The Barred Gene Use in Chickens The barred coloration is something most people that keep chickens have seen. Barred rocks, creles, and several other birds carry the barring in their feathers. The barring gene is an absence of coloration in the feather. The barring gene causes white pigment in bars …
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Warming the Winter Chicken Chickens all originated from the Jungle Cock in southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is for the most part a warm and temperate place. With the majority of breeds being bred for eggs, there are a few that are bred for cold hardiness. Typically large bodied birds have …
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I found out today that our friend Wayne Childress has passed away. Wayne was very helpful in the formative times, especially, of DIYSeattle. He was very knowledgeable and patient. He will be missed as a valued friend and a valuable resource in the poultry community. I don’t know if he …
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The New Iowa Blue Breed As an early 1900’s type chicken, the Iowa Blue was created at a time when chickens were expected to do more than simply lay eggs and produce meat. In the time period starting in the middle to late 1800’s till the 1940’s and 50’s, breeds …
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Backyards Really Can Produce There are approximately 250,000 households in the city of Seattle. The citizens of the city of Seattle stood together and now have the ability to keep 8 hens per household. There is a sense of local food and self sufficiency in the Pacific Northwest. Backyard chickens …
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Chicken Fueled Early Greens Here is the greens patch we grow a lot of micro greens and smaller leaf greens in. We have two of these made with scrap lumber and a polypropylene corrugated top. The top will lift back on those warmer days so that they don’t get overheated. …
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Grocery Store Eggs Hatched Grocery store chicks hatched yesterday. White egg laying white colored birds. These were bought at Whole Foods and the carton says “Fertile Eggs”. About 60 percent hatch rates overall counting the carton of eggs from another small farm that hatched similar chicks. The second small farm …
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Researching Before Building a DIY Incubator Anyone who wants to hatch their own eggs always has a lot of incubator questions. There’s tons of information about them, especially brand reviews. They come in many sizes, configurations, and qualities. There also is a wide range of prices and models. When first …
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Keeping Your Chickens Cool in the Summer Many places during the summer experience high temperatures. Just in case some of you are in those hot places, here are some tips and tricks to help you deal with your chickens in the heat. Chickens are quite hardy but we have to help …
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Brown Leghorns in the Ark Here the brown leghorns are scratching out the last little bit of daylight. They seem to do well foraging and like eating all the spiders. They do a good job of turning over the bark mulch too to keep the weeds from coming up. (We bought them …
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Hobby Poultry A Chicken in Every Yard