Reviews by Pyxis

Very interesting! A neat idea to reduce the use of herbicides.

Good overview of basic goose care. I would say however that they need more space in their house than 3 square feet per goose - that's less than the general recommendation of 4 square feet per chicken, and geese are much bigger birds.

Good article detailing some of the great reasons to keep geese.

Good overview of duckling care. I would add a section that says that wild ducklings need to be handed over to a wildlife rehabber, as depending on breed, it is illegal to care for them yourself.

The section about medicated feed is incorrect - in general, medicated feed is fine for ducklings. See this article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...medicated-feed-the-myths-and-the-truth.74761/

Nice overview of the common domestic goose breeds.

Slight error, in the sebastopol section it says this:

"Because they do not have webbed feet, Sebastopol geese cannot fly well."

I think it was meant to say something else, because they DO have webbed feet, and that wouldn't affect their flying ability, haha.

Good overview of feeding geese and the importance of letting them graze.

When feeding a commercial feed, geese can be fed an all flock pellet with oyster shell available on the side instead of layer pellets - that way, any male geese or geese that aren't laying aren't forced to eat calcium that they don't need. Goslings can also eat it, which is a plus since you don't have to try to feed flocks with babies a separate food.

Nice article with some beginner facts about geese.

The part about not feeding them medicated feed is partially incorrect - unless the feed is medicated for blackhead prevention, it's generally fine to feed geese. 'Medicated' feed is usually feed that has amprolium in it to prevent coccidiosis, and it will not cause waterfowl any harm. They don't need it, however, so there's no need to feed it unless it's the only feed you can get.

Great ideas on how to cut down on the feed bill, and give your chickens some variety in their diet!

Nice article with good suggestions on how to keep eggs clean.

Good article, but more pictures to show the differences between cockerels and pullets would be helpful - for example, a picture of the difference between pullet and cockerel saddle feathers.

The section on wing sexing is also a bit incorrect - it needs to be done at a few days old, not a few weeks old. By a few weeks old, the differences in feather growth will no longer be distinguishable.

Good overview of respiratory diseases that can cause sneezing. I would add, though, that even though you can treat the symptoms for these diseases a lot of them cannot be cured. This means that the chicken still has the disease after symptoms subside and will pass it to any chickens it comes into contact with.

For that reason, unless you have testing done to see what disease the bird has (a lot of them have similar symptoms so without testing you can't really tell) the chicken should never be introduced to new birds, and the only way to get rid of the disease is to either cull and start over, or wait for the flock to naturally die off, and then start again.

Good info about crowing. I never understood why roosters aren't allowed in some towns but a dog that barks constantly is fine.

Very interested information! I had no idea heavier breeds were more prone to laying double yolks.

Nice article with good info about cleaning and storing eggs.

Nice explanation of the float test with good graphics as well.

I would like to add that the float test should NOT be used to test if an egg is good/the chick is alive during incubating, as is sometimes recommended. It is not accurate for that purpose.

Very interesting comparison between white meat and dark meat! I never knew what made them different, and now I do.

Great information about why it's not safe to put chickens in pools or deep water. A shallow pan of water for them to 'wade' in on hot days may be appreciated, but deep water is dangerous.

Great article with good info for beginners! The only thing I would change is to change 'breeds' to 'varieties' or something like that - technically there are no breeds of quail

A very nice looking brooder. It would be good if more detailed steps for the build and a materials list could be added for those who might want to replicate it.

Lots of good ideas! I like recycling the bookshelf into something else. The clean out doors are a nice touch. I laughed when I read about mis-judging how high chicks kick shavings - they get them everywhere!