Articles about Raising and Breeding Chickens
Although individual laying hens can live for 10-15 years and occasionally longer, the average number of eggs that hens lay tends to drop off as they age. We have hens that are productive after 4 years of laying, and we have had hens that died at 2-3 years of age. Things vary quite a bit…
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A brooder is a space to raise baby chicks. A place that supplies warmth and protection. When baby chicks hatch in an incubator (or when you first purchase them), they need additional heat in order to stay warm. That’s because their bodies are small and because they have only downy feathers. Over the next 4-6…
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It’s important to give your chickens plenty of space. Overcrowding can lead to all sorts of problems. Pecking. Aggression. Poor health. Transmission of diseases. Chickens don’t thrive in an overcrowded coop. How much space is enough? The most common recommendation is insufficient — 4 square foot per chicken. Not only is this not enough space…
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Started pullets are female chickens that are at least a few weeks old. Different suppliers sell them at different ages. It’s common to find started pullets anywhere from 4-5 weeks old on up to several months old. If you’re new to raising chickens, started pullets are an excellent way to start your flock, for several…
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Figure out how many eggs you want per day. Multiple that number by two and get that many hens. Most of the year, you’ll have more eggs than you need. That’s the simplest approach. Below, I’ll go into several other approaches. I’ll also answer other questions you may have about how many chickens to get.…
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My parents first started raising chickens in the early 1970s. When I was 6 years old, we moved to a small town in southeast Texas. We built a coop and bought a small flock of meat chickens and began raising them in our small backyard. Soon I learned how to help pluck chickens. A few…
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Selecting and Candling the Eggs We went through first and selected the eggs to use. We’ve already set aside any that are too dirty or too old, now we’re candling the “good” eggs to look for any that are cracked. Sometimes the cracks are so fine that they are nearly impossible to see until you…
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It’s good to watch your chickens and notice what they do. You can learn a lot more about them that way. And knowing them better will help you care for them better. It’ll also help you see how to integrate them into your farm more effectively. This last summer, we were raising a group of Black Australorp…
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Black Australorps are a breed of chicken that was developed in Australia beginning around 1890-1900. They were based on Black Orpingtons from England, which were mainly being raised for meat production. Breeders crossed the Orpingtons with several other breeds, all known for their egg-laying ability: Minorcas, White Leghorns and Langshans. Some sources say that Plymouth…
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Having raised my current flock of Black Australorps for nearly 2 years, I’ve been very happy with them – both the breed and this particular strain. They’re good layers. The males grow quickly to where I can process them for meat starting around 20 weeks. The hens will occasionally go broody and hatch their young.…
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Once incubation starts, it takes about 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch. That’s true whether you incubate the eggs mechanically in an incubator or naturally under a broody hen. Both approaches take the same length of time. Using an Incubator When I’ve incubated eggs from our flocks in a styrofoam table-top incubator, some eggs…
Read More The clearest and most complete definition of “Heritage Breed Chickens” that I’ve found is on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) website. The ALBC’s definition touches on several important points: APA Standard Breeds Natural reproduction Long, Productive Lifespan (Outdoors) Slow growth rate Recognized by the APA prior to the 1950s Let’s go over each of…
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It’s essential that chickens have access to plenty of clean, palatable water. During hot weather, it’s best to put the waterers in the same shady area that the chickens tend to hang out in. If it’s too hot, they’ll be reluctant to venture out of the shade to drink water. If you had asked me…
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I recently incubated another batch of eggs from our Black Australorps. One of the first steps when incubating chicken eggs is choosing which eggs to hatch. Why does this matter? For several reasons. First, not all eggs are equally likely to hatch. Excessively large or small eggs tend to produce chicks that are less vigorous…
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Once you’ve gained some experience raising chickens, I recommend starting to hatch eggs. This article gives an overview of how to hatch using an incubator. Why Hatch Eggs? You can perpetuate your chickens by hatching eggs from your own flock instead of needing to buy chicks every few years. It’s interesting and enjoyable, and you…
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Certain times during the year, particularly during the spring, some of your hens may go broody. Some breeds of chickens (and certain strains) are more prone toward broodiness than others. What is broodiness? It’s when a hen decides to sit on eggs to hatch them. Her body goes through certain hormonal changes, and her behavior…
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If you aren’t getting as many eggs as you know you should be getting from your flock, how do you tell which hens are not laying and which ones are? There are a number of different ways to tell, some practical and some not so practical. I’ll go over the most accurate approach and then…
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If you want to start breeding chickens in order to perpetuate your flock, where is the best place to start? There are several possibilities: hatch fertile eggs — get eggs from a breeder and begin hatching those buy adult birds — get adult (already laying) hens and a rooster from a breeder, begin hatching eggs…
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Straight-run simply means that you’re getting the chickens “as-hatched.” No attempt has been made to determine the gender of the chickens. Does “straight-run” mean that half will be males and half females? No, not necessarily, when you hatch chicks, they may come out 50-50. But you could also have more than 50% males. Or more…
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January to mid-February, is a good time to begin selecting your breeders. It’s important to do this early in the year so that you have time to move your breeding pairs into separate pens several weeks ahead of when you will begin gathering eggs to hatch. In this article, I’ll go over how to select…
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Are Black Australorp Roosters Aggressive Toward People? I’ve never had any serious problems with Black Australorp roosters becoming aggressive toward humans. Our roosters have nearly all had good temperament and are easy to manage. We often pick up and handle the roosters. That said, I think this has as much to do with breeding and…
Read More Chickens are remarkable. They produce fresh food in family-sized portions, both meat and eggs. They’re adaptable to a wide range of climates and varied purposes. Their manure, properly managed, can build your land’s soil fertility. They’re excellent foragers. And they’re easy to take care of. Once you’ve begun to raise a flock and have mastered…
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Having a productive backyard flock requires more than just choosing the best egg production chickens. It has a lot to do with how you manage and maintain your flock. In this article, I’ll give you a basic framework and some techniques to help you increase egg production and maintain a productive flock. This approach is…
Read More What is Selective Breeding? Selective breeding is, simply put, breeding with the intent of accomplishing some type of goal. Usually, the goal is multi-faceted. It takes into account various traits, the overall health and vigor of the chicken, the reasons you have for raising the chickens and the way (and place) in which you are…
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I think it’s important to clarify something about selective breeding because it has, to some degree, gotten a bad rap. Some people take issue with selective breeding because it is an approach that has enabled breeders to produce factory-raised broiler chickens with unnaturally high growth rates and finished size—chickens that can even have difficulty supporting…
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My family and I began breeding Black Australorps in 2015. We started with a flock of about 100 Black Australorp chicks. I chose Black Australorps for several reasons: They are good layers (they’re known for being the most prolific heritage breed layer). They are large birds that are good for meat production I knew of…
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Our Black Australorps usually to lay their first eggs at around 6-7 months of age. We raise them from chicks that we hatch in the spring or early summer. Several things that can affect when they start to lay: what type of food you raise them on what time of year you hatch (or purchase)…
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Based on our breeding goals, here is a list of what needs to be accomplished this year: Grow newly-hatched chickens to 18 months of age before selecting which ones to use in the breeding program. This will enable us to select breeders more accurately than if we selected earlier, plus it lends itself to selecting…
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