BackYard Chickens

The chick season celebrations continue! Join us as we go LIVE from our Facebook page on Thursday from the Purina Animal Nutrition Center. Earlier this spring, we met the chicks Purina Poultry is raising on their farm in Missouri. During the Facebook Live event with Dr. Patrick Biggs, you’ll receive an update on how the chicks have grown and be able to ask #ChickStrong questions. Here’s what you need to know: When: Thursday, May 24 at 2:00 p.m. CST What: Facebook Live event Where: Official...

Sometimes my eggs are disgusting. Poop and sometimes broken egg so yolk and hay from nesting boxes stuck on them. I read not to wash eggs because they have film on them which helps keep out bacteria. I throw them away when they get dirty because I give them to neighbors but don't feel comfortable handing them something that looks so bad. Also some of my neighbors are English and keep eggs on the counter (not refrigerated). Any advice?

Pic by @grimes1213 Getting the temperature and humidity in the incubator as near as "perfect" can go a long way towards having a successful hatch. There are many makes and models of thermometers and hygrometers on the market and then there is calibration and and... This week I would like to hear you all's tips and tricks when it comes to setting up and monitoring incubation temperature and humidity. Specifically: - What level of humidity do you find works best for you during incubation? -...

Hi friends I just wanted to hear some ideas on how you keep your chickens cool in summer. I live in a very warm area of California. It gets over 100 most of the summer. We kept this in mind when building our chicken run and built there run under a huge shade tree. The run also has a roof so chickens are not directly in the sun. In fact there area is all shaded. I'm still worried about keeping them cool. I have been taking water and wetting each one so they don't become over heated. Does...

Obviously one that is not human aggressive. So I originally bought 4 chicks, 2 turned out to be roosters. One is a leghorn and one is a silver laced. The leghorn is actually a week younger then the other 3. I'm not sure how this will play out but I have found a rescue to take the leghorn as a plan b and I got 4 more hopefully females(they are 3 weeks), the older ones 10-11 weeks. So this is what I'm observing... The leghorn is already perfected crowing at about 8 weeks--it took me until...