backyard poultry magazine - countryside magazine

Volume 9, Number 2April/May 2014Backyard

PoultryDedicated to more and better small-flock poultry

Automatic Pophole Door Openers Detailed Reviews and What You Need to Know Pg.44

Get Started With

Heritage Breeds Pg. 62

$4.99 US www.backyardpoultrymag.com

• Birds as Therapy?• Treating Eggs

Plus:

Dressing Up Your FlockHilarious, Fun Ideas Pg.14

2 Backyard Poultry

Protection Against Night Time Predator AnimalsNite•Guard Solar® has been proven

effective in repelling predator animalsthrough scientific testing and proven by thecompany and tens of thousands of users.

Nite•Guard Solar attacks the deepest most primal fear of night animals, that

of being discovered. When the sun goesdown, Nite•Guard begins to flash and continues until sunrise. The simple but effective fact is that a “flash of light” is sensed as an eye and becomes an

immediate threat to the most ferociousnight animals and they run away.

GUARANTEEDSATISFACTION

or your moneyback!

PO Box 274Princeton MN 553711.800.328.6647

$1995––––––––––––––

FREE STANDARD SHIPPING

On orders of 4 lights or more.

––––––––––––––

PROMO CODE 4FREE

niteguard.comwww.facebook.com/niteguardllc

Four units will give complete360-degree coverage

.............................NITE•GUARD IS FAMILY OWNED

AND OPERATED SINCE 1997.............................

OVER300,000SOLD

The World’s TopSelling Solar Powered

Security System

#1

FOLLOW US ONFACE BOOK

DON’T BE FOOLED BY

COPY CATS

Nite•Guard Repellent TapeScares animals with light and noise. Extra wide, heavy duty, iridescent foil

tape works well to keep predators away.

Go to www.niteguard.com to find out more

Predators in Their TracksSTOP

We know how much you love your flock, so reward them with some tasty Happy Hen Treats. Our treats are specially formulated for chickens and made from quality ingredients. We know you’ll love our products, because all our products

are tested and approved by our own backyard flock.

Happy Hen TreatsPremium Treats for Chickens

happyhentreats.comVisit us online to find a dealer near you!

www.backyardpoultrymag.com 3April/May 2014

We know how much you love your flock, so reward them with some tasty Happy Hen Treats. Our treats are specially formulated for chickens and made from quality ingredients. We know you’ll love our products, because all our products

are tested and approved by our own backyard flock.

Happy Hen TreatsPremium Treats for Chickens

happyhentreats.comVisit us online to find a dealer near you!

4 Backyard Poultry

Volume 9, Number 2 : April/May 2014

ON THE COVER The April/May 2014 cover winner was submitted by Angela Ardolino, of the Fire Flake Farm in Lutz, Flor-ida. Photo taken by Nicole Geller. Find more information and addition-al reader photos on pages 30-31.

General ManagerMike [email protected]

EditorRyan [email protected]

Circulation and FulfillmentLaura Ching, Ellen Soper, Rhonda Weiler, Christine Barkley

BookstoreSam Ingersoll, [email protected]

Ann Tom

Advertising Representatives800-551-5691

Alicia Komanec, [email protected]

Kelly Weiler, [email protected]

Gary Christopherson, [email protected] Backyard Poultry’s Main CoopBackyard Poultry145 Industrial Dr.Medford, WI [email protected]

Subscriptions (U.S. funds): $21 per year; 2 years $35. Backyard Poultry Subscriptions145 Industrial Dr. Medford, WI 54451 800-551-5691Printed in the U.S.A.

Backyard Poultry (ISSN 1559-2251, USPS 023-374)is published bi-monthly by Countryside Publications, Ltd. at 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451. Periodicals postage paid at Medford, WI and additional mailing offices. ©2013 Countryside Publications. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of the editor or publisher. All contents of this issue of Backyard Poultry are copyrighted by Countryside Publications, 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited except by permission of the publisher.

POSTMASTER:Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Backyard Poultry Subscriptions, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451

Backyard

Poultrywww.backyardpoultrymag.com

For A Serious Laugh

Ryan Slabaugh Editor

From Backyard Poultry:

Good day to you, and thank you for reading Backyard Poultry. We are lucky to have such a large, loyal readership, and every

day, we think about this fact as we put together our magazine. Our community of readers and subscribers continues to grow, and we owe you a debt of gratitude for talking about Backyard Poul-try with your neighbors, friends and family, and spreading the word about our magazine.

As with any of our magazines, we aim to have good, serious fun — informing and entertaining as we go. In this edition, we are getting goofy, high-lighted by Wendy Thomas’s piece about dressing up your chickens. Many of you may roll your eyes at this one, but we had a good time researching and finding as many ways as possible to make your chicken look, well, a bit more human. Either way, it’s worth a giggle.

We also took a serious look at an emotional issue: flocks as therapy. Last fall, a story went national about a family in Florida fighting to keep their flock, as it proved very beneficial in how they treated their special needs child. Laws being laws, however, they had to go through the court system and play on the sympathies of a town council. I won’t spoil the ending, but it took a lot of work and effort, all without the benefit of science, which has done little to prove that flocks can be therapeutic, at least compared to the science behind service dogs and other animals. But the anecdotal evidence is there, and if you need more, just think of those stories Ana Hotaling researched and wrote about in this edition.

Finally, we wanted to clear up one point: In last edition, we published a piece by Susan Burek about Diatomaceous Earth, questioning its holistic qualities. In angered a couple of you, who said it was unfair, and that DE was perfectly fine for flocks. To that, we say, we don’t disagree — and admit, comparing it to a known chemical like DDT was a a stretch — but the point we want to make is, it’s not as holistic as you might think. While it is heavily mined, all in all, if used correctly, DE is a product that still can be still very beneficial to your flock.

Happy reading …

6 Backyard Poultry

8 Your Letters 12 Coming Events

Helpful Hints

14 Dressing for the OccasionFrom formal gowns to costumes of all types, writer Wendy Thomas discovers the world of dressing up your chicken.

20 Produce Your OwnWriter and poultry expert Don Schrider breaks down the questions to ask yourself before you start your own breeding program.

26 Treating EggsIn a follow-up to his story in last edi-tion, William Morrow addresses how to wash and treat your hatching eggs.

30 Photo ContestThe best of the best submissions from flocks around the world.

32 Bookstore

Stringmen, like these around 1910, were famous for going around the country winning money by showing off their best poultry.78

Features

34 The Answer ManSpecialist Ron Kean answers reader questions about laying, illnesses, frostbite and distressed hens.

40 Calcium and ProteinHerbalist Susan Burek breaks down these two common ingredients to explain why they are so important to your flock.

44 Automatic Pophole DoorsAuthor and poultry expert Gail Damerow reviews some of the top automatic pophole door openers on the market.

50 From NutrenaPasting in chicks is gross, but you better know what to do about it.

52 GenerationsSince our call out in our last edition, dozens of you wrote about your life stories with poultry. This edition, we print one of the best, from Lisa DeGraw in New Mexico.

A Love of the Hobby

CONTENTS 9.2

56 Feathered Therapy?It’s a sensitive subject, but a few are fighting for the rights of their special needs children to have poultry.

Breeds

62 Where It All StartedA simple introduction to getting started with a heritage breed in ducks, geese, chickens and all poultry.

68 Tournaisis BantamStuart Sutton writes about another rare breed in Belgium.

Recipes72 Egg DoughOne word says it all — Yum! Eggs can give dough that perfect touch, as BYP food writer Janice Cole explains.

A Love of the Hobby

78 Stringman ExtraordinaireIt’s a practice that’s nearly 100 years past its hey-day, but Tamara Staples found one man keeping the Stringman legacy alive.

82 Gertrude McCluck 84 Marketplace

86 Breeders Directory

89 Classifieds

8 Backyard Poultry

Do you have something to crow about?We want to hear from you. Send questions, comments, opinions, advice, com-ing events, etc. to: Backyard Poultry Editor, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 or email: [email protected]

My Visit as a Tourist to a Poultry Show

The trip out from the New York City was only a few hours and the weather was awesome, a crisp, beautiful blue sky with awesome fall colors that my West Coast eyes were not accustomed to.

When I found out we would be in New York state on a volunteer assign-ment, I took the time to look online to find out if there were any poultry shows in the area on the weekend. It was surpris-ingly easy since the PoultryShowCentral website has them categorized by month and state (also, see page 12). To my delight the Cobleskill show, one of the oldest in the United States, was going to be having its 50th anniversary during the time we would be over there. The show is put on by the Eastern New York State Poultry Association. The area of Cobleskill is beautiful with large areas of pasture, rolling hills, scattered farms and dairies and some woods.

It was fascinating to see new things

and some differences from our West Coast shows to this small one out East. For example, the one-day format was fast but seemed to still satisfy the need to get your birds judged and see how they are comparing to others in the area.

The entrance fee was a very modest $3, which is nice and very affordable.

I saw some varieties that we don’t commonly see out West, such as bantam Dark Brahmas and bantam New Hamp-shire. The New Hampshire matched the vibrant fall colors exceptionally well.

I liked the assortment of art displayed on people’s trailers, carrying boxes and even T-shirts. We Westerners are going to have to step it up.

The exhibitors were provided with name tags in their exhibitors packet. Wearing them made it much easier to locate people, especially for new people (or people from out of town like me) to find the other exhibitors you want to talk to. The T-shirts or hats with people’s respective breed favorites are also a good

idea — think of how much easier it would be for a buyer to find the seller!

I learned a lot about my respective breed from the friendly and very informa-tive Sebright breeders at the show. I’m sure in a few years, their work will prove to be very valuable to Sebright breeders all across the U.S.

Another man gave the useful advice to weigh each adult bird and to see how your stock compares to the standard breed. Soon after I got home, I did just that and can see the value in doing it occasionally, especially with birds like Sebrights that can be so small that production can suffer — not that they are designed for being egg machines or otherwise utility birds anyway — but what can you do with the most gorgeous chickens in the world?

And I went home with a nice little souvenir cockerel from a nationally re-nowned breeder of the East Coast to join my western ladies at home. Thank you.

Jenny KinbergOregon

A Healing StoryI have on two different occasions,

with the Good Lord’s help, nursed back to health two hens (different flocks) from a condition that some people could inter-pret as terminal. The first was a young pullet, not quite fryer-sized. And the other was a hen about 18 months old.

One day when entering the coop I saw a hen lying on her side, eyes closed, and with her legs outstretched as if she fell in mid-stride. Her head was pulled back over her back, as if her neck was broken. I recognized the posture from childhood scenes around grandma’s chicken pen. I reached down and expected a death-stiff-ened corpse. To my surprise, as I touched her, she made a small, pitiful sound that told me she was still alive. I gathered her up and carried her to the house to make her last minutes as comfortable as pos-sible. I put her in a large cardboard box

The 50th Anniversary Fall Show, organized by the Eastern New York State Poultry Association, at the Cobleskill Fairgrounds in New York, in September 2013.


in a warm bathroom. I decided that since she was trying so hard to fight for life, I should at least try to help her in the ways that I could.

I had an injectable antibiotic (Noro-cillin) that I had used for various other larger animals around my place. It had been it the refrigerator for quite some time, and I was not sure it was still potent enough to be of any use, but “What the heck?” I thought. At this point, she didn’t have anything to lose.

I warmed it to room temperature, and using the smallest needle I had (22-mil-limeter by 1-inch), I drew in only enough antibiotic to fill the needle itself and not the syringe. I injected it in her thigh muscle. Several times during the day, I forced her beak open and dribbled a few drops of water into her mouth to keep her hydrated. If I gave more than just a few drops at a time, she choked on it.

When evening came, I wrapped her in a towel in her box, left the heat on in the bathroom and turned out the light, expecting her to die during the night.

The next morning, she looked the same as when I first saw her on the hen-house floor. I reach down to touch her and again she made a tiny sound almost like a whimper. I gave her a new injection of the antibiotic and a small amount of water. I knew that she needed more nourishment than just water, but was at a loss as to what to give her. Later that day, I began to make tuna salad for my family. As I was draining the oil from a can of tuna, I realized that the vegetable oil the tuna was packed in was the perfect solution to the problem. Not only would the oil be easy for her to swallow, but it was loaded with calories and nutrients from the fish.

She liked it and tried to swallow as much as she could. She still seemed paralyzed, however, and only opened her eyes when I was trying to feed her. The fish oil caused really messy diarrhea, and she required frequent baths. I started massaging her neck muscles and began watering her by gently pushing her head downward until the tip of her beak was in the water. Then when I released her head the diseased muscle would draw the head backward again, at which time she would swallow the water.

The instructions with the antibiotic said not to give it for more than four days. By the last day of the treatment I could see some, but not a lot, of improvement. After I stopped giving the injections, she

continued to improve very slowly. Lying on her side, she would “walk,” then run around and around the sides of the box, spinning on her side as she went. Even more slowly, she began to regain control of her head. When she tried to eat a few thin strips of bologna (fake worms) cut up for her, she would have to try several times to get it in her mouth before being able to actually swallow it. Anything too dry was too much for her to manage.

When she improved enough to try to flop her way out of the box, I put her in a mud-room area with a rubber mat on the floor. Here she could flop around and teach herself to walk again without hurting herself. I fed her on a paper plate with a variety of foods, such as: a teaspoon of oatmeal; a teaspoon of finely chopped meat or flaked tuna; a tablespoon of a shredded salad of lettuce and carrot; a little banana (her favorite); and a little chick chat along with some small scratch grain.

All together, it took slightly more than a month before she was ready to go outside and into a coop near the other chickens. After about a week, they got used to her again, and were ready to accept her back. She has had to accept a lower pecking order than she had be-fore, and she walks with one foot’s toes inward. When she runs you can notice a limp. She has started laying again, al-though her egg is smaller than her flock sisters’ eggs. I discarded the first few eggs that she laid, but we are now using them normally. There were times that I thought of giving up, but she was such a fighter, I simply could not let her down. This whole process was tedious and time consuming, but it taught me a great deal and saved a special member of my flock.

Thanks for your great magazine, I hope this information will be helpful to others.

Patricia WellsMontana

Ed’s FlockEvery spring in a small town in Iowa,

a retired gentleman named Ed would buy 50 or so mixed breed chicks. He tended his flock twice a day, planning on eating the chickens throughout the summer and fall. Though we lived in towns about 30 miles apart, I knew Ed through his son-in-law, with whom I worked.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, Ed suf-fered some major health problems, and

wound up in the hospital in the town where I lived. After some trying weeks, Ed passed away. His son-in-law told me about Ed’s flock. He estimated that Ed had around eight to 10 chickens left out at his farm. Being too far to drive twice a day to tend the chickens, Ed’s family was frantic trying to figure out what to do with these chickens. A few neighbors volunteered to try to help while a home was sought for the few chickens left.

About a year ago, our family bought 16 brown egg layers from a local supplier. Although we are on the edge of town, we are still considered within city limits. We had to apply for, and be approved for, a Farm Animal Permit — not a cheap thing in our city — just to have our chickens. My kids got the wonderful experience of raising poultry, just like I did when I was a kid. They even joined 4-H, with my daughter’s favorite Rhode Island Red, “Sunny,” taking Grand Champion Reserve at our county fair!

Because Ed’s son-in-law and I worked together, he knew that I already had a Farm Animal Permit, and was ex-perienced at raising chickens. He came to me and asked if I had room for a few more.

“Sure!” I said. “Why not?”On Christmas eve, our area was suf-

fering through an extremely rare patch of 40-below temperatures that had lasted three days. Nonetheless, his big red truck pulled up to our house. As he brought out the dog crate, I saw the three most raggedy chickens you’d ever seen. They were thin, with frostbite on their waddles and combs, and their pretty bad case of leg mites — the least of their problems.

You see, in the country where they were, animals had gotten to the few chickens that were left, whittling their numbers down to three. If they hadn’t been rescued that day, I doubt they would have lasted another night in the frigid cold.

We put them into quarantine and began addressing their problems. They were wormed, and had Vaseline and baby oil put on their combs and wattles. Every-one got a bath, and started on treatment for their leg mites. Lastly, they received names: “Blondie” was the yellow one, “Beauty” was the gal who eventually lost most of her comb, and “Baby” was the sweet red one who loved being held.

Although they are egg layers (some type of Red Ranger/Rhodes Island Red

10 Backyard Poultry

we guess), no one has laid an egg … until last night. We all were stunned this morning when we went to let them out at saw that white gem lying gently in the nest box. After the shock of their hard winter, losing their owner, and moving to a new home, getting our first egg last night was worth it. I guess Ed’s flock finally decided they like us just as much as we like them.

Meghann YoungbloodIowa

Antique IncubatorsSome time ago I was looking through

a 1905 Farm Journal and noted there were at least five different companies that were advertising kerosene heated incubators. So I expect that thousands of those incubators were sold from about 1880 to 1940.

In the last 50 years, I have attended more than a thousand farm dispersals, consignment auctions and estate sales, and could probably count on my fingers the number of such incubators that I watched sell. I expect the majority of them were recycled for the copper that was in them.

About 12 years ago, I did come across one a neighbor owned. He would not sell it to me even though I offered 10 times the amount that he paid for it. But he did allow me to use it for some time. It was sold by Montgomery Wards in 1937, according to the sales invoice that was included. To my sorrow, the mice had eaten most of the instructions.

Yet, we had a good success rate with it. It held 300 chicken eggs and generally anything less than 200 live chicks we consider a very poor hatch, with up to 270 very good. So that comes out to a 60 percent to a 90 percent hatch. It has what I call a semi-automatic turner. The eggs set on their points at about a 70-degree angle, so by moving a wire through under them it will flip the eggs to the opposite 70 degrees, so that half of the eggs can be turned in a matter of seconds. They, like all still-air incubators, have to have all the eggs on one level, as the air can vary as much as 4 degrees from the top of the egg to its bottom. While it is best to always have one size and one kind of eggs for the whole incubator, it is doable to have such a wide diversity of eggs, from geese to bantams. But the bantam eggs have to be raised so that you have the optimum temperature in the middle

of the egg. Both of those eggs call for 99.5-degree temperature so their middles must be the same height.

These incubators should be operated in a room that has very little variation in temperature over 24 hours and during the whole incubation period. For most people, the old-time house cellar was the best place to operate them. Even the humidity was right most of the time.

I have heard of incubators that were direct heated with a kerosene lamp type heater, but all of them that I have seen so far have the flame heat — a pipe with water in it and the water circulates into the cabinet and that in turn heats the air, keeping the eggs warm. They all seem to have thermostats to maintain a uniform temperature at all times.

While by far most of the old time ones were kerosene operated, I would believe it would have been possible to also use coal or wood like some of the old-time brooder stoves used. Today propane or

natural gas would also be options. It is possible to do one, 300-egg hatch with four gallons of kerosene.

Since I could not buy the neighbor’s incubator and could not find any other ones to buy at that time, I made about half a dozen from that pattern.

We were running up to four the last several years, especially from February to June, but we do hatch every month of the year.

Henry H. LeidKentucky

Enjoying the ReadI am a recent subscriber to your

magazine and I do enjoy it. I am an old geezer from the old school.

Some years ago, I said to my son, “There must be at least 35 broiler houses within 2.5-mile radius of the traffic light at Hard Scrabble where routes 9 and 20 cross.”

His reply was, “Ah, Pop, you always exaggerate, so there couldn’t possibly be that many.”

I told him, “Let’s take a map and scribe 2.5-mile circle around the light, and then let’s count the poultry houses in use.” We did, and counted 99 houses that had 20,000 or more chickens in them. Today, Sam himself has three houses of 30,000 each, which grow out five flocks a year. It’s big business here in Sussex County, Delaware.

I do have a backyard chicken coop built out of junk lumber with a covered run to protect my hens from flying predators. The purpose of this coop is for exercise for the old geezer, and eggs for the younger folk who are so occupied with their computers, they have no time for chickens.

Your magazine provides me amuse-ment, chuckles and good clear reading.

Fred SlabaughDelware

Editor’s Note: My last name is Sla-baugh, too, so Fred asked about our heritage. He mentioned his family was from the Amish country in Pennsylvania originally, where you’ll find a lot of Sla-baughs. There’s a good chance that was my lineage, most likely in the late-19th century, when my ancestors settled from Europe into farmland in Pennsylvania and parts of Kansas. Anyway, it was an interesting turn of events, and nice to know the world can still be small.

Want More Interaction With Poultry Folk?

Visit our website and join the thousands of readers already enjoying our frequent blog posts, and helping us grow our commu-nity forums. Also, reach us on our Facebook page, at Backyard Poultry Magazine. www.backyardpoultrymag.com

FAST�FENCEInfo�and�buy�now�at

www.electricnets.com800-356-5458


Retirement CoopI’ve been subscribing to and loving

your magazine for a few years now and thought I’d write and submit an article.

When I was a kid of about 11 to 14 years old, my dad owned a tavern out in the sticks in Wakeman, Ohio. Todd & Sons Farms were chicken farmers located down the road. I wound up working the better part of four years helping with their 10,000 chickens. We then moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where I finished high school, joined the Marine Corps, went to Vietnam, got married (with two children) and served as a policeman for 32 years.

By 1992, it reached a point when I could move from town to about 18 miles south, into the country and onto five beautiful acres in Columbia Sta-tion, Ohio. I had tried raising just a few chickens while in the suburbs but it didn’t work out so well with the neighbors, and with my job as a policeman.

Now I could cut loose, and had plenty of land and great neighbors.

There’s a 25-foot by 40-foot barn located about 500 feet to the rear of the house where I sectioned off a 12-foot by 12-foot square inside the barn, and completely framed and fenced it in floor to ceiling. I cut a hole in the wall and

did the same outside. The neighbor to the south of us, Cotton, supervised. I complained that I couldn’t get the fram-ing just right and Cotton gave words of wisdom: “Chicken’s don’t care if the coop is straight!”

I ran electric to the barn but I had to haul water.

“Bruce” was my first rooster along with about 15 hens of all breeds. I ac-quired chickens from neighbors, road trips down to Amish country and The Grafton Town & Country Co-op. Every year I “micro-manage” hatching a few. I’m raising anywhere from 15 to 20 at any given time.

Fast-forward to this last winter, when I had 15 chickens, 13 hens and two roost-ers (Squeaky and his son, Tony).

The barn and chickies were too far back on the property to really enjoy them. I researched the perfect set up. I staked the perfect spot about 150 feet from the back of the house.

I had Bennett’s of Medina, Ohio, build me a 10-foot by 14-foot barn-style coop, including a Wolmanized floor. I helped my friend Mike run the electric. I have inside timer lights, switch lights inside and out, and plenty of receptacles for winter water heater and Christmas

lights. I put in used kitchen cupboards to hold egg cartons and “chicky” supplies. There are galvanized garbage cans to store feed. I made four new nests and have wood shavings for the floor.

I cut a hole in the wall with a ramp to the ground outside. My neighbor Joe helped me customize the outside enclo-sure (or should I say, I helped him). Joe made sure everything got done right, as he “chicky-sits” the ladies when I’m on vacation. The “girls” also get veggies from both of our gardens.

I can’t leave out Willie, my mini dachshund, who is my buddy and guard dog. He protects me from squirrels when I go back on the golf cart to feed and wa-ter the girls. I’m still hauling the water. So now it has come full circle.

The kids have left the nest and the chickens are in the nest. I’m retired and 65 and can now see the chickies at any given time. I even have a chicken/baby monitor set up from the coop to the kitchen! The only thing is, I figure eggs are costing about $85 each. And last week, my wife was baking, and we had to buy eggs!

I’ve never been so embarrassed.Eric Pasak

Ohio

Erik Pasak and his neighbor, Joe, stand next to the coop they built on their property in Ohio. The coop is 10-feet by 14-feet and includes a Wolmanized floor. It also has electricity. It houses 15 chickens, including 13 hens and two roosters, and is guarded by Willie the dachsund.

12 Backyard Poultry

Coming EvEnts:The Coming Events listing is gathered and provided by www.poultryshowcentral.com. Add your show listing on their website or send to: Coming Events, Backyard Poultry, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 or email [email protected]. To be included in the Backyard Poultry magazine listing, event details must be sent 60 days in advance. If you do not have access to website show listings, please contact us for show specifics at 800-551-5691.

ALABAMA

April 12, 2014, Clanton, Alabama : Alabama Bantam Club Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Alabama_Bantam_Club.html

ARKANSAS

April 5, 2014, El Dorado, Arkansas: South Central Regional Classic — South Arkansas Poultry Club; www.poultryshowcentral.com/South_Central_Re-gional_Classic.html

May 2-3, 2014, Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas Spring Poultry Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Arkansas_State_Fair.html

May 29-June 1, 2014, Versailles, Missouri: Jacob’s Cave Swapping Days; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Jacobs_Cave_Swapping_Days.html

CALIFORNIA

April 12, 2014, Ventura, California: Seaside Feather Fanciers Spring Fling; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Seaside_Feather_Fanciers.html

April 23-26, 2014, Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Fair

May 5-18, 2014, King City, California: Salinas Val-ley Fair; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Salinas_Val-ley_Fair.html

DELAWARE

April 5-6, 2014, Harrington, Delaware: Delmarva Poultry Fanciers Club; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Delmarva.html

ILLINOIS

April 6, 2014, Kankakee, Illinois: Tri-K Pigeon & Bantam Club Pigeon Fair; www.poultryshowcentral.com/TriK_Pigeon_Bantam_Fair.html

April 26, 2014, Medora, Illinois: Tri County Auction & Cafe; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Tri_County_Auc-tion_Cafe.html

May 4, 2014, Kankakee, Illinois: Tri-K Pigeon & Bantam Club Pigeon Fair; www.poultryshowcentral.com/TriK_Pigeon_Bantam_Fair.html

May 24, 2014, Medora, Illinois: Tri County Auction & Cafe; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Tri_County_Auc-tion_Cafe.html

INDIANA

April 12, 2014, Bloomington, Indiana: Gateway Poultry Association; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Gateway_Poultry.html

April 13, 2014, Knox, Indiana: Golden Horseshoe Saddle Club Swap Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Golden_Horseshoe_Saddle_Club_Swap.html

May 3, 2014, Kimmell, Indiana: Wolf’s Swap Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Wolfs_Swap_Meet.html

May 10, 2014, Columbus, Indiana: Feathered Friends Poultry Club; www.poultryshowcentral.com/

Feathered_Friends.html

May 11, 2014, Knox, Indiana: Golden Horseshoe Saddle Club Swap Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Golden_Horseshoe_Saddle_Club_Swap.html

IOWA

April 13, 2014, West Burlington, Iowa: Southeast Iowa Pigeon Club Buy-Sell-Trade Days; www.poul-tryshowcentral.com/Southeast_Iowa_Pigeon_Club.html

April 26-27, 2014, Grundy Center, Iowa: Grundy County Bird and Animal Swap; www.poultryshowcen-tral.com/Grundy_County_Bird_Animal_Swap.html

May 4, 2014, West Burlington, Iowa: Southeast Iowa Pigeon Club Buy-Sell-Trade Days; www.poultryshow-central.com/Southeast_Iowa_Pigeon_Club.html

May 10-11, 2014, Avoca, Iowa: United Poultry Fanci-ers Spring Double Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/United_Poultry_Fanciers.html

KANSAS

April 12-13, 2014, Hutchinson, Kansas: C.K.M.N. (Colorado/Kansas/Missouri/Nebraska) APA Semi-Annual Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Heart_of_America.html

KENTUCKY

April 5, 2014, Frankfort, Kentucky: Bluegrass Poultry Association Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Bluegrass_Poultry.html

May 17, 2014, Shelbyville, Kentucky: Kentuckiana Poultry Show — 67th annual; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Kentuckiana.html

LOUISIANA

April 11-12, 2014, Gramercy, Louisiana: Cajun Classic; www.poultryshowcentral.com/www.poul-tryshowcentral.com/Cajun_Serama_Classic.html

MAINE

May 25, 2014, Windsor, Maine: Central Maine Bird Fanciers Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Central_Maine.html

MICHIGAN

April 26, 2014, Imlay City, Michigan: Eastern MI Fairgrounds, Michigan Michigan Bird & Game Breeders Assoc.; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Michigan_Game_Breeders_Swap_Imlay.html

May 10, 2014, Alma, Michigan: Michigan Poultry Fanciers Fowl Fest; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Fowl_Fest_Spring.html

MISSOURI

April 3-6, 2014, Versailles, Missouri: Jacob’s Cave Swapping Days; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Jacobs_Cave_Swapping_Days.html

April 19, 2014, Sedalia, Missouri: Missouri State Poultry Assoc. Swap and Show; www.poultryshowcen-tral.com/Missouri_State_Poultry_Association.html

MONTANA

May 3, 2014, Hamilton, Montana: Rocky Mountain Poultry Association Spring Fling; www.poultryshow-central.com/Rocky_Mountain_Poultry.html

NEBRASKA

April 26-27, 2014, Scribner, Nebraska: Cornhusker Poultry Club; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Corn-husker_Poultry_Club.html

April 27, 2014, West Point, Nebraska: West Point Exotic Bird and Animal Auction; www.poultryshowcen-tral.com/West_Point_Exotic_Bird_and_Animal_Auc-tion.html

NEW JERSEY

April 26-27, 2014, Jackson, New Jersey: Ocean County 4-H Poultry Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Ocean_County_4-H_Poultry_Show.html

May 17, 2014, Augusta, New Jersey: Sussex Co. Poultry Fanciers; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Sus-sex_County_Poultry_Fanciers.html

NEW YORK

April 12, 2014, Otego, New York: Southwind Farms Bird & Small Animal Tailgate Sale & Swap Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Southwind_Farms_Bird_Swap.html

NORTH CAROLINA

April 12, 2014, Greensboro, North Carolina: Carolina Feather Fanciers Assoc. Spring Show — “Southern Hospitality Show”; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Carolina_Feather_Fanciers.html

OHIO

April 6, 2014, Eaton, Ohio: Dayton Fancy Feather Club Swap Days; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Day-ton_Fancy_Feather_Club_Swap_Days.html

