Keeping your flock well
Poultry Health
Boredom Busters 2.0
f you experience harsh winters, your flock may get “coop fever”, much like cabin fever that so many of us humans experience when we are unable to enjoy the great outdoors due to bad weather. I’ve put together a few fun and easy ideas to keep your birds moving and grooving throughout the winter.
Winter Chicken Keeping Tips
Customers frequently ask if their coop needs a heat source during the winter. The answer is no. The important thing is to keep the drafts down on your girls while protecting them from the winds and precipitation. They need to be kept dry and have access to fresh water and feed.
Dealing With Frostbite In Your Flock
Do you live where the winter temperatures can be extreme? If so, your flock could be susceptible to frostbite on their combs, wattles, and toes. Learn how to deal with frostbite in your flock here!
Safe Practices for Cleaning Coops
Coop clean out is an important part of chicken husbandry, and doing it safely is important for your health as well. Read more for best practices.
Spraddle Leg: Causes and Treatment
New to raising chicks? Spraddle Leg can sound like a scary term. What can be even scarier is when you experience it for the first time! Learn about it here!
How to Tell a Laying Hen from a Non-Laying Hen
Here are a few tips on how a flock owner can generally tell which birds are likely to still be laying eggs and which ones have taken a break from laying.
Your Chickens Deserve a Treat!
Curious about adding different treats to your flock’s diet! Chickens need a treat every now and then to cure boredom and give them nutrients!
Healthy Hen Anatomy
An important part of raising chickens is by checking over your chickens periodically to make sure that everything is healthy. By understanding the symptoms of things that go awry, you can be in a better position to help fix an issue before it gets worse.
How to Revive a Weak Chick
We do our best to ensure their safety during transit, there are many factors that are out of our control. If your chicks arrive weak, chilled or lethargic here are a few tips to help ensure their survival:
Dealing With Chicken Flock Illness
Dealing With Chicken Flock IllnessThis post is written for Meyer Hatchery by our guest blogger: I'm Hannah of Muddy Oak Hen House sharing my story on illness hitting the backyard flock. I have had the displeasure of learning the hard way and was forced to reevaluate...
Uses for Diatomaceous Earth On The Homestead
Diatomaceous Earth has long been known for its pest-repelling qualities. Even though it is a very fine powder and soft to our touch, on a microscopic level it is very abrasive and actually cuts the exoskeletons of insects. The damage to their protective exoskeleton is enough to dry out and kill the insect.
Flock Health: What is Marek’s Disease?
Marek’s disease is a type of avian cancer caused by a virus. It primarily affects chickens between the ages of 4 – 20 weeks. There is currently no known treatment for Marek’s, but thankfully there is a vaccine available!
Biosecurity for Your Backyard Flock
Any poultry illness can potentially become a national outbreak if backyard poultry owners fail to do their part in maintaining good biosecurity practices. Let’s outline the main points of good biosecurity for a backyard flock owner.
Crooked Toes in Chickens: Causes and Treatment
Crooked or bent toes in chicks can be an unsightly condition, but in the majority of cases, having bent toes does not affect the chicken’s ability to live a completely normal life. Crooked or bent toes (bending sideways) is different from a condition called curled toes paralysis (toes curl under causing the bird to walk on the top of the foot). Here are a few reasons when and why your chicks may develop curled or bent toes and how to treat them.
Why Isn’t My Frizzle Chick Frizzled?
The frizzle feathering sometimes found in chickens is a rare occurrence, and therefore highly desired in some breeds. Here is an overview of how the frizzle feather mutation occurs and why not all chicks sold as frizzles will have frizzled feathers.
Coccidia Vaccine Versus Medicated Feed
Coccida thrive in humid and warm locations, so the first line of defense is to keep that brooder litter clean and dry! Spilled waterers and a build up of chick manure will very quickly allow the coccidia in the environment to gain a foothold and explode, allowing your chicks to become heavily infected very quickly.
More Than Just Chicks: How to Raise Exotic Pheasants
Meyer Hatchery carries a variety of exotic pheasants, take a look at general overview on how to raise exotic pheasants to start your adventure today!
Why Is My Hen Not Laying? Reasons Why You May See a Decline in Egg Production
Why is my hen not laying? Let’s explore some of the most common reasons why hens slow down or stop laying eggs altogether.
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