Chicken & Poultry Articles & Help

Meet Blackie and his flock in our latest videos
Backyard Chicken Keeping

Backyard Hens - Tips
The Chicken Routine

Chicken Keeping - Forums

The Hen House
Chicken Chat

We've a selection of articles on keeping poultry from Katie Thear the noted author on keeping poultry, forum members and yours truly. Some of these are actually extracts from published works, used by permission, and you can buy these books from the poultry bookshop.

Most visitors are looking at keeping chickens or bantams but we've articles on other poultry as well available here: Ducks, Geese, Quail & Turkeys.

Keeping Chickens - Articles for the 'Backyard Keeper'

• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers Part 1
• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers Part 2
• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers Part 3
• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers Part 4
• Keeping Chickens with a Pet Dog
• Why Keep Chickens? Backyard Chickens Pros & Cons
• Egg Economics - Can You Save Money with Home Produced Eggs?
• Winter Hen House Chores for the Poultry Keeper
• An Attractive Chicken Coop for the Garden
• Grannie Annies Chook Blog - Adventures with Chickens
• Killing a Chicken - NB with photographs
• Dressing a Home Killed Chicken for Table
• DIY Chicken Coop Planning
• Hybrid or Pure Breed Chickens
• Hybrid Chickens
• Pure Breed Chickens
• Things to Consider Before Hatching Chicks

Chicken Photographs - the competition pictures.

Keeping Chickens - Articles by Author Virginia Shirt

• Hatching & Rearing Chicks pt 1 by Virginia Shirt
• Hatching & Rearing Chicks pt 2 by Virginia Shirt
• The Broody Hen by Virginia Shirt
• Feeding Chickens part 1 by Virginia Shirt
• Feeding Chickens part 2 by Virginia Shirt
• Bedding Materials for Chickens by Virginia Shirt
• Housing Your Chickens by Virginia Shirt
• Choosing & Stocking the Chickens by Virginia Shirt
• Choosing Hens, Some Types by Virginia Shirt

Chicken & Poultry Health

• Keeping Chickens Healthy, Common Illness and Ailments of Chickens and Treatments
• Bumblefoot in Chickens, Causes, Identification & Treatment
• Chicken Crop Problems
• Sour Crop in Chickens
• Impacted or Bound Crop in Chickens

From Starting With Chickens by Katie Thear

• Starting with Chickens - Information & Chapter List
• Poultry Housing - When & Where to Buy Chicken Housing (Coop)
• Poultry Housing - Checklist. What to look for when buying a chicken coop
• Poultry Housing - The Run - Letting Your Hens Run in the Open
• Poultry Housing - Fencing - Protect your Chickens and Keep them Safe
• See Also: Build Your Own Poultry House Chicken Coop & Run Plan

Bantams

• Starting with Bantams - Information & Chapter List
• Breeding Bantams - in-breeding, closed flocks & line-breeding
• Breeding Bantams - out-breeding, upgrading & cross-breeding

General Articles of Interest to the Poultry Keeper

Eggs - Articles about Eggs

• Selling Your Surplus Eggs at the Gate
• Selling Your Surplus Eggs - Marketing
• Selling Your Surplus Eggs - Markets etc
• Egg Shell Colour - Genetics & Araucana
• What Causes Pale Eggs
• What Causes Double Yolk Eggs
• Problems With Eggs - Yolks & Whites
• Egg Shell Colour by Breed Chart
• What to do with Surplus Eggs - Storing Eggs
• Know Your Eggs - Explains the Egg Descriptions in the Shops

Noise Problems with Cockerels

• Noisy Cockerels - Noise problems with Chickens
• Noisy Cockerels Part 2 - Noise problems with Chickens

Protecting Your Chickens From Foxes to Rats & Mice

• Protecting the Flock - Foxes & Fences
• Protecting the Flock - Electric Fences
• Protecting the Flock - Foxes, Other Deterrents & Traps
• Protecting the Flock - Rats
• Protecting the Flock - Pest Control
• Protecting the Flock from Minks, Weasels, Stoats & Hawks
• Protecting the Flock - Feral Cats, Large Predators & Thieves
• Rats & Other Vermin Around Chickens

Free Range Poultry

• Free Range Poultry - Contents and Information
• Land Management for Free Range Layers
• The Nature of the Land for Free Range Poultry
• Flock Density Regulations for Free Range Poultry
• Sheltered Areas for Free Range Poultry
• Fencing for Free Range Poultry
• Pasture Fencing for Free Range Poultry
• Paddock Rotation for Free Range Poultry
• Paddock Management for Free Range Poultry

Organic Poultry

• Organic Poultry - Chapter List, Information & Review
• Organic Poultry - What is Organic? Organic Standards
• Organic Poultry - Registered Certification Bodies for Organic Standards
• Organic Poultry - Other Standards
• Organic Poultry - Which Organic Standards to Follow?

Dealing with Aggression in Poultry

• Aggressive Poultry - The Pecking Order in Hens
• Aggressive Poultry -Male Aggression (Cockerels)
• Aggressive Poultry - Which Breeds - Genetic Tendencies, Docile Breeds of Chickens
• Aggressive Poultry - Environment, Health & Condition Effects on Aggression

Chicken Keeping as it was 100 years ago

• Chicken Keeping the Old Way
• Old Poultry Illustrations Set One
• Old Poultry Illustrations Set Two
• Old Poultry Illustrations Set Three
• Old Poultry Illustrations Set Four
• Old Chicken Keeping Photos Set Five