April 11-13, 2014, Lucasville, Ohio: Southern Ohio Poultry Association Swap Meet; www.poultryshow-central.com/Southern_Ohio_Poultry_Associa-tion_Swap_Meet.html

April 26-27, 2014, Greenville, Ohio: Dayton Fancy Feather Club; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Day-ton_Fancy_Feather_Club.html

May 3, 2014, Bellefontaine, Ohio: Top of Ohio Poultry Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Top_of_Ohio.html

May 16-17, 2014, Mt. Hope, Ohio: Mid Ohio Swap Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Mid_Ohio_Swap.html

May 24-25, 2014, Lucasville, Ohio: Southern Ohio Poultry Association Spring Show; www.poultryshow-central.com/Southern_Ohio.html

OREGON

April 26, 2014, Canby, Oregon: Oregon Spring Poultry Swap; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Or-egon_Spring_Poultry_Swap.html


PENNSYLVANIA

April 5, 2014, Murray River, Prince Edward Island: Prince Edward Island Bantam & Pigeon Show

April 12-13, 2014, Dunbar, Pennsylvania: Union-town Poultry and Farm Products Association; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Uniontown_Poultry_As-sociation.html

May 3, 2014, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania: Central Pennsylvania Avian Club Auction; www.poultryshow-central.com/Central_Pennsylvania_Avian_Club_Auc-tion.html

May 4, 2014, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania: Central Pennsylvania Avian Club Show; www.poultryshow-central.com/Central_Pennsylvania_Avian_Club.html

May 17, 2014, Borden,-Carleton Prince Edward Island: Prince Edward Island Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Prince_Edward_Island_Spring_Show.html

May 18, 2014, Dunbar, Pennsylvania: Uniontown Poultry and farm Products Association; www.poul-tryshowcentral.com/Uniontown_Poultry_Associa-tion.html

RHODE ISLAND

May 18, 2014, Richmond, Rhode Island: Little Rhody Poultry Fanciers Annual Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Little_Rhody_Poultry_Fanci-ers.html

SOUTH CAROLINA

April 5, 2014, South Carolina: Pee Dee Poultry Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Pee_Dee_Poul-try_Show.html

TENNESSEE

April 12, 2014, Knoxville, Tennessee: Dixie Classic — Tennessee Valley Poultry Club; www.poultryshow-

central.com/Dixie_Classic.html

April 26, 2014, Dickson, Tennessee: Volunteer State Poultry Club Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Volunteer_State_Poultry.html

May 3, 2014, Newport, Tennessee: Something to Crow About Spring Poultry Show; www.poultryshow-central.com/Something_To_Crow_About.html

May 3, 2014, Woodbury, Tennessee: Miss Emily’s Poultry Swap Meet; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Woodbury_Poultry_Swap_Meet.html

TEXAS

May 31, 2014, Austin, Texas: Austin Bluebonnet Egg Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Austin_Bluebon-net_Egg_Show.html

VIRGINIA

April 12, 2014, Clearbrook, Virginia: Clearbrook “Chickenstock”; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Clear-brook_Chickenstock.html

May 3, 2014, Glen Allen, Virginia: Gilmanor Swap & Sale; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Gilmanor_Swap_Sale.html

WASHINGTON

April 10-13, 2014, Payallup, Washington: Payallup Spring Fair; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Payal-lup_Fair.html

April 12, 2014, Kennewick, Washington: Left-overs 4-H Poultry Club Show & Chick Days www.poultryshowcentral.com/Leftovers_4-H_Poultry_Club_Show.html

April 19-20, 2014, Stevenson, Washington: Pacific Northwest Poultry Association Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Pacific_Northwest_Poul-try_Association.html

May 3, 2014, Stevenson, Washington:Rockin’ Roosters Poultry Palooza; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Rockin_Roosters_Youth_Poultry_Show.html

May 31-June 1, 2014, Payallup, Washington: Wash-ington Poultry Exhibitors Invitational Spring Show; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Washington_Poul-try_Exhibitors_Invitational.html

WISCONSIN

April 12, 2014, Walworth, Wisconsin: Walworth County Fur and Feather Swap; www.poultryshowcen-tral.com/Walworth_County_Fur_Feather_Swap.html

May 10, 2014, Seymour, Wisconsin: Outagamie County 4-H Animal Swap; [email protected]

May 17, 2014, Neillsville, Wisconsin: Poultry Exchange — Wisconsin Animal Swap; www.poul-tryshowcentral.com/Poultry_Exchange-Wisconsin_Animal_Swap

CANADA

May 3, 2014, Windsor, Nova Scotia: Windsor Spring Fowl Fest & Windsor Buy Sell Trade Day; www.poultryshowcentral.com/Windsor_Spring_Fowl_Fest_Show.html

MO

DESTO MILLING

MO

DESTO MILLING

O R G A NIC FEE DO R G A NIC FEE D

14 Backyard Poultry

HElpful Hints:


Dressing for the Occasion

Olivia Dougherty, who lives in Delaware, Maryland, created her chicken costume for a con-

test, sponsored by Cooptastic, one of the nation’s premier educational confer-ences dedicated to small and backyard poultry flock. And each conference holds a chicken costume contest.

“It’s along the lines of the lamb- and sheep-dressing contests frequently held at 4-H shows,” said Brigid McCrea, PhD, associate professor at Delaware State University and extension poultry specialist who organizes and helps judge the conference’s contest.

“Audience loves it to pieces,” Mc-Crea continued. “Not only for the cre-ativity but also for the conversation. It provides an opportunity for people to converse with one another and to talk to other poultry people.”

For her entry in the contest, Dough-erty designed a “Superman” cape, com-plete with an egg logo. “I made it for my favorite chicken who is our biggest, white and black, ‘Supersize’ chicken.” Although her family no longer has

chickens, if she were to design a future costume, Dougherty thinks it would also have a superhero theme, along the lines of a Chicken Spiderman.

Dougherty does have goats and a pig and she admits to dressing them with col-lars, necklaces and little blankets. She has also dressed up her dog up as a lady bug and has put tiny shirts on her cat.

“It’s fun,” she says of the experience.

Holidays For some, the urge to dress a chicken

simply comes from a need. Kelly Nichols of Bloomville, New York, wanted to do a Facebook Christmas card, and decided what better subjects to use than a kid and her chicken? Nichols also works with a few of her hens to participate in agility challenges as well as hen therapy.

“It has been difficult,” said Nichols of the designing aspect. “I’ve tried a few dog outfits, but they just don’t fit right. I make our own costumes. We’re pretty lucky; we have a couple different hens that will be patient enough to let me pat-tern on them.”

Raise Awareness Some people, like Jennifer Pike, of

Florida, became inspired to dress their chickens on a whim. “I was shopping with my mom at a store and came across a cute teddy bear outfit. We started jok-ing about how people dress up dogs, and I said I was going to get it to put on my house chicken for a cute picture … and that started it all.”

Pike, who said she suffers from de-pression, also sees posting her chicken photos on Facebook as a way of bringing enjoyment to others, and has helped her connect with others who also use chick-ens as a means of coping.

“I liked posting funny pics of my chickens,” Pike said, “as raising chickens can be a heartbreaking hobby and many people who I chat with on forums. ... The cute pictures bring smiles to people and also get non-chicken people interested in how chickens can be neat pets.”

Throughout the years, Sophie’s out-fits for her favorite pet Silkie chicken have included: a pirate costume, a police officer, a cheerleader, a bride, a Santa suit

Have you noticed that a few chickens are looking rather dandy these days? It seems that more and more people are dressing up their chickens in cos-tumes and accessories, and while the motivations to do such a thing may vary — and even be questioned — in the end, it’s all about owners and pets having a good time together.

Pictured, page 14: Dress and photo by Holly Olejnik. Above, Leona Palumbo’s chicken, Kevin, helps out in the kitchen. Photo by Leona Palumbo. Right: Designer chicken attire by Julie Baker. Photo by Julie Baker.

By WEndy E.n. tHomas, nEW HampsHirE

16 Backyard Poultry

and a rain jacket. Pike has also had her chickens wear barrettes in topknots in shapes of bows or flowers along with a chicken diaper when they went to stores.

Everywhere Pike takes a dressed-up chicken, people can’t help but stop and ask questions. “Kids seemed very inter-ested as well as parents. They never knew

how diverse the looks of chickens could be or how sweet. Sophie traveled with me in my truck everywhere. She often rode in my lap, looking out the window glass or in a towel sitting in my seat console.”

Once, Sophie said, a lady at a drive-through got so scared of the chicken — “a little fluffy chicken with a hair barrett and

a flowered diaper” — that another lady had to hand her the food.

“Eventually she started asking ques-tions and became less afraid,” Sophie said.

Bring Joy Holly Olejnik from Huntington Mills,

Pennsylvania, first started dressing up her chicken, Cheep Cheep, four years ago for a Halloween contest on Facebook. “Ev-eryone loved her and went nuts on how well she took to being photographed.”

That was only the beginning. Cheep Cheep’s wardrobe is fairly small now with about 30 dresses.

“We donate all that she has worn to family and friends that have little ones on the way,” Olejnik says of Cheep Cheep’s dresses. “All the clothes that she wears are bought from thrift stores or yard sales. We shop in the children’s department or look for Halloween costumes that look fun. My grandmother Carolyn Gensel loves to go hunting for my next dress to post to Facebook. She carries a photo of me and shows off her grand-chicken to anyone wondering who the pretty dress is for.”

Cheep Cheep has quite the Facebook following from around the world. In fact, Olejnik says, “A lot of her friends, if they are in the area on vacation, ask if they can come meet her in person because she has brought so much joy and smiles into their life.”

Kevin with Santa. Photo by Leona Palumbo. Left: Dress and photo by Holly Olejnik.

Composite Fiberglass Coops

eggstremec ps.comby Fiberglass Specialties800-527-1459 Henderson, TX

light weight • easy cleannever rot • low maintenance

BYP_4.625x2.5_final.indd 1 2/19/2014 1:56:41 PM

18 Backyard Poultry

If you’re interested, Cheep Cheep’s Facebook fan page is “Cheep Cheep Olejnik,” and her regular profile page is “CeeCee Olejnik.”

Functional Attire Sometimes, chickens need functional

accessories like aprons (for protection against a rooster’s nails) and diapers (for, well, you know). Julie Baker, owner of Pampered Poultry (pamperyourpoultry.com) decided that if a chicken has to wear a piece of functional clothing, then it might as well look pretty. She has made designer chicken attire, including floral chicken diapers and has added ruffles to chicken aprons to make them look more like attractive summer dresses.

Plain Old Fashioned FunAnd then there is Kevin, the chicken

that just showed up in Leona Palumbo’s driveway one day.

“I never had chickens nor did I know much about them,” Leona said. “My husband found her in a tree next to our driveway and brought her in to me as a joke, and she fell instantly asleep on my lap and it was love at first sight from there. We put flyers up about her around the neighborhood, but never heard from anyone. It quickly became apparent that potty issues needed to be dealt with, so I did a quick search online on a lark for ‘chicken diapers,’ and lo and behold, several designs popped up. I picked out the one I thought would work and ordered it. It works great and she fit in at home inside with all of our other pets just fine.”

Then one day, she bought Kevin a Christmas sweater.

“To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why the heck I bought it and put it on her … I really don’t. I just did and it she was so calm and easy going about it that it just became a thing we did and took pictures of. … We try to do holidays and family events and just fun things. I keep her page completely free of hot-button topics and I am amused and pleased at the incredibly varied following she has acquired in a very short time.”

Most people think it is fun, says Pa-lumbo, but she has gotten some negative comments from animal activist types who think it is mean.

“But they just don’t know how loved and spoiled Kevin is. We never do any-thing that makes her uncomfortable and I swear, she even knows what’s going on as she sits so calmly, and once the picture is taken, she goes off again on her little way. Some other people have remarked that they can’t believe I let a chicken on my counters and furniture. Well, ‘That’s why there is soap and water in the world,’ I usually remark. Kevin is my pet, no different than my cats, dogs or other animals, and she is just as loved and welcome anywhere in my home.”

Kevin’s photos can be found on her Facebook page at “Kevin-The-Chicken.”

Wendy lives in New Hampshire. Reach her at [email protected], follow her on Twitter @WendyEN Thomas, and find her Facebook page at Wendy.Thomas.

A holiday chicken. Photo by Dead End Acres.

Call 1-800-624-4493

- Keeps Predators Out- All Weather Materials- No Rusting or Rotting- No Assembly required

Heavy DutyAutomatic Chicken

Coop Door

Standard: $225.00Solar: $375.00

8CHICKS/EGGS

MINIMUMORDER

1.800.328.6647PO Box 274 • Princeton MN 55371

FOLLOW US ON FACE BOOKwww.facebook.com/oakwoodgamefarm

www.oakwoodgamefarm.com

OAKWOODGAME FARM

Ringneck Pheasantand Chukar Partridge

Chicks & EggsHatching severalthousand chicks

each Monday Aprilthrough July.


Whether it be for a competition, holiday, or just for pleasure, many people enjoy putting clothing and accessories on their chickens in order to dress them up. If you are going to costume your chickens, advises Brigid McCrea, PhD, associate professor at Delaware

State University and extension poultry specialist, for the health and safety of your birds keep the following clothing guidelines in mind:

• Watch the weight of the costume, as chickens will get flustered if an outfit weighs them down. • Along with fabric weight, be careful to not use fabrics that will overheat the bird. Polar fleece

is a lightweight material but if worn for a long period, it may make your chicken too warm. • Chickens are naturally attracted to the color red and will peck at it; be careful of where red

is used in the bird’s costume.• Make sure that the chicken can move her wings and that the outfits do not in any way restrict

her wing movement. • If you are putting something around the chicken’s neck (necklace, bandana), make sure that

it is lightweight and does not hang down so low that the chicken could potentially trip over it. • Try not to use hats or head coverings. Chickens are prey animals, meaning they are constantly

on the lookout for predators who may be after them. A hat restricts vision and won’t be tolerated very long by any chicken.

• Be careful of beads and hanging decorations that the chicken may be tempted to try to eat them. Likewise, inspect the construction of the outfit to make sure that it does not have loose, dangly threads or that it might fall apart while the chicken is wearing it.

• Allow for waste to happen (because you know that with chickens it eventually will); either leave the back area open in a costume or prepare the chicken to wear a diaper.

• Lastly, make sure that the costumes are made from washable fabrics, and for bio-security reasons, wash them after each wearing in order to avoid possible contamination among chickens.

Chicken Clothing Safety TipsKevin, on her motorcycle. Photo by Leona Palumbo.

20 Backyard Poultry

The WhysThe beauty of owning standard bred chick-

ens is that you have a pure breed that will repro-duce offspring that have the same production abilities as their parents. In other words, you get predictable results. If the parents have red feathers and lay brown eggs, then the offspring will as well. If your hens lay lots of eggs, then their daughters will as well. Consis-tency is the key feature.

Also, your supply of chickens is not re-stricted to availability of stock and shipment, and is not subject to price increases. You can hatch as many or a few as you wish. Hatches can be planned to hatch when you want and as

frequently. All you need is an incubator or a broody hen so inclined when you need to set. The chicks hatched are never stressed because they are not shipped. Control of supply is the key feature.

And let us not forget the pride of having a quality flock that has been produced by your own efforts. Most flock keepers are proud of their chickens and the eggs they produce. All of us know

the feeling of pride we have around our flock of chickens, and the eggs they produce. Now imagine that feeling intensified when you know that you also produced that flock! Well-earned feeling of pride is the key feature.

A flock of purebred chickens of quality is a joy to see. Can you imagine what the offspring of these Light Brown Leghorns will look like? Photo by Don Schrider.

Produce Your OwnA Guide To Help You Start Breeding

By don sCHridEr

WEst virginia

Spring is here and some of you have the crazy idea to hatch your own chicks instead of purchasing them from a hatchery. Well, you are just my kind of people! I have some tips for you, but first let’s try to help everyone else understand why we might want to hatch our own birds.

HElpful Hints:


seems to know this. In other words, chickens are prey for many predators and need to reproduce at high levels in order for the flock to survive. In nature, many chickens hatch, but not all have the opportunity to reproduce — only the fittest. And so in our flocks we should follow nature’s example and breed from only the most-fit specimens. While 50 percent of day-old chicks are males, you need only one male for about every 10 females. In nature, the males compete for breeding rights through fighting, and only one rooster is “King” of the poultry yard and gets to breed with the hens. So in our flocks, we should carefully select what males we want to breed, and cull the rest. Nature teaches us to be willing to hatch plenty and cull down to the best males and females as breeders.

2. Our expectations for the results of our breeding efforts should be care-fully considered. Expectations might include productivity, egg size, shape or color, longevity, feather color or quality,

size, rate-of-growth, foraging ability, and even friendliness. We must understand what we expect out of the offspring and also understand that if we try to focus on too many things per year we will fail on all points. We should set expectations that are focused and achievable. Once our expectations are set, we can select from our flock the birds most likely to achieve improvement when used as breeders. Set achievable goals and plan to make progress over several years.

3. I set productivity as its own point for two reasons, even though it is really an expectation: First, most readers will want to focus on egg production. Second, for more than 150 years, people have focused most breeding decisions on productivity. Productivity is achieved and improved upon by culling unproductive individu-als, or lines, and selecting as breeders, productive individuals or lines. Success begets success. Certainly we want to choose from our best to make or keep high levels of productivity. But we must

Notice the wide backs of this trio of Buckeyes. You can bet that since all the breeders had wide backs, the offspring will have wide backs too. Intensify your good traits!

Let’s consider how we might do this for years to come. What knowledge do we need? What are the considerations that will guide our decisions?

Reproduction BasicsNow the basics of chicken reproduc-

tion are simple: As daylight increases, the hens start to lay eggs and the roosters become vigorous and breed with the hens. Once mating occurs, the first potentially fertile egg is laid about two to three days later. The hen will continue to lay fertile eggs for up to two weeks after being bred one time, but as long as the rooster is with the hens breeding will continue. Eggs should be collected before they become chilled, during early spring or late win-ter, and stored at a constant temperature — about 65 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. Eggs can be stored for several weeks, but you get your best results by storing for 10 to 14 days before setting. Once a hen is ready to set, or your incubator is up and running, the eggs will hatch 21 days after incubation is started. Chicks hatched in an incubator will need a brooder to keep them warm for six or more weeks.

Let’s assume you have experience raising chicks, incubating, etc., or that you have an excellent book that covers the topic. What I’d like to focus on now is looking a little broader than simply pro-ducing chicks one season. Let’s consider how we might do this for years to come. What knowledge do we need? What are the considerations that will guide our decisions?

The Four PointsIn managing the breeding of a flock,

you must balance productivity and your expectations with genetic diversity and the nature of chickens. These four points are pivotal to long-term success and can-not be disregarded. By keeping these in mind as you make decisions, you can have success over many generations of your flock.

1. The nature of a chicken is the most basic of the points, so let’s look at this first. Chicken reproduction is set so that many offspring may be hatched from a single pair. This is because chickens and eggs are delicious and everything

22 Backyard Poultry

understand that rate of lay is controlled by factors other than heredity as well — like husbandry, care during brood-ing and rearing, feed, health, and ample availability of clean drinking water. We must also understand that flock health and reproduction, over generations, will decline when selection reduces too far the genetic diversity within the flock.

4. Which brings us to point four: genetic diversity. While we want to con-trol which and how many of our birds are used for breeding, we also need to main-tain a certain level of diversity within the flock. If not, then all the chickens will be too identical in genetic information and deformities, resulting in a loss of repro-duction function and loss of productivity. So breeding, culling and selection must all allow for some diversity within the population for long-term success, which I would say is the only real success.

Putting the Points to WorkSo let’s put all this thinking into

practice. To follow our point about na-ture, we will select only healthy birds in prime condition. We will choose birds that display vigor — this often being indicated by being high in the pecking

order. From these we will hatch a goodly number of offspring.

To ensure productivity, we will select roosters whose mothers were productive hens. Hens will be selected that are pro-ductive themselves and in prime condi-tion, not too fat or too thin. We will use hands-on selection techniques to evaluate productivity: pelvic to keel bone spread, width between pelvic bones, thickness of pelvic bone tips (thinner is generally better). By breeding from our highest producers, we can ensure high levels of productivity.

But to meet the need for diversity, we

will use several females, and when pos-sible, more than one male. When we are able to make more than one mating, we will keep the best offspring of each mat-ing, and not just the best offspring of the best mating. Remember: Each, not best.

We will use a male for breeding for only one or two seasons, so over time a diversity of males are used. We will keep hens of different ages, so that several gen-erations are represented. If we can make two or more matings and keep track of the parentage of the offspring, we will. If not, we can work with one or more other poultry keepers in the area to trade hatching eggs or chicks. In these ways we can maintain diversity so that our flock is viable for generations.

Simple Breeding PlansThe simplest breeding plan is to begin

with one small flock of two to 10 hens and a rooster. The hens should be exam-ined to ensure that each is free of faults, healthy and productive. Cull any hen that is of poor quality or at least remove her from the breeding group. Hatch a batch of chicks.

You will need one pen to raise the young chickens in and one for the adults.

This rooster has grown into a great example of the best of his breed and has been carefully mated to one female as a pair mating.


again carefully choose the hens. He may be bred to his daughters. But if this is your only mating, use several hens and only a few daughters so that there is diversity in the offspring.

In year three, we should replace the male. We can use a son of the old male this season — and let’s say this is what we decide to do. For females, mate this young rooster to only the old hens, so that he is not mated to any of his sisters. We will use him only once and then keep his son to use for the next two years. This allows us to breed with one mating each year for five seasons without introducing new blood.

This is about as far I suggest we go within such a flock: five seasons with no new blood. Now we should trade eggs or chicks with someone else, or we get a completely new male from another flock; he could even come from our original source. We can now go up to another five years still with one flock.

In such a plan, be sure to either start working with other poultry keepers in your area, so you may eventually swap eggs or chicks, or have a plan about where to get your new blood, like re-ordering from a hatchery and buying a

new male from a known breeder, among others.

The Switcher-RooLastly, you can use two males. Since

males will fight, you might use your fa-vorite male early in the season and then rotate your backup male in with the hens and pen up your favorite male. This sec-ond male could even be a cockerel. Yes, when using a cockerel many females will be related closely to him. But by culling any small, unthrifty, or unproductive offspring you effectively negate any negative inbreeding.

So in this case we keep two roosters, pen one and mate from the other and then switch. We’d have to hatch twice, but leaving a two-week gap between batches ensures the young will still mature in time for fall.

The Two-StepAn alternative plan is to use one of the

two-step breeding plans. These require two matings per year, the offspring of each mating being identified, as with a toe punch, and the best of each mating’s offspring being retained as potential breeder birds. Again, remember: Each,

During breeding season you can take advantage of the rearing pen as a second breeding pen or use it to house flock members you do not breed. This second pen is extremely useful to long-term success.

Let’s say you choose to mate only one group of birds each year. Pick out your rooster. If you have only one, then you are done with this part. Now appraise your rooster’s strong points and weak points. Write down his strengths and weaknesses to give you a foundation of information about your line. Even take a few pictures of him.

As you move to the hen flock, choose hens that share your rooster’s strong points. Do not choose hens that share your rooster’s faults, as much as possible. By using hens strong where the rooster is weak you will have fewer offspring with those weak faults. By using more hens that share the rooster’s good points you will have more offspring with those good traits. Magnifying good traits and offsetting weaknesses are the two most powerful breeding techniques you can use for your ongoing success.

In year two, again choose your male. If you are using the same rooster, then

24 Backyard Poultry

Poultry:

not best. The simplest method is the Old Farmer Method. In this method you start with a flock in season one and hatch. In season two and following seasons, you mate the old rooster(s) to the young pul-lets and the young cockerel(s) to the old hens. Even though you pedigree from which pen each young bird was produced, you simply use the best of cockerel from either mating and the best pullets from both matings. (When keeping two cock-erels, keep the best male from each mat-ing.) After breeding season you combine the now old pullets with the hens, cull to the number of females you can keep, and consider them all hens for the next season. You do the same for the males.

While this sort of mating does cause some close breeding to happen, most relationships within the flock will have some genetic distance. By and large, this plan works best for a small operation that wishes to breed for many years without the introduction of new blood. Using 10

hens and 10 pullets each year, and one or more cocks and one or more cockerels, you can go for decades without worrying that relationships are too close.

An alternative to the Old Farmer Method is Phone-a-Friend — okay, I just made that name up. But seriously, work-ing with someone else who has a flock of the same breed near you is a great way to double your genetic diversity. The two of you could choose to swap hatching eggs or chicks each season — or even just once every four of five years. There is actually more advantage on swap-ping less frequently, as it allows the two flocks to genetically “drift” apart so that they do not become too similar. Or you could each get a new rooster from the other every now and then. Cooperation effectively doubles the genetic diversity available to you.

A third “two-step” method would be to mate two matings each year, but keep them genetically distinct — each

would be its own family. Let’s call the families “blue” and “red” for band colors we might use to identify members. Each season the offspring are identified with the color family from which their mother is a member.

Mate each family for several years using a blue male on blue females and red on red. You could choose to use an old male for two or so years and then breed from his son for two or so years. But in year four or five, you would use a red male over the blue hens and a blue male over the red hens. The following year you could repeat the mating and add a few daughters.

Then, the third year after the swap, use a cockerel from the blue hens back onto them. Essentially, every five years or so you swap the males from one family to the other. It is a good method to produce quality, but its diversity is a bit limited.

Other MethodsThere are many other breeding meth-

ods. Spiral breeding uses three or more families and is a great tool for maintain-ing diversity for decades, even hundreds of years. Many hatcheries use flock mat-ings of 20 males and 200 females; such a group allows for decades of reproduction but little improvement in the quality of the stock. Most people who show poultry will mate five to eight different matings, each with one to five females. Such matings allow a high focus on matching the right male to the right female(s) and keeps up diversity by using large numbers of males and a good number of females.

ConclusionThe best breeding advice I have ever

heard is that from an old Barred Plymouth Rock breeder, Ralph Sturgeon, “Start where you are with what you have.” Keep the rest of my suggestions in mind, but just go out there and start. You will be glad you did.

Text copyright Don Schrider 2014. All rights reserved. Don Schrider is a na-tionally recognized poultry breeder and expert. He has written for publications such as Backyard Poultry, Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Mother Earth News, Poultry Press, and the newsletter and poultry resources of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. He is the author of the third edition of Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys.

You can manage a small breeding group of chickens by simply starting with what you have. These Buff Orpingtons are productive but lack the size and quality of good show stock. With careful breeding, this flock can be easily improved.

It takes some careful observation to choose the best one or two males from a good group of young cockerels. Photos by Don Schrider.

26 Backyard Poultry

HElpful Hints:

Treating EggsA Careful Three-Step Process Can Help Your New Flock Start a Healthier Life

Eliminating Mycoplasma from your flock does take quite a bit of effort, and you will need will-power to maintain a closed flock to keep your

birds clean. The rewards are great: happy, healthy birds and maximized performance, whether it be for meat or egg production.

In the last edition, I discussed options for dealing with chronic respiratory disease (CRD) due to Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG). One method called for starting over with MG-free stock, but that can be difficult to obtain, es-pecially if you like to work with rare breeds and rare color varieties of breeds, but there are two approaches to try.

One approach is to collect hatching eggs from your existing stock, depopulate, and then repopulate with the chicks that you hatch.

The three-week incubation period, plus brooding time, is long enough for you to thoroughly clean out your coop and run and give your facility a rest, as MG cannot survive off its host for more than a few days. If your run is dirt, this is a good time to rototill and seed with a pasture mix that contains clover.

The other approach would be to purchase hatching eggs. Under either approach, you must treat the eggs if you are unable to find MG-free stock in the breeds you want. Treatment also allow you to bring in new blood or new breeds down the road, without the risk of reintroducing MG to your clean flock.

There are a couple things to consider when treating your eggs. For one, you may experience a small decrease in the hatch rate. I compared hatch results between treated and non-treated eggs for numerous hatches, and was sur-prised to see a less than 10 percent drop in the hatch rate after the treatment we prescribe below. Still, it’s better than losing your whole flock due to the spread of disease.

Also remember that if you are using eggs you re-ceived through the mail, you will likely have poor hatch rates to begin with, as the process of shipping hatching eggs reduces the hatch rate no matter how well they are packed. Due to this fact, do not assume a low hatch rate from shipped eggs is just a result of the treatment process alone. I can assure you it is not.

William Morrow raises rare breeds of poultry at Whitmore Farm in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Learn more at www.whitmorefarm.com.

By William morroW

WHitmorE farm, maryland

The egg treatment described in this section can be used to treat any type of egg: chicken, turkey, peafowl, ducks, pigeons, etc. It will also treat for Mycoplasma synovaie (MS) and Mycoplasma meleagridis (MM). MS infects the synovial tissue surrounding joints and causes swollen hocks and lameness in chickens and turkeys. MM causes reduced hatch rates, high mortality in young poults, and neck and leg deformities in turkeys. The most common antibiotics used to treat Mycoplasma are Tylan, LS-50, gentamycin and oxytetracycline. Make sure you purchase the water-soluble powder form to use in drinking water. All of these antibiotics are available in different forms depending on how they are to be administered. Follow the dosage instructions for poultry provided on the label if you are treating the

parent flock and collecting your own hatching eggs.

THE FINE PRINT


Step 1: Prepare Your Flock for Egg CollectionIf you are collecting eggs from your own flock for hatching to salvage a

particular bloodline, it is best to treat the flock with an antibiotic in the drink-ing water shortly before and during the time period you are collecting eggs. This reduces the amount of shedding in your carriers and reduces vertical transmission through the eggs. I like to start the antibiotic one week before I start collecting hatching eggs and keep them on the antibiotic until I am done collecting hatching eggs.

After one week of treatment, start collecting hatching eggs.

Step 2: Sanitize Your Eggs After CollectionOnce you have your hatching eggs collected, or if you purchased hatching

eggs, you are ready to treat them. I know there are a lot of different theories out there on how to prepare eggs for incubation, but I can tell you as the owner of a hatchery, that you need to carefully wash, rinse and sanitize any soiled eggs, even if they are just lightly soiled. We use a lukewarm soapy solution. Dish soap is fine. We use Tek-Trol to sanitize the eggs, although you can also use a bleach solution (2 teaspoons per gallon of water). The advantage of Tek-Trol is that it leaves a sanitizing film on the egg that lasts longer than bleach, which is also very volatile.

