America 250 Series, Part 3: Barred Plymouth Rock

Close your eyes and picture a chicken Odds are you just pictured this one The black-and-white striped hen scratching around the barnyard is the Barred Plymouth Rock, and for the better part of a century it was the most common chicken in America Week three of our America 250 series belongs to the bird that became the picture of the American backyard

Top 3 Takeaways

  • It’s the chicken everyone pictures The barred black-and-white hen is the storybook American farm chicken, and it was one of the most popular breeds in the country for generations
  • It does a little of everything

Rhode Island Red: The All-American Hen Behind Half Your Favorite Layers

Top 3 Takeaways

  • The Rhode Island Red is America’s most-raised backyard hen In a recent Hoover’s survey of 253 backyard keepers, 66% had raised one That’s two of every three keepers, and no other brown egg layer comes close
  • You may already be raising its descendants The Red Star, Black Sex-Link, Cinnamon Queen, and ISA Brown all trace back to a Rhode Island Red parent, and the New Hampshire was refined straight from Rhode Island Red stock One breed from one small state is the genetic backbone of the modern hen house
  • It delivers exactly what keepers say they

7 Classic American Chicken Breeds to Raise for America’s 250th Birthday

Top 3 Takeaways

  1. The Dominique is America’s oldest chicken breed, and it is older than America itself It traces to roughly 1750, which means Dominiques were scratching around colonial farmyards a full generation before anyone signed the Declaration of Independence
  2. Every breed on this list was either born on American soil or made its name here Most are dual-purpose, cold-hardy, and calm enough for a first flock, which is a big part of why they have lasted
  3. Keepers choose a bird for exactly what the Dominque offers In a recent Hoover’s survey of 253 backyard Keepers, 85% percent said

12 Months in a North Iowa Backyard. One Polar Vortex. Here’s How the Hoover’s Coop Held Up.

12 Months in a North Iowa Backyard One Polar Vortex Here’s How the Hoover’s Coop Held Up

On a rural property outside Mason City, Iowa, sits a 10-Bird Hoover’s Lean-To Easy Clean Coop and Run It’s been there for nearly a full year, holding a small flock of backyard chickens through some unpredictable weather conditions Now, 12 months later, the coop is holding up just as well as we expected While the inside has been cleaned on a regular schedule (the coop has been home to two Rhode Island Reds and two Light Brahmas this year), the outside underwent no

Why We Delivered Four Chicks to an Iowa Care Home

Why We Delivered Four Chicks to an Iowa Care Home

This morning, four chicks arrived at the IOOF Home and Community Therapy Center in Mason City They came with a brooder, a feeder, a waterer, a heat lamp, and a bag of feed

This isn’t a typical Hoover’s delivery We’ve been an Iowa hatchery since 1944 Most days, we ship chicks to backyards across all the country Today, four of them stayed close to home

The chicks will live at IOOF Home & Community Therapy Center for the next six to eight weeks while they grow their feathers and gain size Residents

Why We Built a Better Coop

Hoover’s Easy Clean Coop: Less Maintenance, Happier Flocks

After more than 80 years of raising chickens, we know exactly what was wrong with every coop on the market

Since 1944, Hoover’s Hatchery has been a leader in the backyard poultry industry This multi-generational family business now offers more than 200 breeds, and millions of backyards across America receive our chicks each year We’re experts in what chicks need, and we know well the problems chicken keepers run into when trying to give their backyard poultry the best care

The biggest issue? Chicken coop maintenance

We felt responsible for helping


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