FAQ & Guides

It’s estimated that there are more than 50 billion chickens in the world. To put this into perspective, that’s nearly seven chickens for every one person on the planet.  Chickens are extremely plentiful because they are small, easy to raise, and a highly popular food source both in terms of meat and egg production.  The

Of all the natural predators that chickens have to deal with in the wild, there are few that are as determined as the raccoon. A raccoon’s clever nature and manual dexterity make them as much a threat to a coop as larger, stronger predators, and the fact that they carry diseases like rabies makes them

Whether you’re worried about strays or worried about your own pet or farm dogs developing a taste for chicken, protecting your flock from predators like dogs is an important part of making sure that your chickens are safe and healthy enough to live long, egg-laying lives. When dealing with your own dogs, the main priority

A chicken coop, at its most basic, is simply a structure where your chickens can sleep or roost during the night. While your brooding hens will usually have a nesting area inside the coop to lay their eggs, the main purpose of the building is to protect both your male and female chickens during the

Keeping your chickens in a secure fenced area with a roof is the best way to protect them from hawks and other predators. Other tactics include decoys and guards, including roosters, turkeys and even trained dogs. Chickens are large, relatively slow-moving and meaty. We bred them selectively for all of those qualities. Unfortunately, the things

A group of chickens is most commonly called a flock. Unlike a murder of crows or gaggle of geese, there is no clever collective name for a group of chickens. However, there are a few names and terms you might hear in association with your birds. If you’re raising chickens, it helps to know the

Breeding chickens will require a rooster, hens and probably an incubator to help with hatching the eggs. It’s a bit tricky to successfully breed your own chickens, but it’s one of the easier types of small-scale farming and can be very rewarding. Before you get started, you’ll need to check the legality of breeding chickens

Broilers, or chickens bred for meat production, reach maturity between 7 and 9 weeks. These breeds grow faster than chickens that are kept for egg-laying purposes. Layers mature after about six months, at which point they start laying eggs reliably. Most broilers weigh about four pounds when they’re slaughtered. Chickens at this size, below the

Conventional wisdom suggests that chickens aren’t clever, but research has shown otherwise. Chickens are social animals with a surprising level of intelligence and understanding. People who keep chickens as pets and take the time to get to know them soon realize that these birds have distinct personalities and can be quite clever. Compared to other

A chicken’s wings can be clipped by trimming the 10 primary flight feathers on each wing. To prevent injury, you’ll want to cut on the white part of the shaft, which can be viewed on the underside of the wing. Sharp scissors will do the job nicely. The purpose of clipping a chicken’s wings is

The easiest way to keep chickens out of your yard or garden is to fence them out. Chickens are poor flyers, and most cannot easily clear 6′ fence. Alternatively, you can keep your chickens corralled in a covered and fenced-in chicken run that will keep them confined only to the part of the yard you’d