It is best to wash, rinse and sanitize your eggs the same day you collect them. The longer you leave them soiled, the more bacteria enter and contami-nate inside the egg. Eggs that are vis-ibly clean when collected do not need to be washed, but they still need to be sanitized.

At the end of seven to 10 days, after you have accumulated all the eggs you want to hatch, you are ready to treat and set the eggs. Many experts say 10 days is the outside limit of how long to hold hatching eggs before setting, but I’ve found that you get better results using seven days as your outside limit.

Step 3: The Treatment Process• Completely dry the hatching eggs. • Prepare a container. You will need a

clean plastic container that is large enough to hold the number of eggs you want to treat and the antibiotic solution to cover the eggs by 3 to 4 inches. A large rectangular Tupperware container works fine, as long as it also fits in your refrigerator.

• Mix up the solution: use 2 to 4 gallons of Tylan at 4 grams per gallon of water, or if you are using gentamycin, use 2 grams per gallon of water. Tylan, even the water-soluble powder form, is notoriously difficult to dissolve in water. The best way to get it into solution is to place the measured amount in a large cup and add a small amount of wa-ter to it. Stir it vigorously until it dissolves, then add some more water and stir again. The powder should be completely dissolved in your cup before you mix the contents of the cup with the rest of the water in your plastic container. Remember, your eggs will take up volume in your plastic container, so don’t overfill it with antibiotic solution or it will overflow when you add the eggs.

• Set the antibiotic solution in the con-tainer in the refrigerator. The solution will be ready to receive the eggs once the liquid has cooled to the temperature of the refrigerator. I like to make up the solution in the morning and treat the eggs at the end of the day.

• Meanwhile, pre-warm the hatching eggs in an incubator for two to six hours. The exact time isn’t important. You want to get the eggs up to incubation temperature (37.8 C/100 F).

• Then place the eggs in the antibiotic solution in your refrigerator for 15 minutes. The eggs will sink to the bottom (hopefully) because they are fresh. Only old, stale eggs float in water. Heating the eggs causes the contents to swell and expand. The cold antibiotic bath causes the contents of the egg to shrink and pull in the antibiotic solu-tion through the pores of the shell. (I admit there have been times I got distracted and left them in the antibiotic bath for 30 to 45 minutes without an appreciable difference in the hatch rate, but I still wouldn’t recom-mend it).

• After 15 minutes, place the eggs back in the incubator for hatching. No need to dry the eggs off. The incubator will dry them and you want the antibiotic residue to remain on the shell. The antibiotic solution can be reused and is good in the refrigerator for up to three days if you have multiple batches of eggs to treat.

Carriers: Adult birds that carry the Mycoplasma disease but don’t show symptoms. This is why Mycoplasma is so insidious. Carriers can also “shed” the disease, causing organisms in their eggs, feces and saliva.Horizontal transmission: Disease-causing organisms being passed from bird to bird within a flock, usually through sharing waterers and feeders and close physical contact. All it takes is one chick to hatch out in your brooder, and then horizontal transmission occurs, infecting the rest of your chicks and flock.Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG): A disease that causes chronic respiratory disease, and can often be mistaken for your chicken having a “cold”.Vertical transmission: Disease-causing organisms that are passed down through the eggs. MG has a vertical transmission rate of around 1 to 5 percent. That means for every 100 eggs you hatch, anywhere from one to five chicks will be a carrier for the disease.

28 Backyard Poultry

FINAL/PRESSJob#: 13721-21Name: Nutrena Chick Days Full-Page AdClient: CargillPublication: Backyard PoultrySpecs: 8 1/4” x 10 7/8” with Bleed, CMYK

Sweepstakes prizes awarded weekly. Grand prize includes a new coop!

SO MANY CHICKS TO CHOOSE.

Looking for the proprietary blend of ingredients in NatureWise® feeds, including probiotics and yeast for healthy digestion?

Seeking the solid nutrition in Country Feeds® products?

There’s no wrong choice. Each bag of Nutrena® poultry feeds delivers what your flock needs to flourish.

AND NUTRENA® FEEDS HELP THEM ALL GROW UP STRONG.

©2014 Cargill, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

Sweepstakes runs March 1–April 30, 2014.

For Catherine Gleason of Lucas, Texas, something was missing at the poul-try shows around Fort Worth and Dallas. While they had huge selections of birds and all types of animals, they were lacking one component — eggs.

So instead of complaining, she got right to work, organizing the first Fantastic Family Fun Egg Show in 2012, and this year, readying for their third competi-tion. “We need ways to bring kids into the world of egg-lay-ing,” Gleason said. “When I was young, and we hatched them at school, I thought it was the neatest thing in the world.” So, what goes into an egg show? Gleason explained the basics to Backyard Poultry, so we thought we’d share:

• Eggs are supplied to the judges three at a time (some contests ask for more) into a category. Categories can range from color to size to type of animal. Gleason has nine different categories, and is adding a 10th this year.

•Judges in the external competitions look to see if all the submitted eggs are free of imperfections, and are of similar shape and size. Simply put, Gleason says, “Judges want consistency.”

• Eggs judged for their content will be broken open, with judges looking immedi-ately at the color of the yolk and the clarity of the white. Judges look at hundreds of eggs a day, so standing out can be difficult, Gelason says.

What’s an Egg Contest?A photo of the Fantastic Family Fun Egg Show, courtesy of Catherine Gleason.

HElpful Hints:


FINAL/PRESSJob#: 13721-21Name: Nutrena Chick Days Full-Page AdClient: CargillPublication: Backyard PoultrySpecs: 8 1/4” x 10 7/8” with Bleed, CMYK

Sweepstakes prizes awarded weekly. Grand prize includes a new coop!

SO MANY CHICKS TO CHOOSE.

Looking for the proprietary blend of ingredients in NatureWise® feeds, including probiotics and yeast for healthy digestion?

Seeking the solid nutrition in Country Feeds® products?

There’s no wrong choice. Each bag of Nutrena® poultry feeds delivers what your flock needs to flourish.

AND NUTRENA® FEEDS HELP THEM ALL GROW UP STRONG.

©2014 Cargill, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

Sweepstakes runs March 1–April 30, 2014.

30 Backyard Poultry

Could Your Photo Be On the Next Cover?

Tips to Make YourPhoto a Winner

Beauty: Photos should be just plain pretty enough to be placed on the

cover. Think vertical with some space on top for a masthead. Many otherwise perfect photos are taken in a way that makes it impossible to display them in the position of honor on the front cover of the magazine. If we won’t be able to do it justice, the judges will avoid awarding it first place.

• Clarity: The judges will be scrutiniz-ing this aspect thoroughly and will only award first place to clear photos that can be enlarged to cover size without loss of clarity.

• Conciseness: Photos are better if there isn’t too much clutter or aren’t too many things going on.

• Good photos tell a story.

Fami ly albumApril/May 2014

Backyard PoultryBackyard PoultryApril/May 2014Photo Contest

WinnerThe April/May 2014 cover winner

was submitted by Angela Ardolino, Fire Flake Farm, Lutz, Florida. Angela says, “Being kissed is Khal, a chinese goose, and he’s surrounded by his Chinese geese (white and brown) and Pekin ducks brothers and sisters.” Photo taken by Nicole Geller.

Penny’s big egg.—Brandi Tait, Alabama

My son built this chicken house for me.—Lillie Peda, Washington

Mother got all her babies up on the roost for the night.—Barb Eagan, Wisconsin


Send Your Photo(s) Today! Photo Contest GuidelinesEach issue’s winner will be displayed in the position of honor—on the front cover of the magazine!

Photos must relate in some way to poultry or their products. No limit on number of entries. Attach your name, address, phone number or e-mail and photo caption or description to each photo (not on the front, please).

Backyard Poultry retains the right to publish and/or reproduce any and all photos submitted in future issues or publicity, with or without mention of source.

To have your photos returned, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope.Each issue’s winning entry will be placed in a gallery of finalists, to be announced annually in the February/

March issue. First prize—$50; 2nd prize—$30; 3rd prize—$20.Send your entry to: Backyard Poultry Photo Contest, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451; or e-mail photos

in jpg format to [email protected].

My husband, Bill Barrett, took this photo of our 2-1/2 week old chicks. I call it, “Check the themometer.” I love the story this photo tells!—Judith Barrett, Florida

My granddaughter, Janey, loves her chickens. This is her second set of chicks to raise.—Beth Mueller, Loui-siana

I caught Jess, one of my golden comets, out enjoying some late winter sun with my big rottweiler, Repo.—Dawn Manion, North Carolina

This is Pretty Boy Floyd. He is the nicest rooster we have ever had. We are happy we have him. He is so pretty, hence his name!—Chris Peterson, Ohio

32 Backyard Poultry

Backyard Poultry BookstoreFor a complete listing of all books available from the Backyard Poultry Bookstore, visit our website at www.backyardpoultrymag.com. If you do not have Internet access, write to: Bookstore Catalog Request, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 or call 1-800-551-5691.

My Pet Chicken HandbookSensible Advice and Savvy Answers

for Raising Backyard Chickens

The backyard chicken is the new “it” pet—and with good reason: These birds are personable, beauti-ful, and (mostly) low maintenance. But they’re not without their quirks and sometimes puzzling behav-iors. That’s where the experts at MyPetChicken.com have a beak up on the competition—they hear from chicken keepers daily and offer ad-

vice about common mistakes and pitfalls that occur when raising a flock of chickens in the backyard. The handbook helps potential chicken owners decide whether chicken keeping is right for them, how to make the best choices for their situations, how to start planning for the new pets, and—most importantly—how to head off potential trouble before the chicks arrive. Detailed care instructions for baby chicks and mature hens help to ensure a friendly and enjoyable flock. Then the joy of chicken keeping comes full “ovoid” with 50 recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, featuring the incredible and versatile egg, from homemade egg noodles and sesame mayonnaise to a vegetable frittata and caramel custard. 246 pages, $17.99

By lissa lucas & traci torres

the exPerts at my Pet chicken

From the cities to the suburbs, backyards are filled with the sounds of clucking like never before as more people invest in having a closer connection to the food they eat and discover the rewards (and challenges) of raising chickens and cultivating their own fresh eggs. Whether you’ve embraced the local food movement or just love

that farm-fresh flavor, The Farmstead Egg Guide and Cook-book is the perfect book for you and your flock. Inside, you’ll find expert advice on caring for your chickens, along with 100 delicious and diverse recipes. You’ll notice a difference in your scrambled eggs, omelets, and quiches, as well as in savory and sweet soufflés, tarts, puddings, and pies. This book will inspire you so that you to have the freshest and best eggs on your table and, if you’re game, the experience of keeping hens in your backyard. 192 pages, $19.99

The Farmstead Egg Guide & Cookbook

By terry Blonder Golson

No matter where you live, you can have farmstead fresh eggs!

Butchering Beef

Beef cattle are large animals, requiring significant land and ex-pense. Humane slaughtering and efficient butchering will give you the best return on the cattle you process, and Adam Danforth’s comprehensive manual guides you through every step. Adam will help you: Be well-prepared for slaughtering day; Get the cuts you want from each primal; Pack-

age and freeze your meat to preserve quality, appearance, and freshness; and much more using detailed, step-by-step full-color photography of every stage of the process. 342 pages, $24.95

The Comprehensive Photographic Guide to Humane Slaughtering and Butchering

By adam danForth

Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat and Pork

The Comprehensive Photographic Guide to Humane Slaughtering and Butchering

By adam danForth

Locally raised animals, humanely slaughtered and expertly butch-ered—that is the best meat we can eat. With Adam Danforth’s full-color comprehensive manual, you can learn the skills necessary to take an animal calmly and ef-ficiently from pasture to freezer. Every step of the slaughtering pro-cess—from selecting the proper equipment to preparing, stunning,

and bleeding the animals—is presented with careful consid-eration for the animals’ well-being and your safety. Includes scrupulous attention to sanitation and detailed instructions for packaging and freezing your meat for the best quality, appearance, and freshness ensuring that the animals you process will nourish and satisfy everyone they feed. 446 pages, $24.95

NEW! • NEW! • NEW! • NEW! • NEW! • NEW! • NEW! • NEW! • NEW!


Backyard Poultry Bookstore145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451

Call Toll-Free 800-551-5691 or Fax 715-785-7414www.backyardpoultrymag.com

If you prefer not to cut your magazine, please write your order on another piece of paper.

Book(s) Total $_____________

Hat(s) Total $_____________

S&H $4 first item$1 each add'l item $_____________

Subtotal $_____________

WI Residents Add 5.5% sales tax $_____________ Total Enclosed $_____________

Books:

Backyard Poultry Order Form

Phone: _________________________________________________

Visa/MC/AmEx/Disc No._______________________Exp._________

E-mail _________________________________________________

Name: _________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________

City:______________________State:_________Zip:_____________

Check Enclosedm m Charge my credit card:

BYP Hat(s): ________ Pink Quantity + ________ Blue Quantity x $14.00 =

If you want to incubate, hatch, and brood chicks yourself, rather than buy-ing them from a hatchery, this is the guide you need. Poultry authority Gail Damerow explains exactly how to hatch healthy baby chickens, ducklings, gos-lings, turkey poults, and guinea keets, addressing everything from selecting a breed and choosing the best incubator to ensuring proper set-up and sanitary

conditions, understanding embryo development, and feeding and caring for newborn chicks in a brooder. 240 pages, $24.95

Hatching & Brooding Your Own ChicksChickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guinea Fowl

Gail damerow

Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape, and chicken lovers often shy away from gardening for the same reason. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too! Fresh eggs aren’t the only benefit—chickens can actually help your garden grow and thrive. In this es-sential handbook everything a gardener needs to know is covered, including chicken-keeping basics, simple garden plans to get you started, tips on attractive fenc-ing options, the best plants and plants to avoid, and step-by-step instructions for getting your chicken garden up and running. 218 pages, $19.95

Free-Range Chicken GardensHow to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard

Jessi Bloom

Chicken Tractorandy lee and Patricia Foreman

This is the book that tells you how to inte-grate small flocks of poultry in with fam-ily food production. Learn how you can: • Raise homestead flocks for eggs, meat and money. • Use chickens to create super-rich soils that enable hyper-productive gardens.

• Easily, step-by-step, process poultry at home. • Build custom chicken tractors for your homestead. • Make a straw bale coop for your flock. • Understand how to select, buy and raise the best chickens for your goals. Chicken Tractor is a revolution-ary, practical, hands-on book that has helped tens of thousands of gardeners create better gardens. It has changed the lives of millions of chickens all across the planet. 312 pages, $19.95

Embroidered text, 100% polyester, adjustable strap with

velcro closure, with a medium profile and pre-curved visor.

Available in navy blue or pink, one size fits all.

“Have You Hugged Your CHICKEN Today?”

Backyard Poultry Baseball Caps

Only $14 each!See below for order form.

34 Backyard Poultry

ron KEan, ExtEnsion poultry spECialist, univErsity of WisConsin-madison

tHE ansWEr manhealth:

If you have health-related poultry questions, send them

to us at Backyard Poultry, Attn: Answer Man, 145 Indus-

trial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 or email to [email protected]. All submissions will be consid-

ered for publication, and we will try to include your ques-

tion in an upcoming issue. Please include your name and

hometown with your ques-tions. Pictures help us answer

questions, so please include those too whenever possible.

Need Answers?

Treating EggsIn the February/March 2014 Back-

yard Poultry issue, one of William Mor-row’s recommendations for eradicating Chronic Respiratory Disease is to treat unhatched eggs with antibiotics prior to setting. How does one go about treating the eggs? Do you spray on an antibiotic? Do you use the same strength that one would use for live birds? I keep a small flock: 15 to 20 Barred Rocks and Arauca-nas. As far as I know, none are infected, but just in case this develops, I would like to know.

Susan GwathmeyVirginia

Hi Susan,This is a great question, and makes

for a great lesson in biology!The organism that causes chronic

respiratory disease is Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG). Mycoplasmas are capable of both vertical and horizontal transmission, that is they can be spread from bird to bird (horizontal) but also can spread from the hen to the chick through the egg (vertical). Because of this, even if you use all-in, all-out husbandry, MG can still be a problem if you hatch re-placements from eggs from your old flock. Because chicks can be infected at hatch, they can also spread it to other chicks hatching in the same incubator.

A method was therefore developed to treat the eggs before incubation. As you likely know, it is a rule of thumb to always wash eggs in water that is warmer than the egg. This is because there are pores in the shell of the egg, and because the in-ternal egg contents will expand when they get warmer and contract when they get colder. If you wash the egg in cold water, the internal contents will contract and ef-fectively pull contaminants in through the pores of the shell. Using warmer water will not cause this, and might help push contaminants out of the pores.

The dipping treatment uses this phenomenon in reverse. In this case, the eggs are purposefully submerged in a

cold solution, so the solution is pulled into the eggs through the pores. Some commercial hatcheries have also used pressure gradients, but a temperature gradient requires less equipment.

I would add a couple of cautions:1) This will likely decrease hatch-

ability somewhat. Some of the embryos will be killed by the treatment.

2) It may take a couple of generations to completely clean up the flock. Ideally, you’d blood test the birds and remove any from the breeding flock if they test posi-tive. This will add a considerable amount of labor and expense, however.

One treatment method I saw in some older papers was as follows:

Eggs were incubated at 100 degrees F (approximately regular incubator tem-perature) for 2 hours. A 400-ppm Tylosin tartrate solution was prepared and kept at 39 degrees F (ice water temperature). Another paper used 715 ppm Tylosin tartrate. Prewarmed eggs were dipped in this cold solution for 10 minutes (or slightly longer). Eggs were then incu-bated normally until hatch.

I hope that all makes sense! And, I hope you don’t ever have to use it!

Editor’s Note: In case you missed it, William

Morrow addresses this question in detail in this edition on pages 26-27.

Frostbite IssuesBirds seem to have frostbite on their

combs. They go inside at night. What can I do?

Allen Rogers Massachusetts

Hi Allen,While it seems counter-intuitive, you

may need to increase ventilation.Even though this can lower the

temperature, it is important to remove excess moisture, which also has a part in causing frostbite. If the coop is steamy in the morning, or if you are seeing frost on the walls, ceiling, etc., or if you smell ammonia in the coop, you probably need


to ventilate more. These are all signs that there is excess moisture in the coop.

If you don’t think moisture is a prob-lem, then it’s a little more difficult.

Some people have had luck with ap-plying a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the comb before the chickens go to roost. This is especially helpful if you are go-ing to have just a few nights of cold, or if you just have a couple of birds that are at risk. Generally, hens won’t have a lot of frostbite, but the roosters have more problems. They have larger combs and wattles and tend to keep their head out at night, while the hens will tuck their head under their wing.

Occasionally, the type of waterer can have an effect, if the chickens dip their combs or wattles into the water while drinking. This can increase the incidence and severity of frostbite. If that is a con-cern, changing to a different watering system will be helpful.

Providing heat is another option, if you are willing and able to do that. It doesn’t have to be “tropical” in the coop, but a little bit of added heat can help.

In the long run, switching to a breed or variety that has smaller combs and wattles can be a solution, too.

Hopefully, one or more of these ideas will help.

Editor’s Note: First, we hope most of you are out of winter, but we know it continues for some. We’re feeling for you. Think warm thoughts. Anyway, we needed to add one point about heating the coop: Be careful. We know it may seem like common sense, but portable heaters and heat lamps can be dangerous, and we had a rash of coop fires around the country last winter, so if you decide to heat your coop, make sure any electricity can’t be pecked at, and any sort of heat source is away from hay, loose bedding or any sort of combustible fuel.

They Stopped Laying

I have kept chickens for at least 15 years, and have never seen this. My flock molted in November and grew their new feathers. They look sleek and are in excel-lent shape. They kept laying through the darkest days of winter. Then around Janu-ary 7, they quit. Not a single egg for two weeks. As far as I know, they have not experienced any big scare or any other disturbance, and are as calm as can be. They have no evidence of illness. Their coop has plenty of dry bedding, and they have nice nest boxes. They have fresh pellets and fresh, unfrozen water. They

GQF MANUFACTURING CO.PO BOX 1552

SAVANNAH, GA 31402 USA

visit GQFmfg.com

Incubators, Brooders, Cages & Supplies

Quality, Utility, and Performance at a Reasonable Price

36 Backyard Poultry

are 2.5 years old. Any ideas?Christopher Fitch

Hi Christopher,That does seem a bit unusual! I think

there are a few possibilities. First, I guess I’d check to see if they

are laying and you are just not getting the eggs. Is it possible that they have found a new place to nest? Might something be eating the eggs? Might the chickens be eating the eggs themselves?

I would look for remnants of shells in the nests or bits of yellow stuck on their feathers. If the shell quality has become poor, this can cause broken eggs, and then the chickens will often eat them.

Next, handling the hens can also be helpful. If you feel around their vent area, you can feel two bones (the pubic bones). If these are tight together and feel sharp, the hen is not laying. If they are spread apart (a couple of fingers’ width would be common) and feel somewhat soft, the hens are likely laying. You can also get some idea from the redness and condition of their combs.

Assuming that they are not in pro-duction, there are some fairly common possible causes. Light (day length, more specifically) is important.

Chickens are long-day breeders, so they will usually stop laying eggs when the days get short. It seems unusual that they would have gone so long and then stopped now, however. Age of the hen can have some effect here, too, since new pul-lets often lay even in short days. If your hens are on natural light, I would expect them to start laying again as the days get longer in the spring.

Temperature also has an effect. I’m not sure where you live, but around here it has been miserably cold. Just keeping enough energy in the birds to keep them warm is difficult, so many hens (in small flocks) have stopped laying.

If the hens were without water for a day or so, this will often stop production. They will often molt before starting to lay again.

From there, I would look at changes in the feed. If the stoppage coincided with a new bag of feed, I’d suspect something might have been left out in the diet, or the feed might be old, etc. This is not so common, but it’s a possibility. If you think this might be the problem, you could try a new bag of feed and see if that makes a difference.

CountrysideOrganicsCOC

O COCO

Certified Organic, Soy-Free Feeds • Animal Health ProductsOMRI Approved Organic Gardening and Farming Products • Good Stuff

801 2nd Street, Waynesboro, VA 22980 • Nationwide Shipping

Soy-Free, Organic Feeds. And More.We make a great soy-free, certified organic chicken feed. But that’s not all we do. We also have essential organic ingredients for your garden, pasture and orchard. Want more great organics? Please visit our website. Or give us a call. We welcome your questions. We work hard every day to bring you the best in organics.

Please visit our online store at www.countrysideorganics.com or call 888-699-7088


As you mentioned, disease is a pos-sibility. Since you said there are no noticeable signs, I’m not sure that’s the most likely, but it’s a possibility. I’d sug-gest you continue to monitor them for any signs.

If none of these things seem to fit, then I’m not sure. An old-timer once told me to walk through the coop with a hatchet, and that would get them laying again. I don’t think there was much research behind that, but you could give it a try!

Hen in DistressI’ve not bothered you for a long time

now. However, I have an 18-month-old Rhode Island Red that seems to be in distress. We have 33 hens and two com-patible roosters. I don’t always see them all when feed, water and egg-gathering time comes.

This hen was walking in a crouched position when I saw her. I brought her into the house to the bathtub to wash dried poop. When I picked her up, I noticed she was unusually heavy, which accounted for the crouched walking. After cleaning her back side, I’ve done the following (not knowing exactly what to do): With a blue bulb syringe filled four times with warm water, I gave her an enema. A little water came back but nothing of note. After a while, I decided to mix a little Epson salts and water and dropper feed some to her. Of course, she didn’t like that. As a child, I remember my grandmother doing a one-day salts drinking water in the spring to clean her hens out. Still nothing. She eats well and I made sure her food contained water to offset the salts.

Now, tomorrow morning, I am think-ing I might use my rubber-gloved finger and insert it into her vent, which seems to be small. I talked with two of my poultry friends. One said a friend of hers had a duck that became impacted with eggs and died. She is content to be in a box in the bathtub, so I’ll continue working with her. I’m anxious to have an answer from you at your earliest convenience.

In the seven years I’ve been read-ing BYP magazine, I’ve not read of this problem.

Isabel McFadden

Hi Isabel,I would guess that you might be right

that your hen has a mass of eggs. When things are functioning correctly, the yolk

®EggCartons.comYour eggs deserve the very best!

Visit Us Onlinewww.EggCartons.com

or Call1-888-852-5340

➤ Easy Installation ➤ Stops Predators From Getting Inside➤ Patent Pending “Screw-Drive” Design➤ Stay Out Late Or Sleep In, No Worries➤ Door Opens/Closes Automagically

®

SAVE YOUR HENS!

DOOR PoultryyP™

www.FallHarvestProducts.com

BEST PROTECTION

The

TheIncredible

The Incredible Poultry Door™

➤ Sleep at night knowing your chickens are SAFE. Sleep in late, your door opens at dawn

➤ No strings, cables or traction ➤ Raccoon-proof screw drive design➤ Stops predators from getting inside➤ Super easy installation, no kit!

➤ Self tests, reverses automatically upon jamming➤ Door opens/closes AutoMagically™

ONLY$299.95

38 Backyard Poultry

of an egg is released from the ovary and is picked up by the oviduct. It then passes down the oviduct and whites, membranes, and shell are all added. The hen then expels the egg.

If the yolk doesn’t get into the oviduct, it falls to the bottom of the abdomen and will slowly be reabsorbed by the body. If this happens day after day, the yolks continue to pile up. Eventually, the hen generally gets an infection (called peri-tonitis) from this mass of eggs. These hens are called internal layers, and this may be what is happening with your hen.

In a few cases, whole eggs, or shell-less eggs can be pushed out of the oviduct and a similar thing happens, so this could be a possibility.

If one of these things is the cause, I’m not sure the prognosis is great. You might give a broad-spectrum antibiotic to treat the infection. It is best to try to stop her from producing more eggs, which just add to the mass. To do this, you need to put her in a completely dark room, and only give her about eight hours of light each day. This should cause her to stop producing eggs. She will likely molt, too, but that’s part of the process. In this way, she may be able to clear the egg

mass, and sometimes a hen will come back into production after a few months and be okay.

Another possibility is that she has an intact egg (with shell) and is unable to lay. If this is the case, things are a little more urgent. This can block her ability to defecate, so you need to act fairly quickly. If she is producing droppings, then it’s not quite so urgent. This is often caused by a calcium deficiency, so I’d try to make sure she has plenty of calcium in her diet. Some people have had luck with a warm bath, which helps to relax the muscles so she can lay. A good lubrication with vegetable oil can sometimes help too. If you can feel an egg there, and she can’t expel it, it is possible to break the egg, though this is a bit risky. It is difficult to get the bits of shell out, and there is a risk of infection.

Finally, another possibility is that she has a tumor in the area. In fact, this could be a factor in causing internal laying. If this is the case, there’s likely nothing that can be done. There is a disease called lymphoid leukosis, and it often causes tumors, commonly in the ovary.

Sorry I don’t have a more promising answer. Good luck with her.

Reader Nathan Bailey wrote us with a photo, saying: “I got an egg with a bunch of little circles that looks like tiny little eggs.” Ron Kean wrote back: “Those are just little bits of excess calcium. Some people say that it is a sign of excess calcium in the diet, but I don’t think I’d try to change that. Those occur occasionally, and aren’t really a problem. If you see bigger ‘blobs’ of calcium, they can be a bit of a problem, since they can be picked off and leave a hole in the shell. Even then, unless you are seeing a lot of them, I wouldn’t worry. It’s better to have a little more calcium than have too little, as then you get thin shells. I’d say to just enjoy it as being a little something different!”


Just load a DR® RAPID-FEED™ CHIPPER, step back, and watch it chew up 5½" thick branches!

Self-Feeding

DR® CHIPPER

SELF-FEEDING saves time and energy. Most branches can be dropped into the hopper and will self-feed, instead of you having to force-feed them.

TOP-DISCHARGING is standard on all models, for easily collecting discharged chips in a container or cart.

PRO-SPEC™ CHIPPER KNIFE is made of forged alloy tool steel, making it exceptionally strong with an excellent edge-holding ability.

TRACTOR OWNERS3-Point Hitch model too.

Equipment that works as hard as you do.

DRchipper.com 8310

9X ©

201

4

DRstumpgrinder.com 8311

1X ©

201

4

STUMP REMOVAL FAST & EASY!

ELIMINATE Landscape Eyesores with a DR® STUMP GRINDER.

The DR® STUMP GRINDER uses carbide-tipped cutting teeth that take over 360 “bites” per second, pulverizing stumps into a pile of woodchips. Quickly and easily, you can grind any size tree stump below ground level. Gone forever!

• EXPAND lawn areas.• OPEN UP fi elds and

meadows.• BLAZE new trails.• REMOVE mowing hazards.

DRstumpgrinder.com 8311

1X ©

201

4

STUMP REMOVAL & EASY! Landscape Eyesores STUMP GRINDER.

STUMP GRINDER uses carbide-tipped cutting teeth that take over 360 “bites” per second, pulverizing stumps into a pile

tree stump below ground level.

mowing hazards.

8311

0X ©

201

4

TRY A DR® FIELD AND BRUSH MOWER WITH OUR

6-MONTH TRIAL!

Tow-BehindModels too!

Put one to the test on your own property.

CLEAR meadows, trails, underbrush from woodlots and pastures

CUT 6-foot fi eld grass, saplings 3" thick, tough brush

CHOP every-thing into small pieces

Tow-BehindModels too!

CUT 6-foot fi eld grass, saplings 3" thick, tough brush

CHOP every-thing into small pieces

8310

8X ©

201

4

DRlogsplitters.com

Try a DR® at Home for 6 Months!When you buy DR equipment, you get 6 months to make sure it’s the right product for you. If you’re not 100% satisfi ed, we’ll take it back. No questions asked.

