Anatomy
- What is a chicken?
- What are the different parts of a chicken called?
- How do I clip my birds' wings to keep them from flying?
- What can I do about my rooster's sharp spurs?
- How does a chicken's reproductive system work?
- How does a chicken's digestive system work?
- Where can I find a diagram of a chicken's Digestive System?
- Why do birds have feathers?
Breeds
- What is the best breed of chickens to raise?
- What are "Layer" chickens?
- What are "Broiler" chickens?
- How many different breeds of poultry are there?
- What breeds of poultry are officially recognized?
- What's the history behind particular breeds?
- What are "Capons"?
- I've heard that a hen can sometimes turn into a rooster. Is this true?
Brooding and Sexing Chicks
- How can I sex day-old chicks?
- How should I care for newly hatched chicks?
- I ordered chicks from a hatchery, what will I need to do when they get here?
- How are chicks brooded?
- How can I build a "cheep" brooder?
- How can I make a brooder even cheaper than that?
- How soon after hatching should I remove chicks from the incubator?
- My chicks have poop stuck on their behind. What do I do?
- What temperatures are recommended for Brooding Quail?
Broody Hens
- If a chicken is hatched in an incubator, when it starts laying will it sit on a nest?
- How do I get my hens to start setting on hatching eggs?
Cannibalism
- How do I stop my chickens from pecking on each other?
- What are the causes of cannibalism and how can I prevent it?
- My chickens are pecking on one hen's vent. Her oviduct in coming out. What should I do?
- How do I trim my chickens' beaks to limit their pecking on each other?
- Why do my birds have an absence of feathers on parts of their bodies?
Diseases
- My chicken is acting "funny". How can I tell what's wrong with her?
- My chicken is acting "weird". Is this something I should worry about?
- How can I medicate my chicken if I'm not sure what's wrong with her?
- What diseases are common in small poultry flocks and what are the symptoms? (PDF)
- How can I best protect my birds from infectious diseases?
- How can I keep my chickens from getting sick?
- I think my chicken's crop is impacted. How can I be sure and how do I treat it?
- One of my hens has part of her oviduct hanging out of her vent. What should I do?
- My chickens have black spots or scabs on their combs. What is this?
- Why do my birds have an absence of feathers on parts of their bodies?
- My chicken is really sick. Should I put her down and what's the best way?
- What do I look for to detect diseases early?
- My chickens have dark warts and sores on their face, wattles and combs, what's wrong?
- My chicken's eye or sinus area is swollen, what can I do?
- Can I catch a disease from my chickens?
- My chicks have poop stuck on their behind. What do I do?
- Should I have (or order) my chicks vaccinated?
- How do vaccinations protect my birds?
- Can I examine a dead chicken to see why it died?
- Why do many of my growing birds develop a single twisted, crooked leg?
- How can I treat a Spraddle Legged chick?
- Why are the shanks or legs of my chickens rough and scaly?
- What is West Nile Virus and should I be worried about it?
- Can West Nile Virus infect Chickens and Turkeys? (PDF)
- How do I treat chickens to remove intestinal worms?
- How do I treat my game birds to rid them of intestinal worms?
- My bobwhite quail appear sick and are losing weight and the mortality is very high. What is wrong?
- My laying hens look healthy but many are not laying and some hens that are laying suddenly die. What is wrong?
- My laying hens seem to lose their feathers in the late autumn months and often stop laying. What is wrong?
- What causes the lesions and scabby areas on the feet and toes of my bobwhite quail?
Egg Production
- Why Have My Hens Stopped Laying?
- Why are my chickens eating their own eggs?
- How can I prevent my hens from eating their eggs?
- How can I prevent my hens from eating their eggs?
- One of my hens lays double yolk eggs. Is this normal?
- I found a tiny egg today with no yolk. What caused that?
- What causes Poor Pigmentation in Dark Shelled Eggs?
- Why do my hens lay eggs with thin or soft shells?
- How can I tell if my hen is egg-bound and what can I do about it?
- What causes Blood Spots in freshly laid eggs?
- How do I properly care for my laying hens to get maximum egg production?
- How does a chicken's reproductive system work?
- How long do hens produce fertile eggs after being separated from the rooster?
- How long must roosters and hen be kept together before fertile eggs are produced?
- If a chicken is hatched in an incubator, when it starts laying will it sit on a nest?
- My laying hens look healthy but many are not laying and some hens that are laying suddenly die. What is wrong?
- My laying hens seem to lose their feathers in the late autumn months and often stop laying. What is wrong?
- Why did my laying hens stop laying eggs this winter?
- How can I identify poor egg producing hens in my flock?
Exhibiting Poultry
- I have show birds that I want to exhibit. How do I get them ready?
- How do I wash my chicken?
- What should I feed my show poultry? (PDF)
- How do I raise Broilers for Show? (PDF)
- How can I organize a poultry show?
Feed and Nutrition
- What do you feed your birds and how?
- Should hens be full-fed or meal-fed and how much should they eat?
- What medications should I have in my chicken feeds?
