingredients: beef suet and dried mealworms, nuts and/or seeds. You can purchase suet at your supermarket’s butcher counter. Find dried mealworms at wild-bird and farm-supply stores. Nuts/seeds are everywhere. For best results, use a silicon mold, as you can release the treats by simply pushing up on the bottom of the mold. I recommend the mold shaped like rectangular bars. Render the suet in a saucepot over medium heat, stirring continually to ensure its creaminess. Once all the suet is melted, add the dried mealworms, blending carefully to keep the mealworms as intact as possible. Remove from heat and ladle into the molds. Sprinkle several mealworms over the top of each bar, gently pressing them in. Allow the filled…

Straw bales of wheat give you the most bang for your buck. They encourage natural foraging behaviors, reduce aggression and improve leg health. Instead of pecking themselves or their friends, birds can spend hours pecking and scratching through bales. However, if not deployed correctly, bales can backfire and cause more pecking and aggression among your flock. This is especially true if there is a really dominant chicken that doesn’t like to share. If you notice that your chickens are fighting too aggressively over who gets to play with the straw bale, try adding multiple straw bales and put them far away from each other. This layout makes it difficult for dominant chickens to fight off unwanted visitors. There are too many bales to protect and too much ground to cover…

Rodents are responsible for more than a quarter of all farm fires of unknown origin, but the main risk from infestations is feed contamination and disease exposure to you and your flock. A rat can produce more than 40 droppings per day and a gallon or more of urine per year, while a single mouse can produce more than 80 droppings per day and more than a quart of urine per year. A variety of human and livestock diseases are spread through contact with rodent excrement, which include cryptosporidiosis, toxoplasmosis, leptospirosis, brucellosis and salmonellosis. Rats can also become predatory, killing and feeding on adult chickens, but they can be especially hard on young chicks. As a professional wildlife control operator and hobby farmer for years, I’ve personally witnessed rat infestations…

A swollen abdomen in chickens could be a symptom of any number of illnesses or health issues, several of which directly or indirectly affect the hen’s reproductive system. In veterinary medicine, there is rarely one cause of a condition, so we usually begin with a list of differential diagnoses and use lab tests and physical exams to differentiate. With this in mind, your best course of action is to reach out to your county-extension poultry personnel or veterinarian for help in differentiating the various causes of a swollen abdomen in chickens. Veterinarians can perform a physical exam and run diagnostic tests, including X-rays, to distinguish between fluid and solid contents in the abdominal cavity. Read more at: www.hobbyfarms.com/6-causes-of-swollen-abdomen-in-chickens…

Beasties, specks, creepy crawlies — whatever you call them, bugs can be found in any yard or garden, especially if you keep chickens. Not a problem, you say? What could be more natural than a happy hen scampering after a hopping cricket or scratching up a tasty beetle? You may have even started your flock with the express purpose of insect control. Not all insects make for tasty snacks, however, and some can be downright dangerous to your birds. As a poultry-keeper, you’ll need to differentiate between the good, the bad and the ugly. THE BIRDS & THE BUGS Raising chickens has long been known as an excellent way to curtail the local insect population — “insect” being a colloquial catch-all term that covers noninsect arthropods such as spiders, worms…

Boost your chickens’ nutrition without breaking the bank by foraging wild Stinging Nettle (Urtisca dioica, aka common nettle). Perennial stinging nettle grows throughout the world, including all of the U.S. except Hawaii. Nettles like rich, moist soil, so find them in dense clumps on marshy meadows and along woodlands, fence rows, stream beds and ditches. Nettle’s square, bristly stem grows from 2 to 7 feet tall and bears deeply serrated, pointed leaves that are downy underneath. Bristly hairs on the stem and leaves act like a hypodermic, injecting an irritant under the skin when touched. Wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves when gathering or handling fresh nettles! Technically, chickens consume raw nettles without harm, but it’s best to harvest nettles and allow them to wilt before feeding. Air wilting…