Call for a FREE DVD and Catalog!Includes product specifi cations and factory-direct offers.

877-200-6196TOLLFREE

DR® RapidFire™ Log Splitter

ALL NEW LINEUP!

PATENT PENDING

Before you buy ANY Log Splitter, check out the Full Line of DR® Log Splitters…

WORLD’S FASTEST SPLITTER!

Dual Action Hydraulic Electric Powered 3 Point Hitch Horizontal/VerticalDual Action Hydraulic Electric Powered 3 Point Hitch Horizontal/VerticalDual Action Hydraulic Electric Powered 3 Point Hitch Horizontal/Vertical

KINETIC POWER The RapidFire uses twin cast iron fl y-wheels (up to 75 lbs each) to blast logs apart in just one second!

FASTEST CYCLE TIME With a full cycle time (split stroke and auto-retract) of just 3 SECONDS,the DR RapidFire is 6X FASTER than typical hydraulic splitters.

ROAD TOWABLE With 16” DOT- approved tires you can take the DR®

RapidFire™ anywhere you need it.

VISIT ONLINE FOR MORE INFORMATION

DRfi eldbrush.com

40 Backyard Poultry

HolistiC HEaltH:

An Herbal Power MixProtein and Calcium:

By susan BurEK, HErBalist moonligHt milE HErB farm, miCHigan

Poultry’s unique, natural diet is one of the more interesting as-pects I have learned while rais-

ing them. The avian species are very different physically than mammals. After all, we do not have wings (and therefore cannot fly!); we do not have gizzards to grind our food, nor have beaks instead of teeth, nor even have feathers to help regulate our body temperature.

So a chicken’s physiology has a lot to do with the natural diet they were built to consume. Their beaks are meant to grasp certain kinds and shapes of foods, and their gizzards can grind fibrous plants and seeds with hard shells. To give them energy, or to just to keep their body warm, demands high intensity of certain kinds of nutrients. Two important nutrients that rightly get addressed the most are the compound protein and the mineral calcium.

Horsetail can provide

manganese, calcium, iron, and

vitamin D.


As new chicken owners we wade through the spectrum of poultry feed and soon we learn the im-

portance of the role of protein. Protein is essential for growth and tissue repair and the main component of feathers. Different protein percentage levels are created for different age groups, with the highest percent for the youngest chicks, tapering off to the lowest once chickens are adults and theoretically free ranging and supplementing with bugs.

I mix my own feed, and my percent-age protein is generally 4 percent higher. The protein in feed mainly comes from grains like barley, corn, wheat and soy-beans. With the advent of GMO foods, especially in a majority of soybeans and corn, many organic chicken keepers are looking for alternatives. And even if we make our own feed, natural grains come with phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors that protect the seed for its own propagation, but make digestion difficult. Due to this, nutrient absorption may be low with whole grains and seed.

Calcium is also added to the layer feed when hens be-come mature enough to lay eggs. We are also advised to make calcium available free choice through oyster shell, eggshell, or limestone for the hens to forage on their own. Calcium is important for bone strength and egg-shell building for the hens. However, egg shells and limestone may move through the digestive system too quickly for good absorption.

We also have some herbal options that can supplement protein and calcium quite nicely. Actually all plant foods offer some protein, but some herbs can really excel in this area. And we can apply them in a way to afford maximum absorption and utilization for our flock.

To talk about protein from meat and plants, we have to understand complete and incomplete proteins, defined as whether or not they contain the nine essential amino acids available to build protein in the body. It is true that most plants are incomplete, which simply means some of the amino acids may be

“less” than enough. But when digested with other good food, the body will draw from everything it is digesting to get what it needs. So I would recommend using plant proteins as a part of well-rounded diet, not a sole source. On the other hand, plant-based calcium might be better absorbed and utilized than calcium from other sources. That is because a lot of herbs have magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin D also present, and with that combination, it helps the calcium to be readily absorbed and put directly into the bloodstream. I might also men-tion that meat proteins have amino acids that contain sulfur and that will affect pH balance, whereas plant proteins are more alkaline.

So, the pH balance affected will use calcium to neutralize the acid. In other words, to process meat protein, the body

loses calcium. A balance of plant-based protein and plant-based calcium will actually work much better in tandem, because they do not make the same impact on the body when digested, and therefore more easily utilized.

An old-time, steadfast staple for protein has been alfalfa hay for many kinds of livestock, including poultry. When I started out raising poultry 14 years ago, I was taught by farmers to throw a bale of alfalfa hay in the coop for the flock to pick at, especially dur-ing winter when greens in Michigan are non-existent.

This was before I really began de-veloping and using herbal protocols for my poultry. But my ears perked up when I heard this because I knew alfalfa also had medicinal value. So my work with alfalfa hay years ago began my herbal teaching in the poultry community, and since then I have only gained even more respect for its wonderful offerings, both nutritionally and medicinally.

So let’s take a look at some of these herbs that have protein, calcium, magne-sium, phosphorus and vitamin D. Three herbs I will talk about will have them all, while I also offer another herb combina-tion that rounds out the bill.

Calcium and Protein HelpersAdding phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin D will help the body utilize protein and calcium, a powerful mix that will support the core strength and health of our poultry.

FORGET TO CLOSE THE COOP AGAIN? WHEN WILL YOUR LUCK RUN OUT?

PROBLEM SOLVED! Stay out visiting friends,

sleep in, enjoy your vacation! Prevent losses.

ENJOY PEACE OF MIND. • Endorsed by Rob Ludlow of BYC • Automatically closes and opens • Easy to set open & close times

• Easy install. All parts included. • Solid Aluminum Frame and door

with brass pivots, no wood • Battery Status Light • Photo sensor option • Charging options: 12v battery

with solar panel or charger • No switches to fail, no string to

break, no plastic arms • BUILT TO LAST. Fast Shipping. • Many features other doors wish

they had! • 15” tall by 11” wide opening $180 plus shipping, options extra

www.chickendoors.com

(512) 995-0058

42 Backyard Poultry

Alfalfa Alfalfa is not only high in protein,

but it also contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, chlorine, sodium, sulfur, many vitamins including vitamin D and chlorophyll. It contains digestive enzymes to stimulate digestion and sapo-nins to help absorb fat soluble nutrients.

Stinging Nettle Stinging nettle is full of protein, iron

and vitamin K, along with vitamin D, se-lenium, zinc, iron, calcium, chlorophyll, potassium phosphorus, and magnesium. Stinging nettle was the next herb I worked with after alfalfa, and it is about my most favorite herb for poultry besides garlic. Super nutritious with a vast array of vitamins, minerals and nutrients, I consider it a pretty tasty green “food”.

Comfrey & Horsetail Comfrey is old staple forage for live-

stock, and it contains protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phospho-rus, vitamins and selenium. It also is well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties and has a long use in poul-tices and salves. Like some of the herbs I have mentioned so far, horsetail draws

up minerals from the earth. Silica is one that is unique to this plant. Silica not only helps bones and tendons, but it helps fix calcium in the body. Horsetail also has manganese, calcium, iron and vitamin D.

Parsley People may be surprised to learn

that parsley contains a lot of protein and vitamins including vitamin D. It also contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, niacin and phosphorus. Parsley is so nutritive, it has been used to treat anemia, and it also can boost kidney function. It has many volatile oils with antiseptic qualities.

Susan is an herbalist who advises on Poultry Natural Living & Herbal Care on Facebook. Susan also is the owner of Moonlight Mile Herb Farm in Willis, Michigan, where she lives with a variety of critters, and is a chicken, guineafowl and peafowl breeder. She also grows na-tive and cultivated herbs on six acres of land, and sells her own formulated avian poultry products at www.moonlightmile herbs.com. She is working on her first book on a holistic and herbal model to raise poultry.

Protein & Calcium Tea

You can give any of these dried herbs as a free choice supplement, but if I re-ally want to give my flock a good boost, I make a concentrated tea to mix in their drinking water for a few days. Particularly during cold weather, this tea helps them tremendously when the cold temps sap their energy while they try to stay warm. It helps growing bodies with chicks, and can support a laying or broody hen. It will boost protein and calcium levels to work in synergy to help their core body functions. An application of the tea even once a month it will be of great benefit for your poultry.

1. If using alfalfa hay I use one flake of hay will yield about 3 gallons of tea. (Other-wise I use 1 lb. dried herb per 3 gallons of water). I put a flake in a bag, close it, and then crunch it to break it up so I can pack it into a pot.2. Then I take a big pot (5 gallon) and stuff it full with the hay. I fill the pot with water up to about 1 inch from the brim, bring it to a boil, then let it gently simmer for one hour. 3. Then I strain it with a colander.4. When done, I pour into gallon jugs to mix later into my waterers.The ratio I mix is 1 gallon of tea and 1 gallon or so of water. You will see a noticeable increase in the flock’s alertness and energy levels. Hiland

Naturals

www.

hilandnaturals .com

330-377-4016

Choose Hiland Naturals For

Your Poultry...

What’s in your feed?

HilandNaturals

feed

44 Backyard Poultry

An automatic door is indispensable if you’re not always there to let your chickens out in the morning

and close them in at night to secure them from predators. Some people are handy enough to make their own automatic po-phole doors, and you can find all manner of instructions on the internet — some in-genious, some flaky, and some downright dangerous. Not everyone has the skill, or the time, to tinker. Luckily, skillful design-ers now offer ready-built doors that work right out of the box.

Once you decide to install an automatic pophole door, some of the things to consider are: its size, its source of power, and how it’s triggered to open and close. Regarding size, consider both the pophole size and the overall frame size. A 12-inch wide by 15-inch high pophole is ideal for most chickens, guineas, ducks, and lighter breeds of turkeys and geese. A smaller opening is suitable for bantams and lighter-breed chickens or ducks, while a larger size is needed for heavier geese and turkeys. Our 11-inch wide popholes work fine for Royal Palm turkeys and Bourbon Red hens, but when our Bour-bon tom matured he had to be coaxed into squeezing through the pophole.

The overall frame size may not be important for a full-size henhouse, but can be a significant issue for a narrow coop or one with low overhead. The table on top of page 45 lists pophole sizes and overall frame dimensions for the doors mentioned in this review.

rEviEW:

Automatic Pophole OpenersBy gail damEroW

Find the Best

Gail Damerow is the author of The Chicken Encyclopedia, The Chicken Health Handbook, Your Chickens, Barnyard in Your Backyard, The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals, Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks, and the completely updated and revised classic Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd edition. Gail’s books are available from our bookstore on page 32.

A roomy pophole offers birds plenty of room to come and go as they please, as demonstrated by these two Rhode Island Red hens passing in an 11-inch wide doorway.


Some doors are designed to be plugged into a standard 120-volt house-hold outlet. If you opt for a plug-in model, install the outlet either outside the birds’ living area or at ceiling height to prevent birds from landing on and possibly dis-lodging the plug. You’ll need to ensure that the electrical cables are long enough to reach the outlet. Protect the cables from curious birds by enclosing them in a wall-mount snap-cover wiring conduit.

Plug-in doors use an adapter that converts 120-volt AC household current to 12-volt DC current. This feature allows the same door to be battery operated. If you are off grid, or your coop has no elec-tricity and you’re tempted to (unsafely!) run extension cords from your house to your coop, a battery is the better option. Like a wall plug, the battery should be located outside the birds’ living area or up on a small shelf near the ceiling where birds can’t roost on top of it.

You might choose to use a recharge-able battery, or you might opt for a solar charger. Some of the door manufacturers offer a solar battery charger as an option, which is ideal for off-grid use or for pas-tured birds in portable housing.

Automatic doors are triggered by either a daylight sensor or a timer. A daylight sensor automatically opens the

door at dawn and closes it at dusk. The sensor must receive light during the day — ideally on a west facing wall (toward the setting sun) — and be in the dark at night. A security lamp or back porch light, or even a light shining through the coop window at night, can cause the sensor to think it’s daytime.

Opening and closing times can be slightly adjusted by placing the sensor where it gets more sun — so the door opens a little earlier and closes a little later — or more shade — so the door opens a little later and closes a little ear-lier. Some doors have a mechanism that allows additional adjustment.

If this adjustment is not enough for your situation, most doors have a timer option that lets you program what times you want the door to open and close. A disadvantage to using a timed evening closing is that you have to constantly reset the time as daylight hours lengthen or shorten throughout the year. On the other hand, the ability to delay open-ing with a timer is handy if you have predators lurking at dawn waiting for the door to open, or you want to keep your birds in until they finish laying. Ducks are especially notorious for hiding their eggs if not confined during their morning laying hours.

Incredible Poultry Door

Door Model

Poultry Butler, Standard

Poultry Butler, Large

Poultry Butler, Horizontal Slide

VSB-Doorkeeper, Chicken

VSB-Doorkeeper, Duck

VSB-Doorkeeper, Goose

Pophole Framewidth

(inches)

8.5

9

10

11

11

9

12

13

10

13

20

15

13

15

13

15

10

12

24

14

14

10.5

30

32

49

39

35

18

16

36

13.5

14.5


Poultry-Shut

width(inches)

height(inches)

height(inches)

Nasco Farm & Ranch DivisionBackyard PoultryApril 2014BP1404

BP1404

Call Toll Free 888-902-2272

46 Backyard Poultry

The grand-daddy of automatic chick-en doors is the German-made VSB Doorkeeper. The operating mechanism, enclosed in a weather resistant plastic box, is a reel that winds up a length of fish line to lift the door open at the rate of 1 inch per 5 seconds, and closes the door by feeding out the line at the same rate. The system comes in components that must be assembled, which isn’t difficult once you decipher the instructions.

The door itself consists of sheet alu-minum that rides in aluminum tracks. Doors come in three pophole sizes: 9-inches wide by 13-inches high for $26.95; 12-inches by 15-inches for $29.95; and 13-inches by 20-inches for $42.95. Trying to save a dollar by mak-ing your own door and tracks, as several people have suggested online, will void the control unit warranty.

The control box is powered by four AA batteries, which is a nice feature where electricity isn’t handy. However, when the batteries run down the door stops working without warning, so the wise chicken keeper changes the batteries on a regular schedule. Doing so involves removing the four screws that hold the control unit cover and pulling out the bat-tery compartment, which is loads of fun in freezing weather. A good way to avoid dead batteries is to remember to put in fresh ones at the same time you reset your clocks for the twice-annual time change. On the other hand, if you’re handy at reading installation wiring specs, you can remove the battery holder and convert the unit to 12-volt DC (which, of course, voids the warranty).

The control unit comes in two op-tions. One is designed for outdoor instal-lation, costs $189.95, and has a built-in daylight sensor. The other is designed to be installed inside the coop and costs $211.95, which includes a daylight sensor on an external cable. A cabled sensor is available separately for $22.95, which is good to know in the event your dairy goats chew up the first one. (Now how do you suppose I know that?)

VSB Doorkeeper

An optional timer is available for $83.95. It lets you program the opening and/or closing time if you aren’t happy with the daylight sensor’s slightly adjust-able dawn-opening and dusk-closing times. You can, for instance, set the timer to open the door late in the morning but close at whatever time the light sensor

detects sundown. The timer is powered by two AA batteries and a single timer can handle up to three VSB doors.

In the event your coop doesn’t have enough vertical space to mount the con-trol box directly above the door, for $5.95 you can get a pulley (also called an idler) that lets you mount the box to one side. Using pulleys to divert to direction of pull also lets you operate more than one door with the same control unit. One controller can handle up to 7 pounds of direct pull, or up to 13 pounds where a pulley is used.

The pull cord is 0.45 mm fish line which, according to the manual, has a service life of 10 years. We never had a cord last that long, and replacement cords are not offered. You might not want to wait until the cord fails before you buy a spool of fish line, which I recently priced at $7 for 330 feet — enough to last for-ever and then some.

As the cord winds into the control box while the door is opening, the reel knows to stop winding when it hits a tiny seed bead held by a knot in the cord. Without the bead, the reel will continue trying to wind the cord until the batteries go dead. So whenever you replace the cord you have to remember reapply the bead.

I frequently hear people complain that a cord-lift door is easy for a raccoon to open. We have used a VSB door for nearly a decade and, with plenty of hefty raccoons on the prowl here, none has ever lifted a closed door. If you’re concerned, though, you can deter raccoons from lift-ing an outside door by placing a channel (similar to a side track) at the bottom for the door to slide into when closed.

For an inside door, simply make sure the door closes slightly below the pophole opening.

Maintenance involves keeping the door sill clear of debris, especially in winter when the door bottom might stick to tracked snow or frozen poop. Icy weather also can cause the door to stick to the side rails, which usually can be worked loose by slapping the door’s face with a flat hand.

The pull-cord VSB Doorkeeper comes in three sizes to accommodate a wide range of poultry from the smallest chickens to the largest geese or turkeys.

The VSB Doorkeeper is manufactured by AXT Electronics and may be purchased direct from Germany at www.axt-electronic.org or by calling 0049.36.91-72.10.70. It is imported by Foy’s Pet Supplies and may be purchased at www.foyspigeonsupplies.com or by calling 877-355-7727.


If you are familiar with the old-style cord-pull Poultry Butler auto-matic coop door, forget everything you know about it. That model has been replaced by a new screw-drive model, in which a long, half-inch diameter screw (also called a worm) is turned by a small motor. The screw passes through a little block, fastened to the back of the door, that’s threaded to match the screw’s threads. As the screw turns in one direction, the block rides down the screw to close the door. When the screw turns in the opposite direction, the block rides up the screw to open the door.

A screw-drive mechanism is a lot more reliable and durable than any cord-drive mechanism. And, because the screw is always engaged, the wiliest raccoon wouldn’t be able to lift the door.

The Poultry Butler comes in two different styles, with the door sliding either up and down or sideways. The vertical model is available in two sizes. The Standard size accommodates a 9-inch wide by 13-inch high pophole and costs $179. The Large model covers an 11-inch wide by 15-inch high pophole and costs $199. The Horizontal model — designed for use where limited vertical space is insufficient to accommodate an upward sliding door — fits a 10-inch wide by 13-inch high pophole and costs $189. All models are 2.5-inches deep.

This door is mounted by screwing two attached mounting bars to the wall inside the coop. Unfortunately, the mounting bars are fastened to the frame with only short, thin nails, and as we applied screws through the bottom bar, its nails popped loose from the frame. So we substituted L-brackets, screwed to the door frame and to the wall, which also im-proved the frame’s rigidity.

A gap between the doorway’s landing strip and the pophole sill is intended to prevent a build-up of debris,which is not a bad idea. However, our guineas have a way of getting themselves into all kinds of trouble without even trying. Worried one might get a leg caught and break a bone, we filled in the gap with a piece of lumber to create a solid step.

All Poultry Butler models are constructed of plastic lumber, PVC and galvanized steel and come with both a daylight sensor and a timer. The timer, which also serves as the control center, has an internal battery backup; should the power go out, you won’t have to reset the clock and any programmed settings.

The furnished control cable is only 3-feet long. If you want to install the control in an area other than where the chickens live (and stir up dust), an optional 15-foot control cable is available for an additional $15.

The door plugs into a standard 120-volt outlet and the furnished adapter converts the current to 12-volt DC. Opting for the 15-foot con-trol cable lets you plug into an outlet outside the chicken area, or inside up near the ceiling, where chickens can’t land on it. Not long after we installed the Poultry Butler one of our chickens smashed into and broke the adapter, whereupon we switched to the longer cable. For use where power is not readily available, you can operate the door on a battery by replacing the power supply with your own 12-volt rechargeable battery and, should you so desire, a 5-watt 12-volt solar panel.

Maintenance of the Poultry Butler involves keeping the sill free of debris, washing the door track as needed with soap and water, and lubricating the track. Also periodically wipe dust from the the screw-drive shaft and lubricate it with a light multipurpose oil.

Poultry Butler

The Poultry Butler is made in the USA. It is available online at www.poultrybutler.com — where you can also find a complete list of replacement parts — or by calling 724-397-8908.

The screw-drive Poultry Butler comes in two vertical-sliding models, like the one shown here, and one horizontal-sliding model for use where overhead space is limited.

48 Backyard Poultry

The Incredible Poultry Door has a screw-drive mechanism enclosed in a heavy-duty frame, with the control panel built into one side. The door sells for $299.95 and is designed to cover a 8.5-inch wide by 10-inch high pophole.

Its all-in-one design makes the door easy to install in about 30 minutes, with no complicated instructions to decipher. You just fasten six mounting brackets to the door frame with furnished screws, mount the frame to the inside coop wall using your own screws (the type of screws you need will vary with the con-struction of your coop), attach the cabled daylight sensor to an outside wall, and plug the 12-volt adapter into a standard 120-volt wall outlet. The electrical cable is long enough to reach ceiling-height.

When first plugged in, the door will automatically open and close, then stop where it should be for the current time of day (open in the daytime, closed at night). A green status light glows steadily to let you know the door is powered, and flashes while the door is opening or closing.

A gap at the bottom of the door, be-tween the doorway’s landing strip and the pophole sill, is intended to prevent a build-up of debris. Concerned one of our rambunctious birds might slip into the gap and injure a leg, we removed the landing strip. The frame is so solidly built that removing the strip did not affect the door’s structural rigidity.

The door takes about 30 seconds to open or close, and on closing exerts about 10 pounds of pressure. If a bird happens to be in the doorway trying to make up its mind whether or not to go inside, it has plenty of time to move. If the bird stub-bornly remains in the doorway, the clos-ing door will reverse and open. Whenever the door encounters such an obstacle, an alarm beeps and a red LED light flashes. The door will remain open and the warn-ing signals will continue until you come along, remove the obstruction (if it’s still there), and push the reset button.

If no one is available to reset the door,


A unique feature of the screw-drive Incredible Poultry Door is its automatic reversal — accompanied by a jammed-door alarm — should the closing door meet an obstruction.

Despite being made in China, the Incredible Poultry Door is super-well con-structed. It comes from Fall Harvest Products, which doesn’t sell direct but offers a list of retailers online at fallharvestproducts.com, or you can call 508-476-0038.

it will remain open all night long — not good when predators are on the prowl! The recommendation is to leave a light on inside the coop illuminating the pophole, so at night you can see from a distance whether or not the door has closed. That’s fine unless you’re using an automatic door because you’re away or, as in our case, the coop is not near your house. We’ve never experience a jam, but if it should become an issue we would add an alarm that transmits to the house.

The only other maintenance issue involves the possibility that snow or ice might clog the door track in cold weather. Lightly spraying silicone or furniture polish on the track before the arrival of stormy weather makes ice easier to remove. Scrape off snow or ice with a non-scratching plastic scraper, such as one you would use to de-ice your car window.


The Pullet-Shut automatic chicken door is unique among pophole doors in being hinged at the side, like an ordinary door, instead of sliding. And its compact frame size makes it ideal for a coop that’s too small to accommodate a sliding door. Constructed of sturdy aluminum, it fits a pophole opening 11-inches wide by 15-inches high. The basic door is $180 and is available hinged to open either to the right or to the left.

The manufacturer recommends in-stalling the door to open outward, which prevents a determined predator from being able to push it in during the night. Since the open door sticks out at about a 90-degree angle, any large animals sharing the chicken yard, like our dairy goats do, might rub against it. The recommended solution is to install a backstop to prevent damage to the door.

My husband and I felt certain that one of us would eventually bang into the open door or the backstop while carrying drinkers, so we installed the door to open inward (which also makes goat-rubbing a non issue). Our pophole is in a corner of the coop, so the door opens against the adjacent wall.

An inwardly-opening door is less subject to icing up in winter than one that opens outward. Where winter weather is severe, a small awning would protect an outside-mounted door. Since electronics tend to get sluggish in cold weather, a clever built-in temperature compensation circuit gives the motor a little extra oomph to keep the door running smoothly when the temperature dips.

The Pullet-Shut can be operated using any 12-volt DC battery. For an additional $45, you can opt for a 5-amp hour 12-volt battery and trickle charger that uses stan-dard 120-volt household current. Should the power go out, the door continues to run off the battery, which recharges when the power goes back on. A fully-charged battery lasts about a month. We like the trickle feature so well, we bought a second unit to power a different 12-volt appliance on our farm.

For $50 you can get the same system with a solar panel. The panel needs two

Unique features of the Pullet-Shut include side hinge, compact profile, no external switches, and 12-volt battery backup.

Pullet-Shut

The Pullet-Shut automatic chicken door is made in the USA and built to last. It is available by calling 512-995-0058 or online at www.chickendoors.com. The website also has videos that demonstrate installation and operation.

hours of full sunlight per day, on average, and will not recharge a battery that’s been drawn down.

Once the door is hooked up to a fully-charged battery, you can program the door to operate at certain hours. The alternative is to spend $15 on an optional daylight sensor. A little known feature (because it’s not in the manual) is a built-in time delay that tells the sensor to open the door as much as 90 minutes later in the morning and/or close 90 minutes later in the eve-ning. We learned of this feature after some smart predator took to hanging around the coop waiting to nab the first chicken out the door. Setting the time delay to open the door after the sun is fully up immediately stopped the problem (see “Setting the Pullet-Shut Time Delay” below).

One minute after this door closes for the night, it reopens for 10 seconds to let in any tardy bird that might have missed the connection. In case a bird happens to be standing in the doorway at closing time, the door shuts gently enough to avoid injury.

The operating system is fully enclosed inside a protective plastic box, with no external switches to get clogged with a coop’s inevitable dirt and dust. The con-trols are accessed by means of a provided magnet that is used not only to program the door but also to open or close it at any time without otherwise disrupting the programmed or daylight-sensor cycle.

Although the Pullet-Shut is easy to install and easy to use, the installation instructions don’t always distinguish between sensor mode and program mode, making setup appear much more complicated than it actually is. With the pophole cut to size, in less than an hour my husband and I had the door screwed in place, plugged in, and working flawlessly. After having wrestled with the complex directions, we looked at each other with an incredulous, “That’s it?!”

Maintenance is as easy as installation: Periodically check the battery voltage, oc-casionally clean the battery contacts and daylight sensor, and twice a year lightly grease the door’s bottom brass pivot.

Setting the Pullet-Shut Time Delay1. Disconnect the power by disengag-ing both the battery and the trickle charger (or solar panel).2. Remove the 4 screws on the front of the control box and remove the cover.3. In the middle of the control circuit are four little switches. Two are labeled “Open” and two are labeled “Close.” For each, one switch is labeled “30 minute” and other “60 minute.” Flip on the switch for the desired amount of delay — 30, 60, or 90 minutes (both switches).4. Replace the cover and reconnect the power. The door will go through its open-close reset sequence while the circuit reads the switches, then will resume operation.

50 Backyard Poultry

Chicks go through a lot before you get them home. They’re hatched and then shipped either directly to you or to your favorite feed store. At the store, they encounter all the sensations of a retail environment, are selected, and then transported yet again to their new home. Either way, that’s a lot of stress, and it can rattle the fragile health of young chicks.

One of the biggest problems in stressed chicks is pasting (also called “pasty butt” or “poopy butt”). It happens when feces that are not the right consis-tency get stuck to the bird and “paste” the vent (area where feces are excreted) closed. Left untreated, a blocked vent, which on the surface just seems a little gross, can actually be fatal.

Always Water FirstWater is the best defense against

pasting. A chick without enough water in its system can’t digest food correctly, which leads to pasting. Here’s how it happens. Prior to “shipping out” from the hatchery, new chicks are not fed or watered, since they can live on the yolk reserves inside their bodies for the two to three days it takes for delivery to their final destination. Upon arrival, they are thirsty and hungry, and our impulse is to put them in front of feeders and waterers immediately. Don’t.

Make sure all baby birds in the brooder are drinking before they are given food. When placing chicks in the

brooder, have your waterer set up with room-temperature water, but do not place the feed right away. As each bird enters the brooder, dip its beak into the waterer so it can get a small drink and locate the water source. This will prevent the birds from first filling up on feed and not get-ting properly hydrated. When you feel that all birds have found the water and had a good drink, it’s time to add the feed.

Correct Brooder Temperature

Very young chicks are not equipped to handle temperature fluctuations. A brooder that is too warm leads to dehy-drated birds that are stressed. A brooder that’s too cool results in chilled birds that are stressed. Both scenarios can result in pasting. An ideal brooder temperature is between 90 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week. The temperature can be decreased by about five degrees per week as the chicks start to regulate their body temperature better and grow feathers.

Treatment: Water, Gloves, Patience

Identifying pasting is relatively easy for all the reasons you’d expect: chicks will have a buildup of feces around the vent area. Treating pasting can be un-pleasant, but it’s not difficult or costly. (Some mother hens simply peck away the fecal matter.) The main goal is to clear the vent area so the bird can resume defecat-ing normally. All you need is warm water, latex gloves, and patience.

First, find a warm, draft-free spot and gently swab feces from the vent area with a wet paper towel. Extreme cases may require you to loosen the hardened feces first. Hold the vent area under lukewarm (not hot) running water or dip the chick in a mug or bowl of lukewarm water, then wipe away loose matter. After you have cleaned the bird, gently dry the area with a hair dryer (optional). Finally, apply a lubricant, such as Vaseline, to the vent area to help prevent further problems.

Keep Them HealthyBy closely monitoring your chicks

for the first several weeks of life, you can catch the early signs of pasting and treat it quickly. Remember to always keep waterers clean and water fresh to increase water consumption. When you’re ready to feed, choose a good quality chick starter with the protein, vitamins and min-erals chicks need to thrive, like Nutrena® NatureWise® feeds. NatureWise® feeds include prebiotics and probiotics to aid in digestion. This supports a stronger im-mune response and better overall chick health. Correct nutrition is especially critical for growing chicks and helps set the stage for life-long productivity.

With adequate water, the correct brooder temperature and the right nu-trition, your chicks should be off to a trouble-free start.

To find a Nutrena® dealer near you, visit www.NutrenaPoultryFeed.com. You can subscribe to the Nutrena poultry blog at ScoopFromTheCoop. com.