- Should I put feed medications in my game birds feeds?
- Should whole soybeans be fed to poultry?
- What feed ingredients are used in quail diets?
- What feeds should I offer my bobwhite quail?
- What types of feeds should I offer to my chickens?
Fertility
- Candling eggs - How is it done to determine whether an egg has a living embryo?
- What do fertile and infertile eggs look like when candled?
- How are eggs fertilized?
- How can I tell if my chicken's eggs are fertile?
- How long do hens produce fertile eggs after being separated from the rooster?
- How long can I store fertile hatching eggs before they must be incubated?
- How long must roosters and hen be kept together before fertile eggs are produced?
- How old must a rooster be before he can fertilize a hen?
- What are the parts of a hatching egg and how are they formed?
Game Birds
- What feeds should I offer my bobwhite quail?
- How can I improve the quality of feathers on my bobwhite quail?
- How do I get rid of mites and lice from by game birds?
- How do I treat my game birds to rid them of intestinal worms?
- How much floor space should I provide for my bobwhite quail?
- My bobwhite quail appear sick and are losing weight and the mortality is very high. What is wrong?
- Should I put feed medications in my game birds feeds?
- What causes the lesions and scabby areas on the feet and toes of my bobwhite quail?
- What feed ingredients are used in quail diets?
- What temperatures are recommended for Brooding Quail?
- How can I build a breeder cage for quail?
- How can I build a flight pen for gamebirds?
Getting Started with Poultry
- What is the best breed of chickens to raise?
- Points to Ponder Before Starting a Poultry Operation
- What books would you suggest for a new chicken farmer?
Guinea Fowl Questions
- How can I tell male from female guinea fowl?
- How do I care for baby guineas (keets)?
- What should I feed my Guineas?
- Can Guineas and chickens cross breed?
- Can Guineas and peafowl cross breed?
- What do Guinea eggs look like?
- What colors do Guineas come in?
Housing
- How much floor space do chickens need?
- How much floor space should I provide for my bobwhite quail?
- How do I build a chicken coop?
- Can I use Cedar chips as bedding?
- What factors should I consider while designing my hen house?
- How did you build your chicken pens?
- How do I build a nest box?
- How do I build chicken roosts?
- How can I build a "cheep" brooder?
- How can I build a breeder cage for bantams or quail?
- How can I build a flight pen for gamebirds?
Incubation & Hatching
- How can I make an egg incubator (1)?
- How can I make an egg incubator (2)?
- Can I Hatch Eggs in a "Chick-Bator"?
- At what temperature must eggs be held during incubation?
- How long does it take to hatch various species of birds?
- How can I hatch colored chicks for Easter?
- I lost the instructions to my styrofoam incubator? Where can I get a copy? (PDF)
- How can I build an egg candler?
- Candling eggs - How is it done to determine whether an egg has a living embryo?
- What do fertile and infertile eggs look like when candled?
- When incubating eggs, what environment conditions must I carefully control?
- I had a poor hatch of eggs, what did I do wrong?
- How do I conduct an Incubation and Embryology Project in School?
- How do I get my hens to start setting on hatching eggs?
- How do I properly fumigate to sanitize my hatching eggs and incubator?
- How does a chick embryo develop? (1)
- How does a chick embryo develop? (2)
- How long can I store fertile hatching eggs before they must be incubated?
- How soon after hatching should I remove chicks from the incubator?
- If a chicken is hatched in an incubator, when it starts laying will it sit on a nest?
- Should I wash dirty hatching eggs before I incubate them?
- What are the best methods to follow for sanitizing eggs and incubators to reduce bacterial infections?
- What are the parts of a hatching egg and how are they formed?
- Why do my chicks die in the egg after they pip or break the shell?
- My newborn chicks have poop stuck on their behind. What do I do?
- Are there any suggested exhibits for science projects that involve the incubation of chicken eggs?
Pests & Parasites
- How do I treat chickens or gamebirds to rid them of mites, lice and ticks?
- How do I treat chickens to remove intestinal worms?
- How do I treat my game birds to rid them of intestinal worms?
- Why are the shanks or legs of my chickens rough and scaly?
- How can I best protect my birds from infectious diseases?
Poisons
- How do I know what plants are poisonous to my chickens or gamebirds? (1)
- How do I know what plants are poisonous to my chickens or gamebirds? (2)
- How do I know what plants are safe for my chickens or gamebirds?
Predators
- What is killing my chickens?
- What is killing my chickens?
- How can I get rid of ground predators such as Raccoons, Opossums, Skunks, etc?
- Will an armadillo harm my chickens or eat their eggs?
- My neighbor's dog killed some of my chickens, what were they worth?
Sanitation
- How can I dispose of poultry wastes?
- How do I properly fumigate to sanitize my hatching eggs and incubator?
- Should I wash dirty hatching eggs before I incubate them?
- What are the best methods to follow for sanitizing eggs and incubators to reduce bacterial infections?
- What are the fertilizing values of broiler litter?
- What is the recommended method for disposing of dead poultry carcasses?