• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

How To Keep Your Flock Happy (Let them act like birds!) What?  Keep your chickens happy?  They are, after all, well... CHICKENS!  Yes, yes; however you can make their lives happier and healthier by acknowledging a really important concept.  That is, although they have been domesticated for about a gazillion years, and do OK inside small areas, they were once wild critters who roamed the jungles looking for food,  keeping their young safe, protecting their flock, etcetera.  Watching them over their life-cycles is fascinating and informative, and we come to realize that... read more

• Last updated 5/1/12 by BYC Project Manager

   Raising your chicks ~step by step~   Quick-Short Instructional Guide                               The first important aspect in a chickens like is when it hatches. Hatching, is a great obstacle a developing chick faces to come into the world. It is a very tiresome and exhausting process. The chicks first pips a hole in the large end of the egg, then continues cracking it as they turn themselves around inside the egg. This part of the hatch is called zipping, and once it’s done, the chick now needs to push... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

Raising chickens to sell for meat can be a daunting task, when it comes to understanding the laws and regulations.   The best step to take is to contact your state Agriculture Department. The employees are knowledgeable and will know if your state follows the USDA exemptions or if you must follow additional laws for your state. It's better to have an idea on what you want to do, and discuss with your state Ag contact than to make assumptions that could potentially cause you to lose your flock and money.   First, this here is the article from the USDA for... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

Many of us are used to the uniformity of whole chickens at the grocery store. When choosing to process chickens at home, the differences between the size and type of chickens vary greatly. Bantam chickens can be used for meat, but are obviously smaller. "Hatchery" birds that are "dual purpose" breeds often don't compare to the same breed that is raised and selected by a breeder for carcass characteristics. Older birds often are bigger, but still will look much different than the same weight of a store chicken. Below are some of the chickens I've personally... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

Most Americans are used to eating chicken from the store. Most of this chickens are about 8 weeks old or younger, and just like any other meat source, the younger the animal, the more tender the meat. You can fry, bake, grill, broil, stew, or crockpot store bought chicken, and pretty much be guaranteed you will still have tender meat.   Each year, millions of non-meat chickens are raised. While many chickens either die from predators or natural causes, there are those who look with a hungry eye upon a older, non-laying layer hen, or a rooster that is a year or two... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

As documentaries and news articles come out with the latest information about inhumane treatment of meat animals, or the newest outbreak of food poisoning, more and more chicken owners are looking to raising their own chickens for meat use. Many of these chicken owners aren't hunters, and possibly have never voluntarily taken a life of an animal for it's meat. Meat has always been pre-packaged in the perfect portion, with no face or anything other than perhaps a nice cartoon of a happy cow or chicken or farm on the label. As a society we are distanced from our meat,... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

  With the rising cost of food and especially meat, many people are looking to closer to home to start raising their food. Backyard gardens are on the rise, and many people are starting to raise their own chickens for eggs. Meat chickens are one meat source that can be raised with minimal space (compared to say, a cow), convert feed efficiently, and can be processed at home with not much more than a sharp knife and a big pot.    This post will go through all of the steps to process a chicken at home.   Obviously, this is "graphic". If you aren't here to see... read more

• Last updated 5/1/12 by BYC Project Manager

Socializing Baby Chickens to get friendly Hens/Roos       The worst thing to do is have un-socialized chickens that want to peck you on site, or have friends come over for us only to say "Don't touch that chicken, he's a pecker." So that's why I want to show you how to properly socialize and care for your baby chicken before all that starts to happen.  Lets get started on when you first day get your baby chicks -     -Arrival Day- Your chicks are around three days old, so like it says above, try to minimize any touch to your chicks on the first few... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

10 Health Precautions for Backyard Chicken Owners   Note: This page is for people who have a suppressed immune system, asthma, COPD or any condition that makes them especially susceptible to illnesses.  A search of the BYC Forum or a Google search will help in obtaining further information about each of the illnesses and precautions mentioned below.   In order to remain healthy around chickens, most people don’t need to do anything other than wash their hands after handling their chickens.  However, there are many people who must be extra cautious because of... read more

• Last updated 3/27/12 by support

When I was a little girl, one of the greatest adventures was accompanying my grandparents on their annual spring trip to our local feed store, where they would buy 50 or 60 little yellow peepers to take back to their Texas ranch.   There they were settled in the ‘broody house’—an extension of my grandmother’s big henhouse—to lounge under a warm light and drink out of their Mason jar waterers till they were feathered out and big enough to join the rest of her flock of white Leghorns.  I’d sit in there as long as my grandmother would let me, watching them tumble around,... read more