By Tiffany Towne

nuTrena PoulTry exPerT

Preventing and Treating Pasting in ChicksOh, Baby!

from nuTrena:


If you missed the first year of Backyard Poultry here’s your second chance. The complete collection of articles and photos from 2006 is now a book! Fea-turing more than 30 writers, in-cluding renowned poultry ex-pert and author Gail Damerow, homesteading guru Harvey Ussery, and University of Wis-consin’s top poultry specialist, Ron Kean. Enjoy reading as they share their knowledge,

and be entertained by stories like Chickens in the city; Pampered poultry; Championing rare and historic breeds; The world’s smallest chicken; The trained chicken “Eggzi-bit” and much, much more! 307 pages, $19.95

For the Love of PoultryA Backyard Poultry Anthology

MUST-HAVESCHICKEN LIBRARY...

More than ever, Americans care about the quality and safety of the food they eat. They’re bringing back an American tradition: raising their own back-yard chickens for eggs and com-panionship. Fresh Eggs Daily is an authoritative, accessible guide to coops, nesting boxes, runs, breeding, feed, and natu-ral health care with time tested remedies. Includes many recipes

and 8 easy DIY projects for the coop and run. Full color photos throughout. Hardcover, 142 Pages, $17.95

Fresh Eggs DailyRaising Happy, Healthy Chickens...Naturally

By Lisa steeLe

A must-have reference for the small flock owner, Gail discusses the problems and diseases common to chickens of all breeds and all ages. It also explains how to hatch healthy chicks, provide proper nutrition, fight parasites, spot diseases and infections in their early stages, protect the flock from predators and build safe houses and yards. Generously illustrated. 344 pages, $19.95

The Chicken Health Handbook

By GaiL Damerow

Backyard chickens meet contemporary design! 14 complete building plans for chicken coops that range from the purely functional to the outrageously fabulous. Complete step-by-step build-ing plans are accompanied by full-color photographs and detailed construction illustra-tions. 192 pages, $19.95

Reinventing The Chicken Coop14 Original Designs with Step-By-Step Building Instructions

By matthew woLpe & Kevin mceLroy

FREE shipping!U.S. Orders Only

Title/Description Qty Amount

Subtotal

5.5% Sales TaxWI residents only

Total

Name_____________________________________________

Address___________________________________________

City_______________________ State _______ Zip________

E-mail_____________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________Credit Card Number (We accept VISA, MC, AMEX and Discover)

Choose Method of Payment:Check Money Order Credit Card

_______________________________________________________________Phone Number (In case we have a question about your order)

____________________Expiration Date

Shipping

For the Love of Poultry—$19.95 each

Fresh Eggs Daily—$17.95 each

Reinventing The Chicken Coop—$19.95 each

The Chicken Health Handbook—$19.95 each

FREE U.S. ShippingExpires 7/21/14

• Visit: www.backyardpoultrymag.com Enter promo code 143FS for FREE shipping!

• Call: 1-800-551-5691 Mention this ad for FREE shipping!

• Mail this form to: Backyard Poultry Bookstore, 145 Industrial Drive, Medford, WI 54451

52 Backyard Poultry

essay ConTesT:

When the Backyard Poultry editor wrote in the Feb/March 204 edition, “It’s rare to find a family line where raising poultry is entirely absent,” I thought that my fam-ily was the exception. Then I remembered that my mom found a chicken in New York City’s Central Park in 1952. She brought it home and asked her mom if they could keep it, as if it were a stray dog. Tootsie laid a brown egg for them every day on her kitchen nest of newspaper strips. It wasn’t long before a tenant complained to the cops about hearing chicken sounds coming from their apartment. Not wanting to lose her hen, my mom innocently pointed to the pigeons in the tree and told the cops: “That’s probably what the neighbor heard!”

A Lost Chicken in Central Park

winninG enTry: lisa DeGraw, new mexiCo

Lisa DeGraw holds a pullet from her first flock.

GenerationsRemember those stories you’ve told about grandma and grandpa on the homestead raising

chickens? Most families at some point include poultry farming as a way of survival and in-come, and now that we are alive in the days of iPads and the Internet, we think it is especially

important to remember and document stories about our “roots.” For this reason, we are collecting your stories about your family’s history with poultry and publishing the best of the best in upcom-ing editions of Backyard Poultry. Enter today at www.backyardpoultrymag.com for a chance to be published and win prizes from our great contest partner, Brinsea.


My own chickens started out in the house, too, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We kept the 13 poof balls in our unused spa tub while we worked on building their coop. That was three years and several broods ago. Deciding to keep chickens has changed our family’s life in more ways than we could have predicted.

One change is in how we spend our days. In the beginning, we all worked in the yard for many labor-intensive week-ends to build the coop as fast as we could. Those chicks were getting crowded in the tub! My husband was the brains and brawn behind turning the three-sided horse stall into a walk-in chicken coop with a 50-foot run. Even my mother-in-law pulled up a lawn chair to cheer us on. My 8-year-old daughter, Grace, got handy with a power stapler, while 11-year-old Daniel was nimble and light enough to work on the roof. I never did get better with a power drill, though! The coop-building project gave us all a sense of accomplishment. And the hens were thrilled to get out of the tub.

Since we have been raising chickens, I’ve learned a great deal about poultry and eggs. I feel like I have read all the books in our library about chickens. There are so many questions to answer: Why are some eggs wrinkled or without a shell? Can I save this bird with the sour crop? And how exactly do I dust a chicken? (YouTube was helpful for that last one).

Another thing that has changed is having a product that my customers are eager to purchase. “The Girls,” as we call the chickens, lay enough eggs to feed the family, with plenty left over for me to sell. I deliver the cartons right to my customers’ doorsteps whenever possible, just like in the old days when the milkman

Lisa’s son and husband introduce the hens to their new home. Photo courtesy Lisa DeGraw.

Ridgway HatcHeRies, inc.LaRue 36, OH 43332

740-499-2163800-323-3825

www.ridgwayhatchery.com

FREE CATALOG

ChicksBroilersTurkeysGoslingsDucklingsGamebirds

Volume 5, Number 4

August/September, 2010Backyard


Identify and Foil

a Poultry Predator

A Dream Realized

Started with the Coop


Breed Focus in This Issue:White SeramaPhoenix Long TailBronze TurkeySilver Appleyard Duck

Lessons from Living with Guinea Fowl

SAVE TIME and MONEY by

RENEWING your subscription ONLINE!

Visit www.backyardpoultrymag.com/store/subscribe/

Use your order number found on your magazine label to renew your subscription(s)

to Backyard Poultry online.

54 Backyard Poultry

would deliver milk to your house. Our brown, white, and green eggs sit

in a pretty basket on the kitchen counter. I cook with them freely knowing they have more nutrition than store-bought eggs and come from our own free-ranging happy birds. It’s fun to keep track of their productivity, and we get a kick out of the occasional tiny “oops” egg that appears in the nest boxes. Sometimes we find an egg that is entirely too large for the carton. We call them “super-jumbos.”

The biggest way having chickens has affected our family life has been in the opportunity for the kids to learn a deeper level of responsibility than they can get with the standard household pet. There is definitely a lot of chores with 33 chickens. For instance, chickens require fresh water — every day — and it can’t be frozen. Eggs have to be gathered. Crit-ters like mice have to be dealt with. Gates have to be shut against predators. Coops need to be raked out. And for us, having dogs that share the same two acres as the hens has complicated the situation many fold. But the kids are now well-trained in handling our unique circumstances.

Our hens have been very much like pets, each with their own name, thanks to my daughter. The Girls come running and flapping from all quarters when they hear me call, “Chick-chick-chick!” Losing a bird to a hawk or an unknown illness was very hard. At first I really grieved, but now we can all appreciate the cycle of life and death more easily. The chickens are not going to live forever, but while I’m their keeper they get the best care possible.

When my husband said, “We should get chickens,” it was such a foreign con-cept to me. Now I am glad we got them. I can’t remember what we did B.C. (Before Chickens). •••

Lisa’s daughter loves her chickens. Photo courtesy Lisa DeGraw.

56 Backyard Poultry

Chickens are slowly gaining recognition as invaluable assistance animals

for individuals with special needs

By ana HoTalinG

miCHiGan

Feathered Therapy?

Alair Bergman poses with her best friend, Goldie, a Belgian BeardedD’Uccle. Bergman is one of many who say this type of companionship has had a positive impact on autism and behavioral issues. Photo courtesy of Vickie Armstrong and Sharon Bergman.


F our-year-old Joshua James Hart, or JJ, as he is called, has a heart-warming smile and a carefree ex-

pression of glee whenever he holds one of his beloved “ducks” — his term for his family’s chickens — in his arms. Yet, it wasn’t always happy for this young DeBary, Florida resident. When he was younger, JJ frequently hurt him-self by biting and pinching and pulling out chunks of his own hair. His aggres-sive behaviors also targeted his father, Joseph; his mother, Ashleigh; and his older brothers, Jarrett and Matthew. JJ suffered from severe speech and lan-guage delays and was unable to make any recognizable sounds. His decreased motor skills inhibited his ability to dress himself or succeed at anything requir-ing hand-eye coordination, and he was often withdrawn and unaware of the people and objects in his immediate envi-ronment.

Like many, JJ suffers from autism. He was diagnosed in 2012 by both medical and be-havioral specialists after tests revealed he fell well inside the autistic spectrum. Willing to try anything to help her son, Ashleigh switched JJ to a gluten-free, casein-free diet rich in organic eggs, believing that this dietary change would alleviate some of his symptoms. It wasn’t the organic eggs that brought about the dramatic change in JJ, however: it was the chickens that laid them.

In order to provide JJ with pure, fresh eggs, the Harts decided to keep a back-yard microflock.

“Once we got the chickens, the change in JJ was amazing,” Ashleigh Hart noted to the DeBary City Council.

JJ began to run around and play with the chickens, happily sitting with the birds for long stretches of time, watching and interacting with them. Not only did his motor coordination and his environmental awareness improve, his verbal skills did as well. JJ made his first recognizable sound — crowing like a rooster — shortly after the chickens arrived. Even more astounding was that JJ’s aggression levels plunged. Instead of biting and pinching his family members, JJ now caressed and cuddled. The Harts fully credit their chickens for the remark-

able changes in JJ, noting that he never reacted or interacted with the family dog the way he engaged with the chickens.

Trouble AheadNot everyone in DeBary was thrilled

with JJ’s “emotional support animals,” however. Complaints about the Harts’ poultry were filed with the DeBary City Council, and one morning, the Harts discovered two hens and two juveniles had been decapitated.

Meanwhile, in November 2012, hav-ing received a statement from the Harts’ attorney, Mark Nation, regarding the therapeutic effects of JJ’s chickens, their City Council implemented a Chicken Pilot Program allowing for trial chicken ownership. This program proved to be

not only unpopular — the Harts were one of the few residents who registered for it — but also a catalyst for retribution. A petition submitted to the city clerk proclaimed that the “resident taxpayers” endorsing it did not “want to be exposed to or have to accommodate any poultry, including chicken, turkeys, ducks, emus, or ostriches, etc.”

City Councilman Nick Koval, one of the petition signers, told the Orlando Sen-tinel that he believed poultry belonged in agricultural zones. Koval’s wife, Lor-raine, went a step further, writing directly to Ashleigh Hart and informing her that none of the six autism societies Lorraine contacted “would ever recommend chick-ens as therapy for autism” and citing the Centers for Disease Control as noting that “chicks, ducklings, and other young fowl may not be appropriate pets for children,”

among other personal observations. At the December 4, 2013, council meeting, Nick Koval and several other council members voted to terminate the Chicken Pilot Program.

A ReversalOne week later, the city of DeBary

was singing a different song, thanks to the ceaseless efforts of the Harts’ attorney, the negative national media coverage, and the more than 300 letters of support that poured in for JJ and his chickens. Among JJ’s supporters was Michael Freeman, PhD, MPH, DC, a professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine. Dr. Freeman informed the DeBary City Council that “the pub-

lic health risks of raising a small number of chickens for the purpose of providing therapeutic benefit to JJ are no greater than keeping other pets in an urban or suburban setting. Further, the depriva-tion of this therapy for JJ could potentially have delete-rious effects on his emotional and mental health.”

On December 10, 2013, the DeBary City Council agreed to adopt a resolution allowing JJ to keep his thera-peutic chickens.

Questions RemainBut can chickens truly

serve as therapy animals? The majority of assistance animals are dogs that have been carefully selected, raised, and trained since puppyhood to serve as companions and protectors. Recent years, however, have seen an upsurge in the variety of therapy animals. The Ani-mal Humane Society of Minnesota, for example, includes cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and miniature horses among the therapy animals serving alongside hu-man “animal ambassadors.” Assistance animals are also no longer the domain of the blind or deaf; many are being trained to help children with autism. The one thing all these specially trained animals have in common? None of them have feathers or beaks.

JJ’s remarkable improvements, how-ever, speak volumes about chickens’ capabilities as therapy animals. His case is not an isolated one: Alair Bergman

Four-year-old JJ Hart poses with one of his therapy chickens. The City of DeBary, Florida, adopted a resolution granting a special accommodation to allow JJ to keep his chickens. Photo courtesy of www.jjclucknducks.org.

58 Backyard Poultry

of Ortonville, Michigan, has become a spokesperson for chickens as assistance animals, especially for children with autism. Alair’s relationship with her Belgian Bearded D’Uccle hen, Goldie, serves as the basis for her book, My Best Friend Goldie, penned when Alair was just 12.

Goldie came into Alair’s life in 2006, changing the then-10-year-old girl’s life forever. Prior to Goldie’s arrival, Alair struggled with autism and many of its associated conditions, including sen-sory integration dysfunction, auditory processing disorder, and obsessive-com-pulsive disorder. Autistic tantrums and meltdowns were frequent occurrences in the Bergman household, with Alair often trapped in periods of mental and emotional turmoil from which she had great difficulty emerging.

Goldie changed all that. With Goldie, Alair was calm; she learned quickly that her usual hyperactivity would make the little bantam hen skittish. Alair eventually was able to hold Goldie and talk to her for hours. They would play together, watch television together (with Goldie often perched on Alair’s shoulder), and just sit together, enjoying each other’s company. The two were inseparable and due to her friendship with Goldie, Alair became better able to interact with friends.

“I was not very good with social inter-action, and the simplicity of socializing with an animal is easy,” Alair noted in a recent interview, “and it helped me learn to evolve into socializing with people.”

Alair’s augmented calmness around Goldie and JJ’s lessened aggressions and improved self-control are no surprise to Ellen Winston, MA, LPC, NCC.

“I’m not at all surprised that chick-ens can help children, whether they are on the autism spectrum or not,” said Winston, Co-Founder, Director of Communications, and Trainer at Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado, the largest and most experienced clinical program providing animal-assisted psy-chotherapy in the United States.

“A chicken won’t stick around you very long if you are yelling and waving your arms! So if a child, with or without autism, wants to be able to interact with the poultry, they have to find a way to behave such that the animal feels safe with them. Maybe that means they have to slow their body down, be more regulated, and use a gentle touch. This


might mean that they begin to look ‘less emotional’ or have fewer tantrums. This might also look like focus, because the child is working hard to stay regulated and keep the poultry nearby. Hopefully, the child is then rewarded by having the animals approach or stay close to them. Thus, the child learns that moving more slowly and staying calm means they get to pet chickens, so as soon as they near the chickens, you begin to see this im-proved behavior.”

Slow Change Ahead?Does this mean we can expect to

see an increase in chickens, ducks, and other poultry used as therapy animals for children suffering from autism and other conditions in the near future? Probably not. Despite the increase in the number of children being diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder — one out of 88 chil-dren age 8 will be diagnosed, according to a March 2012 report by the Centers for Disease Control — the number of American cities, towns, and villages that permit poultry within suburban and urban zones is still rather limited, with many residents arguing that chickens are not only not therapeutic but also a blight and nuisance that lowers property values (see “The Perry Poultry Parable,” page 60).

Winston disagrees with people’s preconceptions of only dogs serving as therapy animals. “I believe that many animals can be therapeutic for different people,” she stated. “At our facility, we have dogs, cats and horses, which are more typical, but we also have rabbits and rats, which are less traditional therapy animals but have the same amazing im-pact for many of our clients. It’s really more about what a child or even adult feels connected to and what gives them positive reinforcement and encourage-ment. So, why not chickens?”

Writer Ana Hotaling and her hus-band, Jae, own FMA Farms in southeast Michigan, where they raise heritage-breed chickens, turkeys, ducks, guineas, rabbits, and the occasional heirloom tomato. One of her hardest-working farm hands is her autistic teenaged son, Nicholas, who thrives on working with the family’s farm animals. Read more about Ana’s farming adventures at www.facebook.com/FMAFarms.

April/May, 2006 Vol. 1/2• Chick Success: Start Those Birds Right!• Working With the Cock(s) in the Flock

Aug/Sept, 2006 Vol. 1/4• Make Your Own Feed• How to Bathe That Bird

Oct/Nov, 2006 Vol. 1/5• Portable Chicken Runs• Turkey History & Varieties• Integrating Chicken Flocks

Dec, 2006/Jan, 2007 Vol. 1/6• Winter Care for Your Poultry• The Neglected Goose

August/September, 2007 Vol. 2/4• Designing Your Pasture Shelter• Poultry Predator Identification

October/November, 2008 Vol. 3/5• One Dozen Poultry Keeping Tricks • Plymouth Rocks: The Heirloom Breed

February/March 2011 Vol. 6/1• Essential Housing Tips• Silkies: Furry, Five-Toed Bantams

December 2011/January 2012 Vol. 6/6• Tricks for Winter Egg Production• One Dozen Tips to Legalize Chickens

April/May 2012 Vol. 7/2 • Brooding Chicks is Easy!• A New Kind of Chicken Coop

June/July 2012 Vol. 7/3 • Plant a Poultry Garden• Feather Your Nest, Poultry Business Ideas

August/September 2012 Vol. 7/4• The Mystique of Swans• Tools to Legalize Urban Poultry Keeping

December 2012/January 2013 Vol. 7/6• Build a Beautiful & Practical Brooder• Beginner’s Guide to Raising Ducks

Only $4 each ... while supplies lastCircle the issues of your choice. (Note: Past issues not listed are sold out.)

1/2 1/4 1/5 1/6 2/4 3/5 6/1 6/6 7/2

7/3 7/4 7/6 8/1 8/2 8/3 8/4 8/5 8/6 9/1

Mail this form along with $4 per issue plus $4 shipping/handling for first issue and $1 for each additional issue to:

Backyard Poultry Back Issues, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 1-800-551-5691

Name __________________________________________________________

Address ________________________________________________________

City ____________________________ State__________ Zip______________

Phone number ___________________________________________________

Credit Card # _________________________________ Exp ____ CVV #_____

E-mail ________________________________________________________

For more information on back issues, visit our website:www.backyardpoultrymag.com

Volume 5, Number 3June/July, 2010

BackyardPoultryDedicated to more and better small-flock poultry

More Homegrown Feed Ideas Pg. 40


Docile Marans — layers of chocolate brown eggs

Breed Focus:

Summer ChallengesThat Chick is Hot!

Pg. 34

Why Does a Hen Cackle? Pg. 24

...and much more inside!

February/March 2013 Vol. 8/1• Think Like a Chicken: Understanding Bird Talk• Sex-link Chickens: Clarifying Crossbreeds

April/May 2013 Vol. 8/2• Raise Healthy Chicks Naturally• Build a $3 Nest Box

June/July 2013 Vol. 8/3• What’s the Best Incubator?• An Introduction to Pigeons

August/September 2013 Vol. 8/4• Keep Your Poultry Healthy, Poultry Improvement and Medical Kits• Digital Incubators

October/November 2013 Vol. 8/5• Time To Winterize, Ideas for Predator- Proofing, Coops & Feed• The Exotic Rapanui Fowl

December 2013/January 2014 Vol. 8/6• When to Call the Vet and Why to Keep Your Boots Clean• Venturing Into Herbs, Where and How to Start

February/March 2014 Vol. 9/1• Training Your Chickens• Flock Infections, Options for Treatment


Backyard


Volume 7, Number 2

April/May 2012

• Spring Egg Recipes

• Decorating and Dyeing

• Kids Build an Egg Cleaner

...and more inside!

Focus on Eggs:

A New Kind of Chicken Coop Pg.56

Brooding Chicks is Easy! Pg. 34

Are Chickens in Your Future? Pg.6

Backyard Poultry’s Back Issue List

60 Backyard Poultry

Katelyn Anderson is no stranger to challenge. The smiling 5-year-old Michigan resident with the big brown eyes uses her gait trainer to get

around — or her leg braces and walker for shorter dis-tances — and survived cardiac arrest and a series of strokes as an infant.

“The neurologist looked at the MRI and said he ex-pected to see a vegetable,” said Katelyn’s mom, Laura. “But Katelyn surprised her doctors from the start.” The little girl rebounded, but her cerebral palsy — caused by the trauma her brain suffered as a baby — slowed her physical progress.

“Katelyn would constantly fight our efforts to get her to use her walker,” Laura recalled. And then Katelyn discovered chickens.

Laura teamed up with their neighbot, Steven Godbe-here, a disabled paramedic and firefighter with decades of experience helping people, to help bring Katelyn’s flock into being. Steven and his wife, Cari, had moved to Perry, Michigan, a small town with a strong agricultural heritage, in 2009, after falling in love with a beautiful home with a hobby barn, a wooded backyard, and the friendly Andersons across the street.

In September 2012, Steve began to outline plans for his Claddagh Urban Farm. He and Laura retrofitted the back of the Godbehere barn, turning it into a deluxe coop that would house both the Godbehere flock and the Anderson flock, which at the time consisted of several chicks that lived in a cage in the Andersons’ basement.

Laura originally planned to raise the chickens as a source of inexpensive, homegrown food. It was Kate-lyn’s physical therapist who suggested using them as a therapy tool.

“To see in the cage, Katelyn would have to stand, so the PT would have Katelyn sit on her lap and pull herself to stand holding onto the cage,” Laura explained. “We started by pulling her over in a wagon. As she got stronger, we switched to using her gait trainer.”

The change in Katelyn was unmistakable. Soon, Katelyn had created a routine: every day, she would head to the barn to fill the chickens’ feeders, refresh waterers, collect eggs, and spend time with her friends. As her body grew stronger, Katelyn became more mobile and her disposition became sunnier.

Laura had originally ordered Brahmas, dual-purpose birds known for their docile disposition, but Katelyn loved Godbehere’s ISA Browns, which became the little girl’s primary therapy birds. “We even taught one to ride on Katelyn’s gait trainer to she could take it for a walk,” Laura said.

Katelyn’s improved physical and mental health, un-fortunately, were of no concern to a few. Amid a backlash from neighbors and a unsympathetic city council, the

Godbeheres chose to move rather than to subject them-selves and their preschooler, Samuel, to the malevolence.

The alleged harassment continued, including pesti-cide use around the flock, with more instances of trespass, threats of harm, and insults, Godbehere said. On the Claddagh Urban Farm’s Facebook page, a relative of a city council person went so far as to post that Godbehere was the village idiot.”

Both families became uneasy venturing into town even for the shortest errands; they feared that their flocks would be killed, their barn and homes burned. The chickens were locked up in the barn, limiting Katelyn’s interaction with them. One city council member who sided with the families, Karen Potter, saw no issue with chickens being Katelyn’s therapy animals. “[Perry’s] or-dinance is set up where you can have bantam chickens,” she explained. “What she has are full-sized chickens, so the issue really isn’t necessarily the service animal. It’s the size of the chicken.”

The city filed a lawsuit in December 2013 against the Godbeheres and Claddagh Urban Farm for continuing to have large-fowl chickens. An online petition, requesting that the Perry City Council allow Katelyn to keep her therapy birds gathered more than 6,000 signatures, but was summarily ignored, as were my requests to talk to the council and the mayor.

The Godbeheres have since moved all 31 birds — including Katelyn’s therapy chickens — to a coop they built at Cari Godbehere’s parents’ home in DeWitt, Michigan. They sold their home in Perry, turning a new property into a working organic farm. Sadly, DeWitt is not close enough for Katelyn to visit and care for her chicken friends on a daily basis.

The Andersons have also left Perry, moving to a sub-urb of Lansing to start over. Both families are focused on overcoming this challenge — just as they have with so many others.

— Ana Hotaling

The Perry Poultry Parable

Katelyn Anderson poses with one of her therapy birds. The 5-year-old Michigan girl suffers from cerebral palsy, and caring for her chickens help keeps her physically active. Photo courtesy of Laura Anderson.

62 Backyard Poultry

People have raised all kinds of poultry for at least 8,000 years. Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guineafowl and even ostriches have

been domesticated — that is, they have become genetically able to live and reproduce among hu-mans. Domestication itself is an interesting pro-cess. Of 148 large mammal species, only about 15 have ever been domesticated.

Chickens descended from Junglefowl, which still roam wild in India and

other parts of Southeast Asia. Most domesticated ducks are descended from mallards, but domesti-cated Muscovies from the Americas are also raised. Geese are descended from Western Graylag geese and turkeys from wild turkeys, which still roam the countryside. Wild guineafowl and ostriches are common in Africa, but their domestic relatives live on farms.

That wild heritage includes a lot of variety, both in appearance and in those invisible genes, which

is one of the values of heritage breeds — their ge-netic variability. You see it in their body shape and conformation and their colorful plumage. Equally important are unseen qualities such as disease re-sistance, broodiness and egg production. Choosing heritage breeds for your backyard flock puts you and your birds in the long history of traditional poultry.

Hybrid chickens may lay more eggs and the Cornish-Rock cross is the fastest-growing meat bird, but they lack the genetic variability of heri-tage breeds and many of the less visible qualities. Broodiness is bred out of hybrid layers, so that they don’t take any breaks from laying. They may be spent, have laid as many eggs as they will ever lay, in three years.

“Any chicken that lays 300 eggs a year will not live past three years,” said Frank Reese, life-long poultry breeder of Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch in Lindsborg, Kansas. “You do have an animal who is highly productive, but they are hyperactive, short-lived, dead-end animals.”

By CHrisTine HeinriCHs, California

Call ducks, the smallest domestic breed, make their home at Dux Farm in Wills Point, Texas. Photo courtesy of Kevin and Kristine Tanzillo, on the Dux Farm.

Where It All StartedPopular Heritage Breeds for Your Backyard Flock

BreeDs:


Because they are hybrids, with the vigor of cross-breeding, they can’t pass that on to their offspring, even if they were able to brood them. Cornish-Rock crosses do little but eat and grow. They are physically unable to reproduce.

“Healthy, balanced heritage breed birds have a healthy immune system,” Reese said. “They are like athletes who have trained. Don’t expect morbidly obese animals to be athletes. They are bred to be what they are.”

Reese has worked with the Livestock Conservancy and others to develop a marketing definition of Heritage Chick-ens (find the full definition on page 64): “A Heritage Egg can only be produced by a Standard-bred Chicken admitted by the American Poultry Association. A Heritage Chicken is hatched from a Heritage Egg sired by an American Poul-try Association Standard-bred Chicken, whose breed was established prior to the mid-20th century, is slow growing, naturally mated with a long productive outdoor life.”

That definition is a foundation on which to build a market for traditional breed poultry and educate the public. A USDA-approved definition would re-quire producers to meet that definition in order to label their products as “heritage,” and sell for a premium price. One of Mr. Reese’s goals was to write the definition so that it would not be subject to being subverted by the poultry industry the way “natural,” “free range” and “organic” of-ten are. A precise definition is necessary to prevent unqualified companies from labeling their products with it, until the term loses its meaning and the producer loses the market premium.

Breeds for Backyard FlocksIdentify the breeds that suit your

needs. Just as a hunter wouldn’t choose a Chihuahua for a hunting dog, small flock keepers should choose breeds that suit them. Silkies, Dorkings and Cochins have gentle personalities that make them desirable birds for households with young children. Bantams are small breeds, easier for small hands to hold.

Wyandottes, Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, New Hamp-shires, Orpingtons, Polish and Houdans were commercial production breeds in the early 20th century. Javas, Domi-niques, Buckeyes, Delawares, New Hampshires, Rocks and Rhode Island

Reds are among the historic chicken breeds that are appearing more frequently at poultry shows. Some breeds, such as the New Hampshire, are often shown, but most do not meet the Standard.

Mr. Reese has focused on New Hampshires and is making good progress with them. “It takes years of commit-ment, but it’s so satisfying to walk out and look at your flock and be happy with what you see.”

Attend a poultry show and meet the breeders. Consider visiting the farm where they raise their flocks.

“Seek out those people who have dedicated their lives to quality and proper breeding,” Mr. Reese said. “See how the mom and dad birds treat you. Find out what it takes to maintain a good flock of these birds.”

Breeds may be familiar, such as the Rhode Island Red, the state bird of Rhode Island, or obscure, such as Sultan chick-ens, which were bred as ornamental birds for Turkish royalty in the 19th century. They are decorative indeed, with full flowing white crests, muffs and beards, long feathers gracing their legs. Their feathery legs, called vulture hocks, are undesirable in other breeds, but in the case of Sultans, they add to the allure. To keep those feathery feet attractive, you won’t want them spending time around the edge of a muddy pond.

They have five toes, like the Dorking and the Silkie. They are a medium-sized

bird, at 6 pounds for a rooster and 4 pounds for a hen. Bantams top out at 22 to 26 ounces. They are good layers of white eggs, your bonus for keeping such distinctive birds.

Bantams are small chickens, gener-ally one-fifth to one-third the size of large fowl, weighed in ounces rather than pounds. Most are small versions of standard size chickens, but some are True Bantams, such as Nankins and Silkies. They require proportionately less space and feed.

Modern Games, both large fowl and bantams, were bred exclusively for show-ing. They have an unusual, modern art appearance. Japanese bantams hold their black tails high above their white bodies. Silkies have unusual hair-like feathers. Bantams come in every color imaginable.

Many bantams retain good mother-ing characteristics and will happily set on eggs and raise chicks for you. Their eggs, though small, are tasty. A friend finds one regular chicken egg too small for breakfast and two too large, but two bantam eggs just right.

