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There comes a time in every chicken’s life (usually around 14 – 18 months old) where they start to lose all their feathers, look gangly and downright ugly. But don’t be alarmed! This is a natural process that occurs annually. This process is called molt. What is molt? Molt is the natural shedding of feathers and regrowth of new ones. This usually happens in the fall as day length shortens. It is the chickens way to refresh old feathers and grow new ones for the coming winter. Molt happens in an expected order, starting at the head, down the back,...

Fall is the best season for a family to prepare for the delightful experience of welcoming a small flock of chickens to the backyard. For poultry newcomers, fall gives them plenty of time to research the breeds they’d like to welcome, acquire, design or create and research chicken coop plans or build a coop, and read up on chicken care. Perhaps there’s even time to visit other families who already have chickens or take a beginning chicken class at a nearby farm store or nature center. This is the first in a series of blogs that will detail the construction...

One of the most common questions I am asked in my job time after time is “Can you tell me what is in your feed?” People are naturally curious about the ingredients in their animal’s feed and have been trained to read labels on the food we eat, so why not on the feed our animals eat? Most poultry feeds consist of similar main ingedients, the most common of which are discussed below: Soybean Meal – This is the most common form of plant protein, and if your feed tag lists “plant protein products” as an ingredient, chances are soybean meal is what is...

We all know summer brings heat, as well as important considerations when storing poultry and any other pet or livestock feed.  We think about summer feed storage and keeping feed the right way and serving it to your flock in the most efficient way, saving you time and money. I have likely made all the mistakes that can be made in my poultry keeping days, so hopefully my experience can help some of you be the best livestock keepers you can be. When I buy a bag of feed and bring it home, I pour it slowly into a metal...

Fly control is a critical part of an integrated pest management system and reducing your overall production costs. While there may not be a silver bullet for fly control, there are steps you can take to build a season-long fly control program.  First, know your flies – house, stable, horn and face. They each have their own characteristics that effect productivity on beef cattle.   House flies have been implicated in the transmission of 65 disease organisms with populations that can burst out of control in a short period of time.  Stable flies have one of the most painful bites of...