Egg Layers
While all chickens can lay eggs, not all chickens can lay enough eggs to suit everyone's needs. Some chickens can only produce a few eggs a week, while others can produce hundreds over the course of the year, and even into winter months. We've broken our breeds into categories that let you know which chickens are known for their eggs, and which just don't cut it.
Meat Breeds
Sometimes chickens are just there to be food, but not evey chicken will make a good meal. Some chickens are justtoo scrawny to be very useful as a meat bird, and otherse will be huge but mature too slowly to be consideredviable as a dinner chicken. And others still are just a breed that's consdierd endangered, so raising them forslaughter becomes counter-productive.
That's why proper breeding tactics will come into place with your meat production chickens. Knowing how to reedthem together to ensure every new clutch of eggs will yield the biggest and best chickens for the job is critical,and we can give you some tips on how best to plan.
We'll even give you some recipes here and there when the time comes for your chicken to live out his ultimatepurpose and fulfill his destiny. Just be careful about growing too attached!
Show Poultry
Not all chickens are kept just to produce eggs or meat. A lot of breeds find their primary skill to be simplylooking good and acting well, making them excellent for taking around for poultry shows and winning awards.
Finding the correct bird and knowing the breed standards will help, but there's more to it than that. There'sgrooming and, depending on the breed, special care that must be given to protect its health and the health of itsfeathers.
We'll be able to let you know which breeds are popular for touring and what special care they need, includingany special lodging or fencing accommodations, plus any dieases that they may fall prey to due to selectivebreeding.
Big Chickens or Small Chickens??
Chickens come in all different sizes, from the tiny bantam breeds to hulking meat birds just ready to be cooked.Size matters immensely as it will determine how much meat they can produce, how large their eggs will be and howmany they can lay in a year, how fast they will mature, and simply how much space they'll take up.
Planning for the right size chicken for the space you have or the goal you've set is critical, but once you knowwhat you want then the rest will become simpler. Sometimes what works for a large farm won't work for a smallhomestead, and vice versa. There's a chicken for every situation, and we have the rundowns to help you indetermining just how big they will become.
Caring For Chickens
Every breed has different qualities that make then unique, beyond just their primary use. Some have specialfeathers that let them survive in cold climates better. Others are great when it comes to foraging for their ownfood.
Knowing the temperament of each breed before going in will help when deciding which breeds to raise together assome chickens are very calm and friendly around humans while others are rather flighty and even like to fight withone another. Hens can become broody and roosters can become loud with theri crowing. Each breed is different andeach requires the proper knowledge to raise the proper bird.
Some chickens are built for all weather and all hazards, and some need extra care. Knowing is half the battle,and we're here to arm you with the right tools to tackle each aspect of chicken life, from hatching eggs to raisingthem to maturation, to breeding new chicksn, and the inevitable end to a great life. So browse our profiles andarticles with confidence knowing that a wonderful chicken is just right around the corner!
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