Add Ducks to your FlockMandarin ducks and Wood ducks

look as if someone painted them — the drakes, at any rate — with distinct brightly colored green, red, brown and white markings. The hens, like so many waterfowl, have camouflage plumage that is less striking. They happily nest in

These Royal Palm turkeys strut on Ryon Carey’s farm in Kansas. A guinea fowl keeps them company. Photo by Christine Heinrichs.

64 Backyard Poultry

• Chicks • Turkeys • Ducklings • Goslings • Guineas

• Gamebirds • Bantams • Equipment • BooksCall 717-365-3694

www.hoffmanhatchery.comPO Box 129BPGratz, PA 17030

FREE CATALOG!!

boxes and will raise a clutch of young-sters for you.

Wood ducks are native to North America, one of the few duck breeds that nest in trees. That first step out of the nest can be a big one for ducklings — jumps as long as 290 feet, without injury, have been documented. They naturally produce two broods in a year. You may attract some wild ones to your pond, or you can acquire domestically raised birds. Trimming the primary flight feathers on one wing will keep them from flying away, although domestic birds may willingly stay in the comfortable surroundings you provide.

Mandarin ducks are Asian cousins to Wood ducks. While they are not native to North America, they do well here. Their stunning plumage makes them popular in private collections. While their wild numbers in China are declining, they are doing well in domestic flocks. Pairs bond for life, making them a symbol of marital love and fidelity, often used to bless Chinese weddings.

Not everyone finds the caruncles of Muscovy ducks attractive, but they are a conversation point. The fleshy growths on their heads are warty and strange. These large ducks, native to the American continents, can be friendly companions. The hens are good mothers and naturally

lay quite a few eggs. Crested ducks have feathered knobs on their heads, giving them an eye-catching appearance. Runner ducks are often described as “wine bottles with legs.” With supportive diets, they lay as many eggs as chickens, and come in many colors.

Bantam ducks weighing less than 2 pounds may suit you. Call ducks were originally bred to attract wild ducks by calling them down to the hunter’s blind. They retain their inclination to call, and are vocal and sociable. East Indies ducks glimmer with greenish iridescence on their black plumage.

Geese are Beautiful Historic geese breeds such as Emb-

den, Toulouse and Pomeranian have smooth feathers, but Sebastopol geese look as if someone curled theirs. Their soft, flowing ruffles give them the ap-pearance of fantastic dream birds. Their feathers are as much as four times as long as normal feathers, with flexible shafts that spiral, draping down to the ground.

They are an ancient utility breed, hardy and respectable egg layers of 25 to 35 eggs a year. Goose eggs can sub-stitute for chicken eggs in cooking and are especially valued in baking. Their albumen is heavier than that of chicken eggs, so don’t bother trying to get them

Breeder Dave Kozakiewicz took this photo of his Sebastopol geese at sunset on his Michigan farm.

KENCOVE ELECTRIC NETTING

Call now for your free fence guide & catalog

www.kencove.com 1-800-KENCOVE

• Superior protection from predators• Lightweight, portable design for easy installation• Available in green, orange, and white

(NSPCW2 Featured)

$91Delivered Price

IMPORTANT VOLUNTARY RECALLIMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

Brower Top Hatch Incubator

STOP USING THIS INCUBATOR & CONTACT US TO OBTAIN A FREE BASE ASSEMBLY

This involves THI20 Version 2. Not all Top Hatch Incubators are being recalled. Call800-553-1791 or go tobrowerequip.com for more information.

RECALL SLICK.indd 1 5/6/2013 11:53:51 AM


to lightly whip up. Sebastopols are considered medium

geese, weighing 12 to 14 pounds at matu-rity, making them good table birds, if you are so inclined. They are gentle and enjoy human companionship. Keep them away from aggressive birds. They enjoy bath-ing those lovely feathers in clean water.

All waterfowl feathers and down make the warmest insulation, both for the bird and for clothing and bedding. No man-made product is as good as goose down and feathers. Geese stay warm in the harshest winter weather, but the loose feathering of Sebastopols makes them appreciate protection when it’s especially cold, wet and windy.

Don’t worry about them flying away. Those long, curly feathers are useless for flying. Like all geese, they mate for the duration, which may well be for life. They love raising a family and will hap-pily adopt youngsters of other species. Give them a place to nest and you will have years of happy families.

On Beyond TurkeysAll turkeys are the same breed, but

their different colors separate them as varieties. Royal Palm turkeys have striking white and black markings. And while Royal Palms have been selected for their beauty, they did not lose their ability to forage for themselves. Royal Palm turkeys will also raise their own poults for you.

Wild turkeys are plentiful around the U.S. now, having made a recovery from being hunted into extinction in many areas. If you keep domestic turkeys, you may find a wild male eager to join your flock for a season. Farmers of the past generally welcomed such interlopers, for their contribution to the vitality of the flock. The offspring won’t retain the distinctive coloring of Royal Palms, but that may not be important to you. All turkeys are sociable and companionable with people.

Royal Palm turkeys are relatively small, with toms topping out at around 22 pounds and hens around 12 pounds. They are good table birds, if you find yourself with more than you want.

Christine Heinrichs is the author of How to Raise Chickens and How to raise Poultry, published by Voyageur Press. Find ways to order her books on page 32-33 of this edition.

PRODUCTS THAT IMPROVE THE LIVES OF BACKYARD FLOCKS AND PET CHICKENSHen Saver chicken saddle/hen apron • Hen Holster chicken diaper/harness • Birdy Bra crop bra (for pendulous or slow crops) • Birdy Bootie (to protect against and heal bumblefoot)

Learn more about our award-winning patented and patent-pending products for chickens at:

www.HenSaver.com • 800-980-4165www.CrazyKFarm.com

66 Backyard Poultry

Chickens must meet all of the follow-ing criteria to be marketed as Heritage:

1. APA Standard Breed: Heritage Chicken must be from parent and grand-parent stock of breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) prior to the mid-20th century; whose genetic line can be traced back multiple generations; and with traits that meet the APA Standard of Perfection guidelines for the breed. Heritage Chicken must be produced and sired by an APA Standard breed. Heritage eggs must be laid by an APA Standard breed.

2. Naturally mating: Heritage Chicken must be reproduced and geneti-cally maintained through natural mating. Chickens marketed as Heritage must be the result of naturally mating pairs of both grandparent and parent stock.

3. Long, productive outdoor lifespan: Heritage Chicken must have

the genetic ability to live a long, vigorous life and thrive in the rigors of pasture-based, outdoor production systems. Breeding hens should be productive for five to seven years and roosters for three to five years.

4. Slow growth rate: Heritage Chicken must have a moderate to slow rate of growth, reaching appropriate mar-ket weight for the breed in no less than 16 weeks. This gives the chicken time to de-velop strong skeletal structure and healthy organs prior to building muscle mass.

The Livestock Conservancy’s Defini-tion of Heritage Chicken. Chickens mar-keted as Heritage must include the variety and breed name on the label. Terms like “heirloom,” “antique,” “old-fashioned,” and “old timey” imply Heritage and are understood to be synonymous with the definition provided here.

— LivestockConservancy.org

Underneath his white hair-like feathers, this Silkie rooster has black skin. Photo by Corallina Breuer.

This white Dorking hen and Colored Dorking rooster represent a distinctive heritage breed with a history dating back to the Roman Empire. Photo by Christine Heinrichs.

What Makes a Heritage Breed?

Freedom Ranger Color Chicks

Freedom Rangers are specially suited for full pasturing, free range, organic

certified, backyard, etc.

Guineas are fast grow-ing, suitable for

backyard growers who want to control ticks and for those who

would want to use them as a meat bird.

The muscovy is fast growing and a great range duck with a lean meat that is

desired by many restaurants.

J.M. Hatchery178 Lowry Road

New Holland, PA 17557

Call or visit us online.

717-354-5950 www.jmhatchery.com

~ ~

To order Muscovy ducklings call Stephen at 717-445-6255.

To order Freedom Rangers, call Kendall at 717-336-4878 or visit

www.freedomrangerhatchery.com

68 Backyard Poultry

The history of the Tournaisis is in-teresting. At the end of the 19th century, the local people kept

bantams on the banks of the Scheldt river in the Bléharies region of Belgium (close to Tournai). By selecting ban-tams for laying qualities and attractive plumage, they created a new breed: the Tournaisis, or Mille-fleurs Tournai. In France, it is the Naine du Tournaisis, and in Holland, the Doornik bantam. It is thought Mantes blood was used in

its creation, as this breed was farmed in large numbers nearby. Traditionally the Tournaisis was also known as the “bargemen’s bantam” or the “skippers’ chicken” because they were often kept on boats as they laid well and provided the fishermen with their breakfast. Like many bantam breeds, it was thought the breed was destroyed during the

1914-1918 War; however, in the journal Hunting and Fishing in 1923, we find the breed mentioned. Pulincks-Eeman wrote that he met this race for the first time during the late 19th century along the Belgian- French border while giving in this region lectures on the develop-ment of the poultry in Belgium. Mr. R Du Manoir, also in 1923, said he knew this race, and in 1883, when he was 15, his father was already using the Tournai-sis for incubating partridge and pheas-

Tournaisis Bantam

BreeD ConservaTion arounD THe worlD:

A couple Belgian bantams, including a partridge male and wheaten-type hen. Photo by Stuart Sutton.

By sTuarT suTTon enGlanD

Left: A Tournaisis bantam pullet head. Right: A Tournaisis bantam male head. Photos by Stuart Sutton.


ants. He also said that the local peasant-ry called this small poultry “Tiquetée,” meaning spotted, checked or marked.

The Tournaisis is a real utility bantam. The hens lay a good number of white-shelled eggs of around 1.3 ounces. They also brood easily and because of this they were also often used to incubate and raise pheasant chicks. The hen usually demon-strates the desire to “cover” as soon as she had laid 12 to 13 eggs; this quality was good for hatching eggs of game birds. They can easily be kept in pens that are preferably closed on top.

They are quite large bantams, the male weighing 1.6 to 2 pounds, the hens 1.4 to 1.6 pounds. The body is rather erect and the back slopes toward the tail. The breast is nicely rounded and carried forward. The comb is single, red and medium-sized. The earlobes are also red and the shanks are pinkish white. The only variety recognized by the Walloon inter Animal Breeders Association of Lower Court, Belgium (2008) remains the Millefleur, meaning a “thousand flowers.” This hen has a mahogany ground color, and small crescent-shaped black bars with V-shaped white spangles that are irregularly spread all over the body, with different markings on each animal. The main tail feathers and the primaries are usually black.

The male’s ground color is black with an orange hackle and saddle but with ir-regular black and white flecks. His breast is black with brown and white flecks. He

A group of silver duckwing Belgian Bantams. Photo by Stuart Sutton.

is proud and can be pugnacious. Accord-ing to poultry experts Brandt and Willems (1971), he has a lot of similarity with the “Old English Game,” which is correct as that breed along with the few remaining Tournaisis was used in its recreation.

Recently, the breed has had a difficult journey, the standard being different in Wallonia, Flanders and the Netherlands, where Dutch subjects were even a differ-ent color to Belgian birds. However, in 2006, the Flemish standard was replaced by a new Belgian standard, and since then the situation has slightly improved.

Like the majority of Belgian bantam breeds, the Tournaisis is now under threat with only around 150 individuals identi-fied in a 2010 study conducted by Belgian Poultry Authorities. The breed is mostly found in the Southern French-speaking part of Belgium. It is rare in the north, and very rare in other countries.

Belgian Bantam or Belgische Kriel

The Belgian Bantam should be con-sidered as the type of a small Belgian poultry, golden-salmon in color, which was very common throughout Western Europe in the mid 18th century. This hen was given several names depending on the region: it is called “Golden French Hen” by the French, “Garden Hen” by the Germans, and “Engelse Kiekskens” or “English Chicken” by the Dutch. Ac-cording to the renowned poultry expert of the time, Mr. Collier, it was toward the

70 Backyard Poultry

end of 1909 when breeders in the Liège region began to select this attractive bird into a well proportioned and rounded hen. Twenty-years later, the breed was accepted and fixed.

The first official standard of the breed was admitted in 1934. Since its incep-tion, the race has often been confused with the Ardenner bantam, although the two have little in common. It is graceful, proportionate and well rounded, in short constituting a very elegant fowl. It has a single red comb, and the attributes of the head are very small with round earlobes. The legs are medium, smooth and slate blue in color, the tail is elegantly curved and large enough, and the plumage tight. This hen can be described as sporting, rustic, lively with a wide-awake look, very familiar and able to live in a small space. The Belgian bantam is in fact a very easy breed to keep without any special demands. It does, however, like most other bantams, fly well — so it is best kept in a closed pen. They become tame very easily if handled regularly .The breed is fairly small, weighing about 1.1 to 1.3 pounds, lays a good number of eggs around 1 ounce, is a good incubator and a good mother with the chicks growing easily. Main differences with the more common Dutch bantam are that the Bel-gian bantam has red, not white ears, has a shorter back and has more of a proud look about them indicating they are a little more characterful and wild.

There are 13 varieties recognized by the standard (Belgium, Walloon inter Animal Breeders Association of Lower Court, 2008), including Silver duckwing, blue-red, blue-silver, golden duckwing, blue golden duckwing, wheaten, silver wheaten, blue, black and white.

In 2009, a 13th variety was recog-nized, light golden salmon, bred by A. Verelst and R. Boonen. In 1971 the real Belgian Bantam was considered virtu-ally extinct.

In 2010 it was classified as endan-gered, with only 168 birds identified in the whole of Belgium with the majority in Flanders. It is practically unknown outside the region.

Contact [email protected] for more information on any of the rare breeds mentioned. Thanks and acknowledgement to Association for Promotion of Belgian Poultry Breeds, R.Boonen, K.Van Loy, and R.Snauwaert.

DEDICATED TO PROMOTING ANDPROTECTING STANDARD-BRED POULTRY

Benefits include:Quarterly Newsletter-Annual YearbookOfficially Sanctioned Shows and Judges

JOIN TODAY-Dues: $20 per year or $50 for 3 yearsJunior members $15 per year or $40 for 3 years

American Poultry AssociationPO Box 306, Burgettstown, Pa. 15021

Phone: 724-729-3459 - Email: [email protected]: amerpoultryassn.com

AmericAn Poultry AssociAtion

Contact Kelly Weiler for more details: 1-800-551-5691; [email protected]

Volume 94 Number 5

September/October, 2010

The magazine of modern homesteading

& Small Stock Journal

$3.99 US • www.countrysidemag.com

and much, much, more inside...

Solar Panels:Buy or Build?

Hogson theHomestead

Onions:Trufflesof the Poor

• Gardening with “tanks”• The trouble with twins• Surviving from the land

Plus:

Volume 5, Number 4August/September, 2010

BackyardPoultryDedicated to more and better small-flock poultry

Identify and Foila Poultry Predator

A Dream RealizedStarted with the Coop




The Voice of the Independent Flockmasters

May/June, 2010

Volume 31, Number 3

$4.99 U.S. www.sheepmagazine.com

Breeds That Pay

Their Way pg. 42

sheep! BIG Demand

For Your Wool? pg. 50

Double Your Acre-Yields

With Managed Grazing pg. 34

Plus:• Quick Ways To Make

Good Money With Sheep

• USDA Treachery Proved!

and much more inside...

“Felt ”

1

Dairy Goat Journal, January/February 2012

Dairy Goat JournalVol. 90 No. 1, January/February 2012

www.dairygoatjournal.com

The BestDairy Udders:Sound & Functional

Train Your Goatto Pull a Cart!

CAE Prevention& ManagementIs Essential

Plus:• Can goats reduce poverty?• Visit Misty Meadow Dairy• Be a good breederAnd much, much more inside!

4 magazines to sell to make money for

your club or organization!

NO deadlines • NO inventoryNO risks • NO hidden costs

NO deliveries for you to make!

Countryside PublicationsFundraising prograM

Countryside PublicationsFundraising prograM

4 magazines to sell to make money for your club or organization!

Contact Kelly Weiler for more details: 1-800-551-5691; [email protected]





Hogson theHomestead



Plus:


May/June, 2010Volume 31, Number 3


Breeds That Pay Their Way pg. 42

sheep! BIG Demand For Your Wool? pg. 50

Double Your Acre-YieldsWith Managed Grazing pg. 34

Plus:• Quick Ways To Make Good Money With Sheep• USDA Treachery Proved! and much more inside...

“Felt ”

Volume 5, Number 4August/September, 2010

BackyardPoultry

Dedicated to more and better small-flock poultry

Identify and Foila Poultry Predator

A Dream RealizedStarted with the Coop





. .





• NO deadlines • NO inventory • NO risks • NO hidden costs • NO deliveries for you to make!

Countryside Publications

Fundraising prograM

4 magazines to sell to make money for your club or organization!

Contact Kelly Weiler for more details: [email protected]





Hogson theHomestead



Plus:


May/June, 2010Volume 31, Number 3


Breeds That Pay Their Way pg. 42

sheep! BIG Demand For Your Wool? pg. 50

Double Your Acre-YieldsWith Managed Grazing pg. 34

Plus:• Quick Ways To Make Good Money With Sheep• USDA Treachery Proved! and much more inside...

“Felt ”

Volume 5, Number 4

August/September, 2010Backyard


Identify and Foil

a Poultry Predator

A Dream Realized

Started with the Coop





. .





• NO deadlines • NO inventory • NO risks • NO hidden costs • NO deliveries for you to make!


RANDALL BURKEY COMPANYQuality Products Since 1947

QUALITY PRODUCTSWe have what you need whether you are rasing a few chickens in your backyard or you are a serious breeder.

Tested QualityWe test all our products to make sure they meet our quality standards

1 Year Limited WarrantyOn all hardware purchases

30 Day Satisfaction GuaranteeOn all orders.

Visit Us Online

randallburkey.com

EXPERT KNOWLEDGEWe have been in the business of rasing chickens since 1947 and we have the experience and expertise to help you raise your �lock.

Product ExpertsOur friendly operators have the knowledge to help you chose the right product for your �lock.

Online Knowledge BaseVisit our website for a wealth of knowledge on rasing chickens.

GREAT PRICESWe offer competitive everyday low prices and great weekly specials.

Monthly E-mail SpecialsVisit our website to sign up

Price Matching We are happy to match any competitors advertised price

$7.99 Value ShippingAvailable on most items

10% Off Your First OrderUse the key code “BACKYARD”

Call Toll Free

800-531-1097

FREE Catalog

72 Backyard Poultry

reCiPes:

The Riches of Egg DoughYum.

If you’re looking for a way to showcase the abundance of spring eggs your chickens produce, why not try egg-rich, golden, yeast bread? In its simplest form, bread can be made with water,

yeast and flour. But add an egg or two (or three, four, or more) into the mix, and simple bread becomes rich with possibilities. Eggs add that special touch, creating a light and airy texture, combined with a velvety rich crumb re-sulting in golden breads that rise to the occasion.

Special breads feature prominently in many cultures around the world, from Jewish challah and French brioche, to English hot cross buns, Italian and Greek Easter egg bread, Russian kulich and the famous New Orleans Mardi Gras king cake (which is really a bread). All of these breads have one thing in common: a cache of eggs.

It wasn’t until I began raising backyard chickens that I realized just how much a chicken’s egg laying schedule is tied into traditional breads and recipes. My grandmother’s recipe for the special Ukrainian Christmas bread we make uses two eggs, while her recipe for Easter bread uses two eggs plus eight egg yolks. The few precious eggs that were available in the winter were highly prized and used spar-ingly, while the springtime egg abundance shows up in nu-merous spring recipes where eggs are used with abandon.

By JaniCe Cole minnesoTa


Eggs perform a variety of roles in bread baking, depending on whether the entire egg is used, if the egg white and egg yolk are used separately, or if the

egg white or egg yolk are used in combination with the whole egg.

The Role of Eggs in Bread Baking

Whole EggsWhole eggs add structure and lightness to bread. When eggs are beaten with air they form large delicate bonds,

which help lift the bread creating a light and delicate texture. Whole eggs also help bind the ingredients together, resulting in tight strong bread. Breads made with whole eggs are perfect for recipes that involve soaking the bread in liquid, such as for French toast, bread pudding or poultry stuffing. Other breads may fall apart or disintegrate when used in these recipes.

Egg WhitesEgg whites behave the opposite of egg yolks in bread, cre-

ating crispness as opposed to tenderness. Egg whites also add leavening helping breads rise to greater heights. In addition, egg whites help bind ingredients together. A perfect example of the benefit of egg whites is the popover. The steam from the added egg whites helps this bread pop to great heights and the crisp crust gives it that perfect crackling finish.

Egg YolksEgg yolks not only add richness, they also act as an emulsifier,

combining the fat and moisture in the bread together for a smooth and creamy texture. Egg yolks limit the amount of gluten that’s formed during kneading creating softer, less chewy and more tender bread. In addition, the added sugar that’s often used in egg breads further softens the texture creating cake-like breads (think Mardi Gras King Cake). While egg yolks will not leaven breads like egg whites or whole eggs, their emulsifiers keep bread fresh and soft for a longer period of time. For breads that need to stay moist and soft for several days, add an extra egg yolk or two.

74 Backyard Poultry

Egg whitesWhole eggs Egg Yolks

Drying

Airy texture

Crispness

Emulsifying

Leavening

Rising

Lightness

Moisture

Slow Staling

Softness

Strength

Structure

√√√√

√√ √

√√√

√√√

√

√ √√ √ √

To C

reat

e.Use.

Egg Chart for Bread

• Most breads can be made in different containers from small one-pound coffee cans (make sure to remove the inner lip) to muffin tins and casserole dishes. Adjust bak-ing time as necessary.

• Resist adding too much flour. These bread doughs are sticky but will result in moist beautiful bread. Adding too much flour will make them heavy and dry. If you refrigerate them (accord-ing to the directions) they’re easier to work with, especially when forming decorations.

Baking Tips

• Experiment with forming different shapes, braids and rolls. Or, bake simply in a loaf or round shape.

• Make sure all of the ingredi-ents, including the eggs, are at room temperature. Egg breads are rich breads and often rise slowly. Any adjustment in the temperature will impair rising time.


Combine orange juice and 1 table-spoon of the sugar in large bowl of stand mixer. Sprinkle on yeast; let stand 10 minutes until foamy and frothy. Mean-while, beat 3 of the eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cardamom and salt in medium bowl until combined. On low speed with paddle attachment (if avail-able), beat in eggs in a steady stream; beat 1 minute.

Slowly add 2 ½ cups of the flour and salt. When all the flour has been incorporated, increase speed to medium and knead 10 minutes or until dough is very smooth, scraping bowl occasion-ally. Dough will eventually begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Dough is sticky but resist the urge to add more flour. Let dough rest 5 minutes.

Slowly beat in butter on low speed in 2 tablespoon amounts. Increase speed to medium and knead until smooth and shiny and all the butter is incorporated. If dough is still extremely moist, add ad-ditional 1/4 cup of flour.

Place dough in small buttered bowl, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight; dough should be doubled in size.

Punch dough down; divide in three. On a lightly greased surface with lightly greased hands, roll each piece to 16-inch rope. Braid together and place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise in warm place 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until dough almost doubles in size. Meanwhile, beat remaining 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water until smooth. Arrange dyed eggs in bread dough.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. Bake 20 minutes; lightly brush with beaten egg glaze and continue baking 5 to 10 minutes or until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on wire rack.

1 (14-slice) loaf

Copyright Janice Cole 2014.

Bread:1/3 cup warm orange juice (110° to 115°F)3 tablespoons sugar, divided1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast 4 eggs, room temperature, divided2 teaspoons ground cardamom1 teaspoon salt2 ½ to 2 ¾ cups bread flour10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened1 teaspoon grated orange peel1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Dyed Eggs:4 eggs, dyed with natural or food coloring dye (use raw eggs as they become hard-cooked in the oven while the bread is baking)

Glaze:2 cups powdered sugar3 to 4 tablespoons milk1 tablespoons corn syrup1/4 teaspoon almond extract1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

Cardamom-Orange Egg BreadThis show-stopping braided bread encases hand-dyed eggs and yields delicate

slices of orange-flecked, cardamom-scented bread gilded with an almond glaze. It’s a variation on classic French brioche. Don’t be put off by the length of the recipe; it’s easy to make with an electric mixer and rises overnight in the refrigerator.

This informative book for both beginning and experienced chicken owners covers breed selection, building feeders and shelters, how to collect and store your eggs to maintain freshness (or hatching), care for chicks, maintain-ing good flock health, raising broilers for meat, showing your birds, and more. 341 pages, $19.95

Storey’s Guide toRaising Chickens

By GaiL Damerow

To Place Your Order Call

1-800-551-5691www.countrysidemag.com

76 Backyard Poultry

Photo by Alex Farnum

Combine yeast and warm water in small bowl; let sit 10 minutes until foamy.

Combine butter, sugar, salt, allspice and turmeric in large bowl. Scald milk and pour over butter mixture, stirring until butter is melted. Beat in egg yolks and one of the eggs. Beat in yeast mix-ture. Slowly beat in 2 cups of the flour until mixture looks like pancake batter; beat 1 minute at low speed. Cover and let stand 20 minutes.

Slowly beat in remaining 1 to 2 cups flour adding just enough flour until dough holds its shape but is still a bit sticky. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, knead briefly to combine and place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. Deflate dough and let rise a second time for 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Dough can be covered and placed in refrigerator at this point to rise overnight.)

Deflate dough and divide in half. Di-vide each portion into 5 pieces. On lightly

greased surface with greased hands, roll three of the pieces into long ropes and braid; place in greased 8-by-2-inch round baking pan or springform pan. Twist re-maining two into long thick rope; place around the braid in pan. (Make ropes long enough so you don’t have to stretch them.) Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise 30 to 45 minutes or until double in size. Meanwhile beat remaining 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water.

Heat oven to 350ºF. Bake 30 minutes; lightly brush with egg glaze. Continue baking 10 to 15 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow.

Makes 2 medium loaves

Copyright Janice Cole 2014. Janice Cole is a food editor, writer and recipe developer who raises backyard chick-ens in Minnesota. She is the author of Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes (Chron-icle Books; 2011). For more recipes and her blog go to janicecole.net.

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast1/2 cup warm water (110ºF. to 115ºF.)Pinch of sugar1/4 cup butter, cut up1/4 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon ground allspicePinch ground turmeric1 cup whole milk3 egg yolks, room temperature2 eggs, divided3 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

This bread is loaded with egg yolks and literally glows on the plate. It rises three times making it extremely light and airy. The allspice and turmeric are traditional in this bread, but feel free to substitute cinnamon and nutmeg if desired.

Golden Egg Bread

A must-have reference for the small flock owner, Gail discusses the problems and diseases common to chickens of all breeds and all ages. She also explains how to hatch healthy chicks, provide proper nutrition, fight parasites, spot diseases and infections in their early stages, protect the flock from predators and build safe houses and yards. Practical charts help pinpoint common symptoms and causes of disease. An extensive listing provides quick access to treatments and remedies for everything from poor egg production to crooked toe syndrome. Generously illustrated. 344 pages, $19.95

The Chicken HealthHandbookBy GaiL Damerow

To Place Your Order Call 1-800-551-5691

www.countrysidemag.com


AMERICAS LARGEST PHEASANT FARM

MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc.Janesville, Wisconsin 53546 • Established 1929

[email protected]

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FOR RAISING TIPS.

Hen Chicks 500+...20¢ Each • 1000+...15¢

800-345-8348

Over 1.5 Million

Hatched In 2013

National Delivery...Guaranteed!

HENS • STRAIGHT RUN • COCKS

Chinese RingneckManchurian Ringneck

Chukar PartridgeK Thunder

Melanistic MutantChukar/Redleg Partridge

Available!

78 Backyard Poultry

Photo by Janice Cole

a love of THe HoBBy:

Stringman ExtraordinaireNew York’s John Hayes Continues a Nearly-Forgotten Practice

Above: John Hayes in his backyard with Blue Andalusian. Photo by Tamara Staples. Below: Stringmen dated between 1910 and 1970s.


John Hayes has an uncommon story. Like many folks who I interview, he’s spent the better part of his life

raising and showing heritage breeds. But unlike breeders today, he took part in an unparalleled American Poultry ex-perience: he was a Stringman. Just as the early cowboy is strictly unique to our country, so it is with the Stringmen of old, the road warriors who traveled from fair to fair, showing their breeds, and if successful, who made a healthy living.

John was born in 1927 in New York in a town called Montour Falls, named for the local Shequaga Falls, with the tag line, “Southern gateway to the Finger Lakes.” This lush part of the state allowed the perfect location to settle the family dairy farm.

John grew up caring for the cows, but in 1950, John joined the army and spent three years stateside. After his service ended, he moved to Mount Upton, where he trained to be an artificial inseminator for dairy cattle and spent the next 30 years making local house calls. When John got another offer farther north, he insisted that the phone service was terrible there, and would have been difficult for the farmers to easily reach him. So he stayed. While working as an inseminator, he also began substituting as a rural letter carrier. Eventually, working for the post office became full time and was so for the next 29 years. Holding down two full-time jobs would be difficult for anyone, but John took on a third job that would last for more than 40 years — becoming a Stringman.

In a time when television and even telephones were scarce, when people sewed their clothes and grew their food supply, agriculture wasn’t something that happened on some far-off plain; it was an everyday affair. And when a fair came to town, it was a big deal. People looked forward to it all year. They attended en masse and wore their Sunday finest to enjoy the amusements such as sideshows and rides, beauty and pie contests, and the pride and joy of the fairs — the local livestock, which farmers and civilians alike came to see and to buy.

In this great sea of animals, the chick-ens reigned supreme. Not everyone could keep a cow or a pig, but many could have

By Tamara sTaPles

new york

chickens. Often, keeping poultry was a hobby for young boys, who found a way to compete with their birds. And here, as one source claims, there could be 10,000 chickens (1927, Springfield, Ohio) of every breed and color one could imagine. What a sight for a young boy hoping to have a few of his own. The agricul-ture buildings would fill up and tents were added. The birds would be judged and prize money or pre-miums, as they were called, were distributed: first, second and third place of every breed. Out of this, a few men saw an opportunity.