It’s a misconception that chickens spend their nights sleeping soundly in the confinement and safety of their nest boxes. As descendants of Asiatic ground fowl, our domestic chickens have learned that to survive, raise their brood and not fall prey to all manner of predators, they need to nest low and roost high. On farms and in backyards where our domestic chickens roam, those evolutionary traits translate to the structure of the coop. Most coops recognize and respect the natural urges of chickens: Many nest boxes are located near the floor (though some are raised higher for ease of collecting eggs), and roosts are situated a bit higher. If your coop fails to meet these needs, it can result in an unhappy flock, confusion over where to lay eggs and…

Take care not to overfeed — scratch and treats should not exceed 10% of a hen’s diet — but keep in mind that your chickens love to have treats outside of mealtimes. According to educator and backyard chicken-keeper Dorothy Munn at Michigan State University Extension in “Tips For Managing Backyard Chickens in the Winter,” you should even offer your birds additional high-energy feed such as corn or sunflower seeds in winter to help meet their increased caloric needs in the cold weather. A good tactic is to provide this additional feed in the evening to help birds manage the overnight drop in temperatures more efficiently. Munn also reminds us that active birds are happy birds. “Allowing birds to keep themselves busy by foraging will keep them from activities like pecking…

I hired someone to build a one-section coop with a door (bottom picture) and then ... chicken math. I added another smaller section. After that, I had just enough room on the other side (a year later) to add yet another 20-by-6-foot section with a door for easy clean out. We do the deep-litter method. Inside are three Formex Snap Lock chicken coops. I have 18 hens and 1 rooster happily clucking away. I do put a fan on the outside plugged into my nearby garage on hot days. There is no electricity to the coop itself. I haul water but keep the feed inside in metal cans. We sit outside and inside enjoying our clucks' sweet personalities. I raise Orpingtons and Wyandottes. They mix very well together. Learn from…

When we were expecting baby chicks, we received plenty of discouraging criticism. One was a warning that chickens would ruin our yard, second to the myth that chickens are dirty. The comments came most often from well-meaning people who still bemoan their mid-century farm chores, when chicken keeping was still part of basic rural survival — far different than what raising chickens can be today. We are no doubt raising a little rural charm in our backyards, but the mode is different: Our chickens are pets, often named, and they’re expected to live for many years. We also provide better healthcare and personal attention. Most importantly, we don’t keep too many of them. Nonetheless, chickens can do a number on your yard if you’re not careful. Here are some tips…

Chickens love treats and will happily eat table scraps, fresh fruits and vegetables, grains and much more. Treats bring our flocks so much joy, as they offer a tasty extravagance and sprinkling some on the ground helps engage in natural foraging behaviors. However, some common treats can be quite detrimental for a chicken’s health and cause sickness and a shorter lifespan. Before heading out to feed your flock some delicious treats, check out this list of foods to avoid feeding. NIGHTSHADES There are 70 varieties of nightshade plants, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, bittersweet and Jerusalem cherry, many of which can be harmful to your flock. Nightshades contain alkaloids, which cause appetite loss, increased salivation, weakened heart rate and trouble breathing. Raw potato peels, for example, should never be considered a…

We raise a small flock of hens in the backyard of the suburban home. Our setup is quite unique compared to most other chicken-keepers that I know. We have a small coop that the manufacturer says is suitable for up to five chickens, but I wouldn’t keep more than four in it. We keep the coop inside of a covered steel poultry pen, so essentially the pen is their run as well as a protective layer around the coop. It’s been an incredibly safe setup for our four hens and has kept out predators such as neighborhood cats, racoons, foxes, coyotes, opossums and birds of prey. But because the steel poultry pen has small 3-by-1-inch slats, mice and small wild birds, easily pass through the cage and help themselves to…

When I refer to chickens as gateway livestock, people often laugh, assuming I’m joking; I’m not. After having chickens for a while and enjoying a bounty of fresh eggs, as well as the free entertainment that they provide, people start to think about adding additional livestock to their homesteads. They may want their own fresh milk to make cheese, their own wool for spinning or their own homegrown meat. Although chickens typically get along fine with other livestock, here are a few things to consider to make sure everyone stays healthy and happy. MORE ARE MERRIER One thing to keep in mind with all livestock is that they are prey animals, which means they usually don’t feel secure if they are the only one of their species. This means it…