Best Breeds for Hot Climates

Summer’s dog days are miserable Plants droop in the heat as wildlife retreat to shady places On scorching days people sequester in the comfort of their air-conditioned home But, what about the poor chickens out in the coop?

 

Chickens feel the heat That seems ironic since the species evolved in the steamy tropics of Southeast Asia  Despite their origin more chickens die of heat stress than from the frigid cold of a northern winter

 

Heat can stress or kill chickens nearly everywhere, not just in the deep south North Dakota and upstate New York, both famous for frigid winters, often see

An Egg’s Epic Journey to the Frying Pan

The delightful fragrance of sizzling bacon fills the kitchen as freshly cracked eggs plop into the frying pan  Along with whole wheat toast topped with English marmalade, few breakfasts are more delicious than eggs fresh from the backyard coop

 

Before those eggs enter the pan, they’ve undergone a remarkable journey that starts in the hen’s ovary

 

When a female chicken hatches she has two ovaries but one gradually shrinks and becomes unfunctional  The other gradually matures to generate all the eggs she’ll lay  When she’s about 20 weeks old, give or take a few weeks, a hen begins ovulation  It is

Pride of the Granite State -The New Hampshire Red

Ask a major league baseball manager what team member is most valuable and he is likely to answer, “my utility player” Rarely a famous media star, a utility player is a flexible athlete who can, at short notice, skillfully play many positions If a star player is sick or injured a utility man fills the gap

 

New Hampshire Reds are the “utility player” chicken breed They may not be the absolutely most prolific layer, the fastest growing broiler, the most beautifully colored chicken, or the very best broody hen But, they are darn good at all of them That may

My Hens Are Going Bald

Late winter It is cold Why in the world are my hens losing their feathers when they need every single one to keep toasty warm?  Feather loss could be caused by age, molting, crowding, brooding, an overactive rooster or, gulp, lice or mites

Just before they begin laying, hens that hatched four or five months earlier look like they just stepped out of a chicken spa Their feathery wardrobe is gorgeous and covers everything but their legs, feet, and heads Then life’s stresses begin taking a toll  After months of laying,  patches of  feathers disappear revealing reddish bare skin  Although

What To Do with Frozen Eggs and When Do You Freeze Eggs?

You come home from a long winter day at work or school and visit the coop to collect the day’s eggs They’re cold  Really cold with hairline cracks in some of their shells     That’s not surprising Those eggs have been sitting in the nest for hours on a subzero day

 

Egg whites and yolks contain plenty of water but are loaded with dissolved solids  These lower the egg freezing point to about 29 degrees Eggs rarely freeze in moderately cold weather but if the temperature drops like a stone eggs freeze and crack in just a couple of hours

 

In many

Managing Dust

Dust and chickens go together like macaroni and cheese Flock Owners know their hens produce eggs for the kitchen and manure to make garden vegetables thrive  A less recognized and valued hen byproduct is dust It needs to be managed

 

According to Dr Susan Lamont, Iowa State University CF Curtis Distinguished Professor of Agriculture and Life Sciences, dust comes when chickens shed dead skin and from material shed from the base of the feather shafts It’s called dander Other dust may originate from litter and feed

Dust fluffs off birds, spirals into the coop’s

Comfy Nests

Perhaps the greatest joy that comes from keeping backyard chickens is the wonderful gifts hens leave in their nests Some are huge Others are small One may be long and skinny, while others are nearly round They might have light or dark brown, white, or even blue or green shells An occasional one may sport speckles Those eggs are beautiful, diverse, fresh and nutritious

 

Providing clean, safe and comfortable nests encourages hens to lay where eggs are easy to collect That involves putting enough nests in the right places and collecting eggs often