A Stringman was an ex-perienced chicken breeder who entered many poultry breeds, a “string,” in large quantities from one state fair exhibition to the next for the purpose of winning prize money. This practice could, at the very least, provide income to support the hobby of chicken breeding, but fortunes varied. If the entry fee of one bird was a quarter, and the Stringman entered 300 birds of all varieties, he’d pay a $75 entry. If the cash prize was $5 and 100 of his birds placed, he would have made $425 dollars cash, a huge sum 100 years ago. The secret was that the feed was included in the entry fee. The Stringman would drop off his birds on Sunday and collect them the following Sunday, drive to another fair,

deposit them for a week, and so on. The birds would literally make the fair rounds from June to September.

John and his friend, Bob Morris (who later married John’s twin sister, Jean), had a string of poultry when they were in high school. They stayed with the birds at the

fairs, sometimes sleeping in the cattle barns on hay bales. Not old enough

to drive, they hired a farm helper to chauffer the chickens to the

fairs all summer. When they received their premium

checks, they could then pay their driver. It

was not unusual to take out a loan from a bank in

the spring to pay the entry fees, and then

pay it off in the fall at the end of the fair season.John had more than 100 differ-

ent varieties. His record books indicate he exhibited 1,400 chickens and 250 ducks in 1994 alone. In fact, John con-tinued his Stringman ways until 2006, when he showed at the New York State Fair. The money had long since dried up for this hobby, but his love of poultry kept him at it. John was also a serious competitor at the poultry shows. His bird of choice was the Blue Andalusian, so much so, his stock is still apparent in all the East Coast birds of that breed.

The Stringman StoryThe Stringman’s origins begin long

Undated but vintage image of John’s Blue Andalusian chickens.

80 Backyard Poultry

before accurate record keeping began. Some sources assert the beginning was as early as the 1870s, but the “Golden Era” of the Stringman had to be in the early 20th century, when the “knights of the road,” as they were deemed, traveled by rail. The greatest string exhibitors were arguably in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, as well as the Midwest. John Kri-ner of New York, also known as Pastime Farms, is an excellent example of a true Stringman. An article in The Poultry Item from July 1936 claims he kept 160 varieties:

“John has been one of that small group that helped to fill the rare and ornamental classes, where there is little competition but where the show would fall down, from the visitor’s standpoint.”

In another article dated 1948:“During his lifetime he has created

some forty varieties of large fowl and over forty varieties of bantams. Species that were practically unattainable or extinct have been recreated and placed before the public, many times, by him. Back in 1881 he earned his first premium money of $1.00 at Allentown, Pa. on a Jacobin Pigeon and has been showing up to as many as 500 specimens of poultry in one show at a one time. He has exhibited at shows and fairs all over the U.S. and Cuba and his blue ribbon number in the thousands.”

John ran an ad in 1929 in the local paper that read:

A Poultry Show Every Day in the YearFree AdmissionIf looking for The Odd and Ends, The Beau-

tiful, The Ornamental and Popular Breeds, come to the Ore Lake Poultry Farm, here you can see a poultry show every day in the year. Here you can see bred the many varieties we exhibit. Usu-ally if we can’t supply you with what you want it can’t be had. Many thousand of prizes won at the America’s foremost shows and expositions.

Another famous Stingman also from New York was Gus Braun. From an un-dated periodical:

“I used to show from 700 to 800 birds,” Gus said. “In the winter, I worked the big shows: Madison Square Garden, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. I used to figure to clear about $300 a week in premiums at the smaller shows, such as Sandy Creek. I remember one year at the Rochester exposition I took

Get Back to Basics with the Grandfather of Simple Living Magazines… & Small Stock Journal

Countryside •145 Industrial Dr. Medford, WI 54451 800-551-5691 • www.countrysidemag.com

One year (6 issues) only $18.00!

Plant a garden. Raise a few chickens. Prepare a meal from scratch, with food you produced yourself . Enjoy the peace and prosperity that come from living close to the Earth. And read Countryside magazine to get the ideas and inspiration that will make it happen for YOU!Learn about organic gardening, raising small livestock, alternative energy, country cooking, food preservation, and everything you want and need to know about simple rural living!


in $1,200 for the week. I guess in the 55 years I have been in the game, I must have taken in more than $100,000, but it wasn’t all profit.”

Controversial?Some Stringman bought their birds

outright from a reputable breeder, while others bred their own. Some exhibited birds that might have been sick or dirty, while others were so meticulous in their care of the birds they grew their own feed. Some showed the same birds all summer, while others replenished the tired birds after a show or two. Because of these differences, and because of how they dominated the prizes at local fairs, a Stringman could be a controversial figure. In an article from Poultry Success in August 1916:

“Practically all of our readers are acquainted, at least to some extent with huckster showmen or poultry ‘string-men,’ as they are called for every breeder who has ever attended or exhibited at any of the larger fall fairs, has either seen the ‘good enough to win’ birds of the ‘stringmen’ on exhibition, or has been in competition with them.”

As the numbers of Stringmen de-creased, their legacy can still be felt through the quality of the show breeds today. Some of the more ambitious breed-ers traveled to Europe and returned with many original breeds to introduce vigor into the stock, or to add to the growing number of breeds in the Fancy. With today’s restrictions in the transport of international livestock, this is not eco-nomically feasible.

After the Glory YearsThe time of the “knights of the road”

was built on circumstance, as was the very decline. There were many reasons for the decrease in the number of String-men, but the overall reason was the expense of the process: fuel and feed costs, not to mention, the costs related to medical tests the birds must receive before showing at the fairs.

John and his wife of 52 years, Jewell, still live in Mount Upton.

Tamara Staples is a writer and pho-tographer in New York City. Her most recent book of portraits of show chickens, is entitled The Magnificent Chicken, 2013. Visit more of her chickens at www.prettychicken.com.

If a hen could choose…Brinsea is the world leading incubator manufacturer and

has a full line of: Incubators • Brooders • Egg candlers Starter kits and much more! All with a two-year warranty

www.brinsea.com

Free Color

Catalog For more information www.brinsea.com or call 1-888-667-7009

Quality incubators since 1978 and now... NEW Clifton Coops hygienic, durable & attractive henhouses.

Whether you spend all your waking hours with your flock, or just a few minutes before or after your “day” job, saving time and labor is important—to increase profits, or just to make your work easier and more pleasant. Keeping sheep! coming to your mailbox every other month will help. Be sure you don’t miss an issue, by renewing or starting your subscription today!

sheep!145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 • 800-551-5691

www.sheepmagazine.com

sheep!Renew or start your subscription today!

82 Backyard Poultry

youth:

Some of our fancier chicks have been spruc-ing up lately getting ready for show season. Boopsy Shanks spent the day at the spa, getting a bath and enjoying the royal treatment. She and the other Polish are hoping to make it to county fair, while the Dorkings are anticipating a regional show. I may be the wiliest chicken in the flock, but being a common Buff Orpington from nursery stock I’m a better spectator than exhibit. But that’s all right – attending a show is fun no matter what side of the wire fence you’re on! Keep your toenails trimmed, Gertrude McCluck, CIC

Greetings Poultry Pals!

Minute Mystery

C.I.C. log – Coop date April 2013, Gertrude Mc-Cluck reporting: The first group of broody hens are thrilled by their successful hatch rate so far. The little chicks hatched out 21 days on the nose (or would that be beak?) and have been

giving everyone something to smile about as they “peep, peep, peep” one minute, and then are asleep where they stand the next. The water fowl are not faring quite as well. Persnick-ety, the Pekin duck, has been extremely impatient ever since the poultry chicks broke free from their shells. It’s Persnick-ety’s first clutch of eggs and she’s not handling “broody fever” very well. She’s been up in wings with worry and making ev-eryone else’s lives miserable for most of her 28 days on the nest. She demanded the softest, cleanest hay for her brooder box and snaps at anyone who gets within a neck’s length of her nest. She accused Molly Mallard Duck of being an over-achiever when the Mallard hen’s eggs hatched one day before hers and quacked herself hoarse. And the next day after Per-snickety’s ducklings finally hatched she gathered them close and wouldn’t let anyone see them. “Germs,” she said, but I think she just didn’t want to share. A few days later Margaret Muscovy, still on the nest, stretched and waddled to the food bin for a quick break. Per-snickety called the Muscovy a flat billed freak who would never hatch anything but a sore bum. Margaret is usually quiet and didn’t respond, but her face turned an even brighter shade of red. It was at this point I hopped onto a nearby roosting bar, put my wing firmly around Persnickety’s long neck and looked her in the eye. “We need to have a talk.” What did Gertrude tell Persnickety about incubating dates for ducks?

Study the Buff Orpington pictures below and find the two that match.

Calling All C.S.I.’s!

A. B.

C. D.

E. F.


Gertrude McCluck, Chicken in Charge is assisted by chicken wrangler Cyndi Gernhart. Find out more about Gertrude and her book series for children and other fun activities at: www.GertrudeMcCluck.net

Jokes…Get the Yolk? Q. What do you call it when it rains chickens and ducks?A. Fowl (foul) weather!

Q. What says “Quick, Quick!”A. A duck with the hiccups!

Q. What do you call a duck that steals?A. A robber ducky!

WORD HATCH:

E-MAIL your caption idea by April 15 along with your name and state to [email protected] OR MAIL to Baack Talk, 15154 W 231st St., Spring Hill, KS 66083. Selection for publication in a future issue will be at the discretion of Backyard Poultry. Name and state will be printed with response unless otherwise requested.

Fun Facts: • Baby ducks love to play in water but keep water no more than ¼" deep so they don’t drown.• Ducklings don’t produce waterproof-ing oil until 4 weeks of age. In the wild, mothers apply it.• Some people prefer duck eggs for baking due to the high protein content, which helps cakes to rise and stay risen, while the high fat content adds richness and flavor.

MINUTE MYSTERY AN-SWER:

While chickens have a consistent 21 day hatching period, duck hatching rates vary according to breed. Mal-lard ducks hatch in 27 days, Pekins in 28, and Muscovys take the longest at 35 days. Persnickety will still be per-snickety, but at least she has the facts. The Pekin stopped being broody, has relaxed and been nicer to her fellow coop-mates. Her daughter, Punctili-ous, is another story…

CALLING ALL C.S.I.’S! ANSWER:

B, F

How many words can you make from the phrase “Chicken In Charge”?

1. hen2. gain3. _________4. _________5. _________

6. _________7. _________8. _________9. _________10. _________

Baack Talk What is this

duck saying?

What is this

duck saying?

A few favorites from Oct/Nov Issue:

• “Now that is just FOWL advertising!”—Anika Jurries, Michiga

• “Read it AGAIN!”—Madeline Bromley, Illinois

• “Now,who has been writing all these stories about me?”—Makenna, Florida

• “Woa! She sure has a lot of work to do!”—Chloe McCown, Ohio

• “Read it again. Are you sure she didn’t share the bread?”—Lee Wallace, Indiana

• “Can we make it from scratch?”—Athena Cooper, Missouri

• “There must be some mistake, I'm yellow not red!”—Sam Mitchell, Vermont

• “I’ll have to get that recipe. Read it again slowly.”—Barbra Schraver, New York

Original photo courtesy of Karson Klikus

Photo submitted by Laura Hayslett.

84 Backyard Poultry

®EggCartons.comYour eggs deserve the very best!

Visit Us Onlinewww.EggCartons.com

or Call1-888-852-5340

➤ Easy Installation ➤ Stops Predators From Getting Inside➤ Patent Pending “Screw-Drive” Design➤ Stay Out Late Or Sleep In, No Worries➤ Door Opens/Closes Automagically

®

SAVE YOUR HENS!

DOOR PoultryyP™

www.FallHarvestProducts.com

BEST PROTECTION

The

TheIncredible

The Incredible Poultry Door™

➤ Sleep at night knowing your chickens are SAFE. Sleep in late, your door opens at dawn

➤ No strings, cables or traction ➤ Raccoon-proof screw drive design➤ Stops predators from getting inside➤ Super easy installation, no kit!

➤ Self tests, reverses automatically upon jamming➤ Door opens/closes AutoMagically™

ONLY$299.95

Pampered Poultry603-558-4934

www.pamperyourpoultry.com

Dresses, Feather Guards, Diapers

Designer chicken attire- not only stylish and

comfortable but protects your birds!

Your Source For All Your Urban Poultry Needs!Custom Built Coops • Hand Built In The USA • Poultry Supplies

Call 1-512-756-7537 to request a free catalog. www.mobilechickencoops.com

Mar

ketp

lace


www.backyardpoultrymag.com

Name: ___________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________

City:__________________________State:____________Zip:________________

Order total $_________________ S&H $4 first item, $1 each add’l item $_________________

Subtotal $_________________ WI residents add 5.5% sales tax $_________________

Total enclosed $_________________

Backyard Poultry T-Shirt Order Form

Visa/MC/AmEx/Disc No.:_______________________Exp.:______E-mail:________________________ Phone:_________________

All T-shirts are $14.00 each. Please specify size(s) and color(s).

Mail to: Backyard Poultry 145 Industrial Drive, Medford, WI 54451

or call Toll-Free: 800-551-5691 or Fax: 715-785-7414

ORDER YOURS TODAY!

Tell the world how you really feel...with a High-Quality,

Backyard Poultry T-shirt. Available in two styles.

Only $14 each

Check Enclosedm m Charge my credit card:

Front:

Back:

Youth size 14-16 (Red or Blue) Color_________ Quantity _____ Adult size medium (Red or Blue) Color_________ Quantity _____ Adult size large (Red or Blue) Color_________ Quantity _____Adult size XL (Red or Blue) Color_________ Quantity _____Adult size 2XL (Red or Blue) Color_________ Quantity _____Adult size 3XL (Red or Blue) Color_________ Quantity _____Women’s cut size medium (Red, Blue or Pink) Color_________ Quantity _____Women’s cut size large (Red, Blue or Pink) Color_________ Quantity _____Women’s cut size XL (Red, Blue or Pink) Color_________ Quantity _____Women’s cut size 2XL (Red, Blue or Pink) Color_________ Quantity _____

$$$$$$

$

$

$

$

Have You Hugged Your CHICKEN Today?

86 Backyard Poultry

Backyard Poultry Breeders DirectoryHave birds for sale? Advertise in the Backyard Poultry Breeders Directory for less than $4.50 a month. Your ad will be seen by more than 100,000 poultry enthusiasts who read every issue. Fill out the order form and return it today!

Associations

Aseels

Barred Plymouth Rock

Ameraucana

Braggs Mountain Buff

Appenzeller Barthuhner

Araucana

Bantams

Buckeye

CaliforniaSIGNATURE POULTRY & GAME BIRD HATCHERY, We offer over 200 varieties of chicks! Ameraucanas, Black Copper Marans, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Brown Leghorns, Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rock, Welsum-mers, Jersey Giants. Many more breeds of chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, swans. 661-822-7437, cell:702-587-0422. Open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. <www.signaturepoultry.com> <[email protected]> Worry free shipping. Guaranteed live delivery.

MichiganFowl Stuff, FowlStuff.com, John W Blehm, Birch Run, Michigan. Bantam chickens: buff, lavender & silver

AMERAUCANA BREEDERS CLUB. New members receive a Handbook & quarterly bulletins and are eligible for club awards. Yearly dues are $10/junior, $12/individual and $18/family. <Ameraucana.org> John W Blehm, Secretary/Treasurer, 4599 Lange Road, Birch Run, MI 48415-8137

AMERICAN BRAHMA CLUB, Candy Prince, Sec./Treas., 6291 S. 25 Rd., Boon, MI 49618. 231-920-7837.<[email protected]> <www.americanbrahmaclub.org> Promoting the Majestic Ones! USA & Canada Membership dues: Adults/Partnership/Farm $20/yr., US Juniors $10/yr., all other memberships $30/yr.

ARAUCANA CLUB OF AMERICA. Promoting the tufted, rumpless, blue egg laying Araucana. $20 annual dues includes quarterly newsletter, breeders guide, and Araucana Handbook. Mail inquiries to: Araucana Club of America, 207 Pickens Drive, Pendleton, South Carolina 29670-9727. Visit our website and forum: <www.araucana.net>

CHANTECLER FANCIERS INTERNATIONAL, Mike Gilbert, Secretary, W5171 Baker Rd., Holmen, WI 54636. 608-857-3386 (Call before 9 PM CST.) <[email protected]><http://chanteclerfanciers international.org>

COCHIN’S INTERNATIONAL CLUB, Jamie Matts Sec/Treas., 283 State Hwy. 235, Harpursville, NY 13787. 607-725-7390. <[email protected]> <www.cochinsint.com> Three newsletters a year and a breeder’s direc-tory promoting Cochins, both Bantam & Large Fowl. Adult membership $15 a year, Youth $7.50.

DOMINIQUE CLUB OF AMERICA. Boosting America’s Oldest Breed Since 1973. Large fowl and bantam. $10 annual dues. Contact: John Wom-ack, President, 80 Weeks Dr., Trenton, SC 29847. 706-631-5564. <[email protected]> <www.dominiqueclub.org>

SERAMA COUNCIL OF NORTH AMERICA, Jerry Schexnayder, 504-621-0596. <[email protected]> <www.scnaonline.org>

WISCONSIN BIRD AND GAME BREEDERS, Jim Bleuer, President, 1756 E. Scott St., Omro, WI 54963. 920-379-6188. <wbagba.org> Annual Spring & Fall Show & Swap at Fond du lac County Fairgrounds Expo Center. 2014 Fall=Sat., October 25, 6:30am-1:30pm & 2015 Spring=Sat., March 14, 6:30am-Noon

WYANDOTTE BREEDERS OF AMERICA, Dr. Donald Monke, Sec./Treas., 7481 Plain City Georgesville Rd., Plain City, OH 43064. 614-873-8106. <[email protected]><www.wyandottebreedersofamerica.net>

Ameraucana. Large fowl chickens: buff, lavender, silver & black Ameraucana. Also, buff & partridge Chantecler.

ArizonaWIDGET CREEK RANCH, Carolina Baertsch, PO Box 2811, Wickenburg, AZ 85358. 480-252-5295. <[email protected]> <www.widgetcreekranch.com/buyappenzeller.html> Large fowl Appenzeller Barthuhners. Also Austrian Sulmtalers. Original import stock.

South CarolinaRAMEY FARM, Gary L. Ramey, 440 Surrey Race Rd., Salley, SC 29137. <[email protected]> True rumpless Araucana chicks. Hatching and shipping weekly March thru November.

PennsylvaniaGREEN VALLEY STABLES, Joe Ambrose, PO Box 511, Vanderbilt, PA 15486. 724-323-4948. <[email protected]> <www.thegreenvalley stables.com> 100% Pure Aseel and Red Jungle Fowl hatching eggs. Send $50 per dozen including shipping.

ArkansasHILLBILLY HATCHERY, Jeff Barnett, 718 Tuggle Ln., Malvern, AR 72104. 501-317-9680. <www.hillbilly hatchery.com> 25 varieties of bantam chickens.

North CarolinaBILLY PLACE FARM, Cynthia Glasscoe, East Bend, North Carolina. 336-699-2677.<[email protected]> Barred Plymouth Rocks, Black Javas. Chicks. NPIP# 55-1077.

TexasBRAGGS MOUNTAIN POULTRY, Owner David Andrews, PO Box 2173, Whitney, TX 76692. 254-205-5422. <www.braggsmountainpoultry.com> The Golden Hen That Lays The Jumbo Brown Egg! Braggs Mountain Buffs.

CaliforniaCENTRAL VALLEY BUCKEYES, Atwater, CA. 831-212-0173. <[email protected]> Hatching eggs or chicks for local pickup or delivery in central and northern California only. NPIP # CA409.

KentuckyPATHFINDERS FARM, P.O. Box 35, Williamstown, KY 41097. 859-801-6081. <[email protected]> <www.pathfindersfarm.com/Buckeyes> Exhibition Quality Buckeyes in large fowl. Chicks and started birds.

MissouriJ SQUARED FARMS, 816-586-2262, <[email protected]> <www.jsquaredfarms.com> We raise

Buckeyes & only Buckeyes! Rare, heritage, dual purpose. Day old chicks ship October–May. Limited supply. Not flock bred.

North CarolinaSONBURST FARM, LLC, Weaver, Salisbury, North Carolina. 704-638-6533. <[email protected]> Hatching eggs shipped. Chicks, laying hens, pullets, cockerels–local pickup. NPIP# 55-1068.

VirginiaWILLOW SPRING FARM, Don Buck, 505 Milk Plant Rd., Rural Retreat, VA 24368. 276- 782-0499. <[email protected]> Certified Flock #35 Sustainable Poultry Network. We sell hatching eggs, chicks, laying hens, breeders. NPIP tested.

New YorkJAMIE’S COCHIN’S, Jamie Matts, 283 State Hwy. 235, Harpursville, NY 13787. 607-725-7390. <[email protected]><www.jamiescochins.com> Show quality birds.

GeorgiaBOB’S BIDDIES HATCHERY,LLC, Bob & Diane Berry, 2155 Weaver Dr., Ray City, GA 31645. 229-455-6437. <[email protected]> <www.bobsbiddies.webs.com> Professionally raised chicks. For 2014 we will have Ameraucanas and13 different brown egg layers including BB Reds Old English Game Bantams and Blue Silkies. Roosters offered at an excellent rate. All natural feed, professionally sexed and shipped year round. N.P.I.P. Certified & Salmonella tested. Disabled owned/operated business.

PennsylvaniaFREEDOM RANGER HATCHERY, Kendall & Ginger Fox, 190 N. Blainsport Rd., Reinholds, PA 17569. 717-336-4878, Fax:717-336-3711. <info@freedom rangerhatchery.com> <www.freedomrangerhatchery.com>Freedom Ranger chickens.

ArkansasLINEBARGER FARMS, Eddie Linebarger, PO Box 35, Scotland, AR 72141. 501-592-3317. <[email protected]> Quail: Tennessee Red, Valley, Benson, Mountain. Chukar, Melanistic Mutant Pheasants.

IndianaWOODSIDE AVIARY, James Kotterman, Peru, In-diana. 765-985-2805. PHEASANT ENTHUSIASTS check this out! Displaying full color the Golden Pheas-ant, Ghigi Golden, Lady Amherst, Silvers, Swinhoe, Impeyans, Temminck Tragopans, Brown Eared & Blue Eared. NO CATALOG AVAILABLE. Give me a call and we’ll talk about the birds!

MinnesotaOAKWOOD GAME FARM, INC., PO Box 274, Princ-eton, MN 55371. 800-328-6647. <oakwoodgamefarm.com> We sell day-old pheasant and chukar partridge chicks and eggs. Ask about our new smaller quantities on eggs and chicks.

WisconsinPURELY POULTRY, PO Box 466, Fremont, WI 54940. 800-216-9917. <[email protected]>

Cochins

Dominique

Freedom Ranger

Game Birds


Various

Silkies

Sulmtaler

Turkeys

<www.PurelyPoultry.com> Indian Red Junglefowl, Guineas, Peacocks. Ducks: Mandarin, Ringed Teal, Whistling Ducks, Wood Ducks, Mallard Ducks. Swans: White Mute, Australian Black, Trumpeter, Whooper, Black Necked. Quail: Northern Bobwhite, Jumbo Bobwhite, Texas A & M, Valley, Gambel, Blue Scale, Mountain, Mearns. Partridge: Chukar, Hungarian. Ringneck Pheasants: Chinese, Jumbo, Kansas, Man-churian Cross, Melantistic Mutant. Ornamental Pheas-ants: Red Golden, Yellow Golden, Blue Eared, Brown Eared, Lady Amherst, Silver, Timminicks Tragopans. Wild Turkeys: Eastern and Merriams.

IowaWINTERS GUINEA FARM, Ralph Winter, 21363 White Pine Ln., New Vienna, IA 52065. 563-853-4195. <www.guineafarm.com> <[email protected]> Guinea fowl, Peafowl.

IndianaQUALITY GENTLE JERSEY GIANTS–The only breed of choice for 36 years. Nicely laced blues/black/splash colors. Producers of large brown eggs/meat/4-H-APA winners/Shipping. Maria Hall, 7030 S. Bloomington Trail, Underwood, IN 47177. 812-752-7825; Texting 502-548-1075; www.mariasjerseygiants.com.

PennsylvaniaBACON & MCCARTY, Doug McCarty, 126 N. Main St., Manchester, PA 17345. 717-676-3080. Black Langshans. Large fowl & bantams.

MichiganDESTINY FARMS HATCHERY, 13078 Windy Hollow Dr., Milford, MI 48380. 517-285-6558. <[email protected]> <www.thechickhatchery andsupplies.com> Specializing in the BEST egg layers around! ISA Browns & White Leghorns.

GeorgiaONAGADORI SOUTH FEATHER FARM, Toni-Marie Astin, Monroe, Georgia. 770-267-3648. Cell: 404-952-9238, <[email protected]> <www.bantamlongtails.com> Imported in 2002, 9 years of selective breeding to introduce the Ohiki into the hobby. Tiny, short-legged, wobbly, little gnomes. Looks like a clean leg Cochin with long dragging saddles & tails.

FloridaLANSON FAMILY FARMS, Wayne Ellison, 285 Stokes Landing Rd., St. Augistine, FL 32095. 800-274-7387. <[email protected]> <www.LansonFamilyFarms.com> Orpingtons and rare heritage poultry.

ArkansasCEDAR MIST LOFTS, Rare Pigeons and Fowl, 501-329-2377. <[email protected]> USPS Approved Live Bird Shipping Boxes. Mike Owen, 601 A Acklin Gap Rd., Conway, AR. 72032. Our BoxesforBirds.com are Impeckable.

IllinoisCOLUMBIAN ROCK BANTAMS, Gary Underwood,

2404 S. Simmons Rd., Stockton, IL 61085. 815-947-2359. <[email protected]>

IowaWESTHOFF POULTRY, Zachary & Jill West-hoff, 12704 Kestrel Ave., Le Mars, IA 51031. <[email protected]> <http://westhoffpoultry-com.webs.com> I sell and raise laying hens/pullets, and around 50 breeds of show quality chickens.

MassachusettsANTONIO R. FERREIRA, JR., 49 Chestnut St., Seekonk, MA 02771. 401-465-1662. Northern Bobwhite Quail. Eggs: $11.75/12, $23.50/24, $49/50. Postpaid.

TexasSOUTH TEXAS GAME BIRDS, Richard Selvera, 2020 Cty. Rd. 64, Rosharon, TX 77583. 713-899-0789. <www.southtexasgamebirds.com> Eggs & chicks.

UtahQUALE EGGS 4 SAIL, Chaz, PO Box 840681, Hildale, UT 84784. 325-315-3237. Coturnix quail: Easy and rewarding to raise with little cost and little space. Will provide you with lots of little eggs, in little time, that are a delicacy, better for you and taste better than chicken eggs. Eating eggs 50¢ each. Hatching eggs $1 each. No minimum order. Quantity discounts.

AlabamaVALLEY FARMS HATCHERY, 4270 Ricks Ln., Leighton, AL 35646. 256-383-2898. < V a l l e y F a r m s H a t c h e r y @ g m a i l . c o m > <www.valleyfarmshatchery.webs.com> Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks.

IllinoisHUTCHINSON FARM, Rollie Hutchinson, 15793 500th St., Orion, IL 61273. 309-749-8277. <[email protected]> Rhode Island Reds–100 year heritage flock. 100% Underwood bloodlines.

NebraskaRAHORST POULTRY, Casey Rahorst, 22630 SW 42nd St., Hallam, NE 68368. 402-613-3918. < w w w . r a h o r s t p o u l t r y . c o m > Coturnix and Bobwhite quail, Pearl guineas, Chukar partridge.

FloridaB L A C K B U R N ’ S Q U A L I T Y B A N TA M S , Wayne Blackburn, PO Box 736, Anthony, FL 32617. 352-236-0359. Sebr ights: Golden, Si lver & Buff; Wyandottes: Silver Laced & Golden Laced.

LouisianaJERRY’S SERAMAS, LLC., Jerry Schex-nayder, PO Box 159, Vacherie, LA 70090. 2 2 5 - 2 6 5 - 2 2 3 8 . < j e r s c h e x @ a o l . c o m > <www.jerrysseramasllc.com> Serama.

KENNY’S SERAMAS, Kenny Reason, 1612 Redwood Dr., Harvey, LA 70058. 504-919-9817 <[email protected]> <www.kennysserama.com>

OklahomaJUNEBUG’S SILKIED SERAMAS, June Suhm, 214 N. Service Rd., Moore, OK 73160. 405-620-2332. <[email protected]> <www.silkiedseramas.com> Silkied Seramas.

CaliforniaAMBER WAVES BEARDED BANTAM SILKIES, 1320 Mountain Ave., Norco, CA 92860. 951-233-4231. <[email protected]> <http://showsilkies.com> Chicks available year-round. We ship nation-wide by USPS Express Mail. Credit Cards Welcome. Private Breeder NPIP CA-308.

MassachusettsG O L D E N E G G FA R M , 4 1 3 - 4 7 7 - 8 8 7 2 . <[email protected]> <www.goldeneggfarm.com> Hatching eggs–Champion Silkies–Master Exhibitor, Breeder, NPIP#1299.

ArizonaWIDGET CREEK RANCH, Carolina Baertsch, PO Box 2811, Wickenburg, AZ 85358. 480-252-5295. <[email protected]> <www.widgetcreekranch.com/buysulmtalers.html> Large fowl Austrian Sulmtalers. Also Appenzeller Barthuhner. Original import stock.

MinnesotaMEADOW RIDGE FARM, Brad Myers, 4893 Tree Farm Rd., Pequot Lakes, MN 56472. 218-568-5680. Bourbon Red, Royal Palm, Narrangansett, Black Spanish & Blue Slate turkeys. Hatching eggs, poults, breeding stock. NPIP.

OhioOCELLATED TURKEYS, Noah Troyer, 5950 Twp. Rd. 409, Millersburg, OH 44654. 330-893-4229.

OregonMIKE’S MIDGET WHITES, Mike Omeg, 2965 Dry Hollow Ln., The Dalles, OR 97058. 541-2 9 6 - 4 7 2 3 . < m i k e @ m i d g e t w h i t e s . c o m > <www.midgetwhites.com> Midget White Turkeys. Hatching eggs, poults and breeding stock available.

ArkansasGABBARD FARMS, Arkansas. <www.gabbardhatching eggs.com> Hatching eggs, day old chicks, incubation equipment, poultry supplies and FREE Incubation guide. Many very rare breeds! Pure Ameraucana, Ancona, Spitzhauben, many Barnevelders, Plymouth Rock, Australorp, many Marans, Andalusian, Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Buff & Blue Orpington, Brahma, Golden & Silver Laced Wyandotte, Golden Laken-velder, many Polish, Sebright, Mille Fleur D’Uccle, New Hampshire Red, Partridge Penedesenca, Por-celain D’Uccle, Pumpkin Hulsey Gamefowl, Dorking, Faveroles, many Silkies, Silver Spangled Hamburg, Speckled Sussex, Welsummer and many more!

IdahoFEATHERHILLS FARM, Tony Albritton, 16405 Orchard Ave., Caldwell, ID 83607. 509-995-7284. <[email protected]> All bred to the Standard of Perfection. Large Fowl: Speckled Sussex, White Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red. Bantam: White Plymouth Rock, White Leghorn. Narragansett Turkey, Pilgrim Geese. NPIP#91-121.

QCU POULTRY–Paul, Idaho. 208-431-8171. <[email protected]> <http://qcupoultry.com> We are a small family farm specializing in breeding top quality poultry. Black Copper Marans, Golden Cuckoo Marans, Black Tail Buff Marans, Jubilee Orpingtons, Polish, Bantam Cochin, Wheaten Ameraucana, Midget White Turkeys, Muscovy Ducks.

IllinoisANDY ANDERSON, 17496 E. 1000 Rd., Mt. Carmel, IL 62863. 618-262-8389. Call after 6 PM. Hatching

Guinea Fowl

Jersey Giants

Langshan

Leghorns

Ohiki

Orpingtons

Pigeons

Plymouth Rock

Polish

Quail

Rhode Island Reds

Sebrights

Seramas

88 Backyard Poultry

eggs–$17 per dozen freight paid. Wyandotte bantams: Partridge, Buff, Blue Laced, Black, Golden Laced, Columbian. Buff Orpington. Old English: Brown Red, Spangled, Wheaten, Mille Fleur.

CHICKEN SCRATCH POULTRY, Larry & Angela McEwen, RR3 Box 44, McLeansboro, IL 62859. 618-643-5602. <[email protected]><www.chickenscratchpoultry.com> Coronation Sussex, Light Sussex, Lavender Orpington, Chocolate Orpington, Jubilee Orpington, Black Copper Marans, Blue Copper Marans, Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Welsummers, Blue Ameraucana, Black Ameraucana, Rumpless Araucana, Olive Egger.

IowaCOUNTY LINE HATCHERY, 2977 Linn Buchanan Rd., Coggon, IA 52218. 319-350-9130. <www.countyline hatchery.com> Rare and fancy peafowl, guineas, chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, bantams and more. Featuring Showgirls & Silkies. Most economical and diverse poultry assortment available.

SCHLECHT FARM & HATCHERY, 9749 500th Ave., Miles, IA 52064. 563-682-7865. <[email protected]> <www.schlechthatchery.com> Poultry: Cornish Rock, Brown Leghorn, Golden Lace Wyandotte, Sex-Link, Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Americauna. Ducks: Mallard, White Mallard, Rouen, Khaki-Cambell, Pekin, Fawn & White Indian Runners. Goslings: White Emblem. Fertile hatching eggs available.

WELP HATCHERY, Box 77, Bancroft, IA 50517. 800-458-4473. <www.welphatchery.com> Specializing in Cornish Rock broilers. Also offering baby chicks, duck-lings, goslings, bantams, exotics, turkeys, guineas, pheasants. Free catalog. MC/Visa/Discover.

WESTHOFF POULTRY, Zachary Westhoff, 12704 Kestrel Ave., Le Mars, IA 51031. <[email protected]> <http://westhoffpoultry-com.webs.com> Exhibition Buckeyes, Dominques, Javas, Wyandottes, Hamburgs, Lakenvelders, Campines, Australorps, Cochins, Leghorns, Crevecoeur, plus many more, all show quality.

MarylandWHITMORE FARM, Emmitsburg, Maryland. Shipping day-old chicks March thru October. Show quality lines, excellent egg color, selected for performance. Black and Blue Ameraucana, Delaware, Black Copper and Blue Copper Marans, Welsummer. Photographs, pricing and online ordering at <www.WhitmoreFarm.com>. E-mail <[email protected]>

MichiganCEDAR CREEK HATCHERY, 5840 Sweeter Rd., Twin Lake, MI 49457. 231-821-0670, <WWW.CEDAR CREEKHATCHERY.COM> Chickens: Rhode Island Reds, Golden Comets, California Gray Leghorns, Pearl White Leghorns, Buckeyes, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Turkins, Americaunas, Delaware, Light Brahma, Dark Brahma, Buff Brahma, Barred Rocks, White Rocks, Black Javas, Mottled Javas, Black Jersey Giants, White Crested Black Polish, Cornish/Rock Cross, Cedar Creek Bluebell Superlayers, Lavender Orpingtons, Double-Barred Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons, Speckled Sussex, Coronation Sussex, French Black Copper Marans, French Blue Copper Marans, French Blue Splash Marans, French Wheaten Marans, French Golden Cuckoo Marans, French Silver Cuckoo Ma-rans, French Cuckoo Marans, French Black Tailed Buff Marans. Rare Pheasants, Turkeys, Ducks, Quail, Peacocks.

TOWNLINE POULTRY FARM, INC., Box 108, Zeeland, MI 49464. 888-685-0040. 616-772-6 5 1 4 . < o f f i c e @ t o w n l i n e h a t c h e r y. c o m > <www.townlinehatchery.com> Poultry: Isa-Brown, R h o d e I s l a n d R e d s , C a l i f o r n i a G r e y Leghorn, Barred Rock, Araucana, Buff Orpingtons, Black Sex-Link, Black Australorps, Cornish-Rock cross, New Hampshire, Golden Lace Wyandottes, Silver Wyandotte & Light Brahmas. Ducks, geese, turkeys & pheasants.

MinnesotaSUNNY CREEK FARMS, Don Schirrick, 15378 160th St. SW., Red Lake Falls, MN 56750. 218-253-2291. <sunnycreekfarms.zxq.net> Free catalog. All breeds, waterfowl, chicks, gamebirds, poults, rabbits, hatching equipment.

URCH/TURNLUND POULTRY, 2142 NW 47 Ave., Owatonna, MN 55060-1071. 507-451-6782. Large fowl: Wyandottes: White, Golden Laced, Buff, Black, Silver Penciled, Partridge, & Columbian; Mottled Java, Black Java, S.C. Rhode Island Red, R.C. Rhode Island Red, Black Giant, White Giant. Dominiques, Buckeyes and Rhode Island White, Dark Brahma, Cochins: Black, Blue, White, Buff & Partridge; Black Langshan, White Langshan. S.C. Leghorns: Buff, Black, Dark Brown, Sil-ver & White; R.C. Leghorns: Light Brown, Black & White; White Faced Black Spanish, R.C. Mottled Ancona. Black Astralop. White Crested Black Polish, Bearded and Non-Bearded Silver, Golden and Buff Laced Polish, Crevecoeur, La Fleche, Salmon Faverolle, Welsum-mers, Silver Campine, Golden Campine, Lakenvelder, Silver Penciled Hamburg, Golden Penciled Hamburg, Bearded White Polish, Golden Spangled Hamburg. Black Sumatra, Black Breasted Red Cubalaya, White Frizzle, Red Naked Neck, Sultan, Black Amerau-cana, Silver Duckwing Ameraucana, Silver Phoenix. Bantam: Black Old English. Modern Games: Brown Red, Birchen, Red Pyle and Black Breasted Red. Silver Penciled Rock, Red Naked Neck, White Naked Neck, S.C. Rhode Island Red, S.C. Leghorns: White, Dark Brown, Light Brown; S.C. Mottled Ancona. R.C. Rhode Island Red, Quail Belgium, R.C. White Leghorn. White Crested Black Polish, Bearded White, Bearded Golden Polish, Bearded Buff Laced Polish, Wheaton Ameraucana, White Crested Blue Polish, Buckeye. Cochins: Birchen, Partridge, Buff, Golden Laced, and White; Dark Brahma, Buff Brahma, Salmon Faverolle, Black Langshan, Black Frizzle, White Frizzle, Bearded White Silkie, Bearded Mille Fleur. Geese: Canadian, Egyptian. Ducks: Muscovy: Black, Blue, White and Chocolate. Turkeys: Narragansett, Black, Bourbon Red, Slate, Wild Turkeys, Royal Palm, Beltsville White Turkeys, Standard Bronze Turkeys.

MissouriANDERS POULTRY FARM, Travis Anders, 23312 E 327th St., Harrisonville, MO 64701. 816-830-9006. <[email protected]> <www.anders poultryfarm.com> Large Fowl: Buckeye, Dominique, White Crested Black Polish, Buff Orpington, Black/Blue Copper Marans, Barred Rocks, White Yokohama. Bantams: Black Wyandotte, White Wyandotte, Choco-late Orpington, Black Orpington, Silver Phoenix, White Phoenix, Ginger Red Phoenix, Ginger Red Ohiki, Black Breasted Red Ohiki. Shipping Day Old Chicks

CACKLE HATCHERY®, PO Box 529, Lebanon, MO 65536. 417-532-4581. <cacklehatchery @cacklehatchery.com> <www.cacklehatchery.com> 78 years of hatching and shipping baby chicks. FREE COLOR CATALOG, 193 varieties.

MontanaZERO MONTANA HATCHERY, Barry Davis, 1261 W. Old Way 10, Terry, MT 59349. 406-852-4282. Chickens, ducks, geese, guineas.

OklahomaCOUNTRY HATCHERY, Matthew Smith, PO Box 747, Wewoka, OK 74884. 405-257-1236. <[email protected]> <www.countryhatchery.net> Turkeys: Beltsville Whites, Bourbon Reds, Standard Bronze, Eastern Wilds, Chocolates and Royal Palms. Guineas: White, Lavender and Pearl. Muscovy Ducklings: White, Black and White Pied, Blue and White Pied and Chocolate. Baby Chicks: Ameraucanas, Barred Rocks, Black Australorps, Brown Leghorns, Buff Orpingtons, Cinnamon Queens, Delawares, Light Brahmas, Red Rangers, Silver-Laced Wyandottes and White Leg-horns. Bantams. Pilgrim and American Buff geese.

PennsylvaniaHORSTMAN’S POULTRY, Dick Horstman, 5 S Kings Creek Rd., Burgettstown, Pa 15021. 724-729-3701. <[email protected]> <www.horstmans poultry.com> Eggs – chicks – adults. Large Fowl: Par-

tridge & Silver Penciled Rocks; Blue Orpington; S.C. & R.C. Rhode Island Reds; White Crested Black Polish; Blue Andalusian; Silver Laced Wyandotte. Bantam: Barred, White & Partridge Rock; Buff & Dark Brahma; Bearded Silver, Non bearded White Crested Black & White Crested Blue Polish; Mille Fleur D’ Uccle.

South CarolinaHT AUSTIN, 1766 Homestead Rd., Bowman, SC 29018. 803-308-1203. <[email protected]> Hatching Eggs–Rare Pheasants: Red & Yellow Golden, Amherst, Silver, Reeves, Swinhoe, Platinum & Splash Ring neck. Available March-June. Call Ducks–5 colors; Bantams–Top Hat Polish 4 colors; Silkies–Cuckoo & Lavender.

WashingtonBAXTER BARN, 31929 SE 44th St., Fall City, WA 98024. 425-765-7883. <[email protected]> <Baxterbarn.org> All breeds of poultry. Chicks & hens. Pickup only. Email for list.

WisconsinOUR FLY BABIES BACKYARD CHICKENS, Bob & Pam Bendixen, 6182 Bluff Rd., Bancroft, WI 54921. 715-252-0422. < [email protected]> <www.ourflybabies-chickensforsale.com> An-dalusian, BC Marans, Old English (Bantam) Duckwing, Penedesenca-Partridge, Penedesenca-Wheaton, Se-rama, Silkie, Swedish Flower, Rhodebar (auto-sex).

PURELY POULTRY, PO Box 466, Fremont, WI 54940. 800-216-9917. <[email protected]> <www.PurelyPoultry.com> 300 varieties: chickens, bantams, ducks, geese, turkeys, guineas, peafowl, swans, pheas-ants, ornamental pheasants, chukars and quail.

SUNNYSIDE HATCHERY, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. 920-887-2122. Shipping to North Central U.S. only. Jumbo broilers, Leghorns, Blacks, Browns, turkeys & ducklings. <www.sunnysidehatchery.com>

CaliforniaMETZER FARMS, 26000K Old Stage Rd., Gonzales, CA 93926. Year-round hatching. Nationwide shipping. Free catalog now, 800-424-7755. <www.metzerfarms.com> Ducklings: Pekin, Rouen, Khaki Campbell, Golden 300 Egg Layer, Blue Swedish, Buff, Cayuga, Mallard, Welsh Harlequin, White Crested & Runners (Black, Chocolate, Blue, Fawn & White) Goslings: Embden, White Chinese, Brown Chinese, Toulouse, Dewlap Toulouse, African, Canada, Buff, Tufted Buff, Sebastopol, Pilgrim, Crested Roman. Ringneck pheas-ants, French Pearl guineas, Wild turkeys.

IowaTHE COUNTRY HATCH–Rare & Endangered Wa-terfowl, Riceville, Iowa. 319-231-6340. <[email protected]> <www.thecountryhatch.com> Geese: Americans in Buff, Blue & Lavender; Embden; Sebastapol; Buff Giant Dewlap Toulouse. Ducks: Silver Appleyard, Buff, Shetland, White Muscovy. Sweet Grass Turkeys and Jumbo Pearl Guineas. Chickens: Marraduna Basque, Silkies, Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (Foley Line) & Barred Plymouth Rock (Reese Line). Shipment of fertile hatching eggs, day olds, started and adult birds–as available. All breeders cared for by us in an old fashioned farm environment, northern hardy. All babies hatched here with love!

MichiganWEBBED FOOT PINES WATERFOWL FARM, Lucas Dickerson, 1725 East Ridgeville Rd., Jasper, MI 49248. 517-366-9108, 517-436-6257. Exhibition Gray & Buff Toulouse, Black & Chocolate Muscovys, Silver Apple-yard, Pekins, Rouen, White Runners Gray Runners, Aylesbury, Gray Call, Snowy Call, White Wyandotte, Dark Cornish Bantams, Coturnix Quail.

MinnesotaJOHNSON’S WATERFOWL, 36882 160th Ave. NE, Middle River, MN 56737. 218-222-3556. <www.johnsonswaterfowl.com> Grey, Buff & White Africans,

Waterfowl


Classifieds

Crafts/Supplies

Or Visit www.countrysidemag.com

Backyard Poultry Advertising Form • Next Deadline: April 21, 2014

• Call for multiple issue discounts• Feel free to use a separate sheet of paper

Please type or print legibly and indicate the words you would like in bold or capital letters. • Don’t forget to count your name, address,

phone number and e-mail if it is part of your ad. • 10 word minimum. Ads under 10 words will be charged $30.

Mail to: Backyard Poultry Breeders/Classifieds, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451

or E-mail: [email protected]

1-800-551-5691 • Fax: 1-715-785-7414

Number of words _____ x $3.00 = $_______

Words in all CAPITALS _____x 25¢ = $_______

Words in bold _____x 25¢ = $_______

X No. of issues you want your ad to run: _____ = $_______

Payment enclosed (U.S. funds): $_______

Liner Classified:Your Name:

Address:

City, State, Zip:

Classification:

E-mail:

Ad:

Classification:

Your Farm Name:

Your Name:

Address:

City, State, Zip:

Phone Number:

E-mail:

Website:

Breed(s):

Additional Words:

Liner Breeders Directory:

Directory listing (6 issues): $50.00Additional words ($1.50 each):Total Amount Enclosed (US):

Display Breeders/Classified (1" & 2" sizes):For a color ad, add $25 per insertion

1x - 2x=$110 per inch, per issue3x - 5x=$105 per inch, per issue 6x=$100 per inch, per issue

Gary can help set up your ad, quote an ad you already have running or answer any other questions. Contact Gary at

[email protected] or 1-800-551-5691.

Use pictures, logo and color!

FREE Ad Design!

Backyard PoultryGrey Pomeranian geese, Rouen, Silver Appleyard, Pekin, White & Black Crested, Saxony, Black & Blue Magpies, Penciled, White, Blue, Black, Grey (Mal-lard), and Emory Penciled Runners, White, Grey, Snowy, Black, Blue Bibbed & Pastel Call ducklings. Free brochure.

OregonHOLDERREAD WATERFOWL FARM & PRES-ERVATION CENTER, Millie & Dave Holderread, PO Box 492, Corvallis, OR 97339. 541-929-5338. <[email protected]> <www.holderread farm.com> Silver Appleyard; Saxony; Cayuga; Welsh Harlequin; Golden Cascade; White, Penciled, Fawn & White, Black, Blue, Emery Penciled, Blue Fawn Penciled, Dusky, Cinnamon, Saxony , Silver Run-ners; Dutch Hook Bills; Australian Spotted; Mini Appleyard; East Indie; White, Gray, Pastel, Blue Fawn, Butterscotch Calls; Silkie Ducks. Embden; Brown, Buff Africans; Dewlap Toulouse; Ameri-can Blue; American Lavender; Shetland; Oregon Mini-Geese; Mini Sebastopol.

Washington3 ROSES FARM SOUTH HILL, Daniel Jerome, 16214 118th Ave. CT. E., Puyallup, WA 98374. Contact 425-830-1456 or 253-841-1719 until 8 pm PST. < d a n i e l j e r o m e 1 1 @ h o t m a i l . c o m > <www.wyandottesonline.com> White, Blue Laced Red and Golden Laced Wyandotte bantams. White Call ducks.

Wyandottes

LARGE GAS REFRIGERATORS. 12, 15, 18, 19 & 21 cubic foot propane refrigerators. 15, 18 & 22 cubic foot freezers. 800-898-0552. Ervin’s Cabinet Shop, 220 N. Cty. Rd. 425 E., Arcola, IL 61910.

PROPANE REFRIGERATORS FOR OFF-GRID LIV-ING! Call Lehman’s at 888-332-5534 for free brochures on Diamond gas refrigerators or visit: www.Lehmans.com/diamond. Five year warranty.

Propane and Solar Refr igerators/Freez-ers, Gas Lights, Solar Panels, Propane Rang-es and more. Free Catalog. 1-800-771-7702. www.BensDiscountSupply.com

Inherit Whidbey Island Washington State chicken friendly hobby farm. [email protected]

FREE BOOKLETS: Life, Immortality, Soul, Pollution Crisis, Judgment Day, Restitution, Sample

Magazine. Bible Standard Ministries (CM), 1156 St. Matthews Rd., Chester Springs, PA 19425. <www.biblestandard.com>

FREE BOOKLET provides a clear Pro and Con assessment of Jehovah’s Witnesses teachings. Write Bible Standard (CM), 1156 St. Matthews Rd., Chester Springs, PA 19425. <www.biblestandard.com>

$36,000 IN BACKYARD Growing f lowers, garlic, herbs, lavender, microgreens, heirloom tomatoes, mushrooms, landscaping plants. <www.profitableplants.com>

SUNBEAM CANDLES 100% natural bees-wax candles made with SOLAR POWER! <www.sunbeamcandles.com>

TANDY LEATHER’S 172-page Buyer’s Guide of leather, saddle and tack hardware, tools

Alternative Energy

Assist To Own

Books

Business Opportunities

Candles

90 Backyard Poultry

Education

Health

Herbs

Do It Yourself

Greenhouses

Fencing

and much more for leathercrafters and farm or ranch is free. Tandy Leather Factory, Dept. CSY, 1900 SE Loop 820, Ft Worth, TX 76140. <www.tandyleatherfactory.com>

Prevent posts from rotting. Quick–Easy–Effective–Low-Cost. Get info 1-888-519-5746.

ONLINE AND ONSITE CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS in Self Sufficiency, Alterna-tive Energy and Low Cost Green Building. L i m i t e d c l a s s s i z e . P e r s o n a l a t t e n -t i o n . W e p r a c t i c e w h a t w e t e a c h ! [email protected], www.foxrun produce.com

Free Fence Guide/Catalog – Woven wire, electric netting, portable fence supplies, and more from Kencove Farm Fence Supplies. 8 0 0 - 5 3 6 - 2 6 8 3 . www.kencove.com

FREE BOOKS/DVDS. Soon government will enforce the “Mark” of the beast as Church and State unite! Let Bible reveal. The Bi-ble Says, P.O.B. 99, Lenoir City, TN 37771. <[email protected]> 1-888-211-1715.

Tough Greenhouse Plastics, Pond Liners. Resists hailstones. Samples. Box 42, Neche, ND 58265. 204-327-5540. <www.northern greenhouse.com>

Extend Your Growing Season 3-4 Months! More plea-sure and profit with easy to assemble greenhouse kits starting at $349. No special tools or skills required. Expandable to any length, quality built, quick ship-ments. Free catalog. Call today! Hoop House, PO Box 2430, Mashpee, MA 02649. 1-800-760-5192. <www.hoophouse.com>

ANCIENT BIBLICAL HEALING SCIENCE Wise Men gave baby Jesus Frankincense & Myrrh. Reports reveal two powerful immune builders. Free “Missing Link” Tape. Call 1-888-506-2460.

BLACK SALVE THE ORIGINAL: Growths, warts, moles, malignancies. 100% Organic Herbs for Healing. TIGER-X Products, PO Box 3602, Everett, WA 98213. 1-800-909-4553.

HERBALCOM bulk herbs, spices, supplements. Quality at best prices. Free freight. Save at <www.herbalcom.com> or 888-649-3931 for Free Catalog.

Stevia, bulk herbs, spices, pure essential oils, herbal teas, dehydrated vegetables, tinctures, stevia plants. Free catalog. 800-753-9904. <www.herbaladvantage.com> <www.healthyvillage.com>

NO HOMESTEAD SHOULD BE WITHOUT COMFREY. 10 ROOT CUTTINGS $15.95. FREE SHIPPING. BRUCE BURDGE, PO BOX 10, JETERSVILLE, VA 23083.

CUSTOM LEATHER ho ls te rs , shea ths , belts, wallets. Jedco Leather, 806-856-5251. Wholesale/retail. <www.jedcoleather.com>

ACCORDIONS, CONCERTINAS, BUTTON BOXES, ROLAND REEDLESS ACCORDIANS– New, used , buy, t r ade , r epa i r, ca ta -logs $5. Castiglione, Box 40CTS, Warren, MI 48090. 586-755-6050. <www.castiglioneaccordions.com>

T H E M I D N I G H T C R Y h a s s o u n d e d . The angel of REVELATION 14:6 has come. Free literature. 800-752-1507. <www.ccem1929.com>

“ W h y We L i v e A f t e r D e a t h ” , “ T h e Search For Truth” and more free titles from Gra i l Fo rum, 786 Jones Road , Ves -t a l , N Y 1 3 8 5 0 , 1 - 8 8 8 - 2 0 5 - 7 3 0 7 o r www.grailforum.com

EASY FEED CERTIFIED ORGANIC FEED– Av a i l a b l e t h r o u g h R a n c h - Wa y F e e d s , Fo r t Co l l i ns , Co lo rado . 800-333-7929 . www.Ranch-Way.com (Distributors needed.)

F R E E - R A N G E S A F E . P O N D S A F E . E a s y a p p l i c a t i o n t o p a s t u r e s / l a w n s . www.LiquidFertilizerOrganic.com

O R G A N I C F A R M I N G : C o m m e r c i a l - scale techniques. Organic/sustainable ag m e t h o d s t h a t w o r k . “ A c r e s U . S . A . , ” $ 2 9 / y e a r ( 1 2 i s s u e s ) . F r e e s a m p l e & catalog of 100s of books. 800-355-5313. <www.acresusa.com>

Free

Leather Goods

Metal Yard Art

Music & Instruments

WE ARE YOUR BEST SOURCE for all things avian. Poultry, waterfowl, tropicals, incubators, netting, live chicks, cages & more. Free catalog available. 321-837-1625. <www.dblrsupply.com>

SAWMILLS from only $4,897–MAKE MONEY & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill–Cut lum-ber any dimension. In stock ready to ship. FREE Info & DVD: www.NorwoodSawmills.com/357 1-800-566-6899 ext. 357.

Portable Sawmills–Turn your logs into lumber. Quick, easy and affordable. Made in the USA. Call or email for your free catalog. <www.cookssaw.com> or call us toll free 1-800-473-4804.

FAMOUS RARE SEED CATALOG: non-hybrid, unpatented vegetables, herbs, tobaccos, medicinal plants, old-fashioned flowers, perennials. Free catalog. Hudson Seeds, Box 337, La Honda, CA 94020-0337. <www.JLHudsonseeds.net>

FRUIT TREES, BERRIES, GRAPE PLANTS–Large selection. Reasonable prices. 1-866-600-5203 for free catalog. Schlabach’s, 2784-C Murdock Rd., Medina, NY 14103.

EUROPEAN SCYTHES: Quality scythes, sickles, snaths, and blades for 140 years. FREE CATALOG. Marugg Company, PO Box 1418, Tracy City, TN 37387. <www.themaruggcompany.com> 931-592-5042.

S C Y T H E S U P P LY. E u r o p e a n s c y t h e s <www.scythesupply.com> 207-853-4750.

GRASSHOPPER TRAP Catch free chicken treats! Chemical free, safe for organic gardens. Lasts forever. $19.95 plus shipping. 402-880-1957. www.hopperstopper.com

FINGERLAKES WOOLEN MILL. Custom cleaning, carding and spinning of wool and exotics. <www.finger lakes-yarns.com> 315-497-1542. Fax 315-497-9189.

< w w w . G r e e n G r e g s W o r m F a r m . c o m > Bedrun Redworms–5,000/$42, 10,000/$65, 20,000/$118, 50,000/$280. Postpaid-Fishing, Composting, Gardening. Greg Allison, 112 Stilwell Drive, Toney, AL 35773. Free “How to Guides” included. 256-859-5538.

Poultry

Poultry Supplies

Of Interest To All

Organic Feeds

Organic Fertilizer

Periodicals

To order go to: FowlStuff.com

John W Blehm 4599 Lange Road

Birch Run MI 48415-8137

AlsoofferingDay-OldAmeraucana Chicks!

FowlStuff!

Nest Boxes

just the Cover & Perch to use on your own plastic pails•Promotes animal biosecurity

•100% recyclable

•Complete w/hardware in 3 ½ or 5 gallon pail size or buy

MADE IN

U. S. A.

Sawmills

Seeds/Plants/Nurserie

Tools

Treat/Pest Trap

Wool Carding

Worms

PoultryNet™ Plus 12/42/3Some net users asked for extra posts to reduce

sagging and to provide more support at curves and corners. Our answer? Plus Nets. They have posts every 7 ft instead of 12 ft for standard PoultryNet.

Plus Nets (both 12/42/3 and 12/48/3) are available in 2 colors, black/white and green. (The middle number indicates the installed height of the net.)

Remember netting must always be properly electrifi ed. Premier’s PRS 50 solar energizer will power up to 3 rolls of net. (See website for details.)

Advantages:1. Less inclined to sag—because the built-in

line posts are spaced 6.8 ft apart. (Standard PoultryNet line posts are spaced 10–12 ft apart.)

2. Easier to fence around bushes, trees, curves and corners—and across dips, ditches and hills.

Disadvantages:1. Maximum length of 100 ft. because extra posts

make it heavier and more bulky to handle.2. Costs more (due to more posts).

Ask for our unique booklet —Free!

Includes fencing and supplies.

PoultryNet™ Plus 12/42/3

Standard PoultryNet™ 12/42/3

Free Shipping! on qualifi ed orders. See our website for details.

www.premier1supplies.com • 800-282-6631 • Washington, IA

“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets

6.8 ft apart

12 ft apart

with extra built-in line posts

Note: PoultryNet won’t stop young birds small enough to slip through the 2" x 3" net openings.

For the fi rst weeks when birds are small, we suggest keeping them inside the coop or making a small temporary pen with NoShock Chick Fence inside the electrifi ed netting for predator protection (see website for details).


PoultryNet™ Plus 12/42/3Some net users asked for extra posts to reduce

sagging and to provide more support at curves and corners. Our answer? Plus Nets. They have posts every 7 ft instead of 12 ft for standard PoultryNet.

Plus Nets (both 12/42/3 and 12/48/3) are available in 2 colors, black/white and green. (The middle number indicates the installed height of the net.)

Remember netting must always be properly electrifi ed. Premier’s PRS 50 solar energizer will power up to 3 rolls of net. (See website for details.)

Advantages:1. Less inclined to sag—because the built-in

line posts are spaced 6.8 ft apart. (Standard PoultryNet line posts are spaced 10–12 ft apart.)

2. Easier to fence around bushes, trees, curves and corners—and across dips, ditches and hills.

Disadvantages:1. Maximum length of 100 ft. because extra posts

make it heavier and more bulky to handle.2. Costs more (due to more posts).

Ask for our unique booklet —Free!

Includes fencing and supplies.

PoultryNet™ Plus 12/42/3

Standard PoultryNet™ 12/42/3

Free Shipping! on qualifi ed orders. See our website for details.

www.premier1supplies.com • 800-282-6631 • Washington, IA

“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets“Plus” PoultryNets

6.8 ft apart

12 ft apart

with extra built-in line posts

Note: PoultryNet won’t stop young birds small enough to slip through the 2" x 3" net openings.

For the fi rst weeks when birds are small, we suggest keeping them inside the coop or making a small temporary pen with NoShock Chick Fence inside the electrifi ed netting for predator protection (see website for details).

backyard poultry magazine - countryside magazine

Documents