Whitewash the hen house once a year.
- Reprinted from The Almanack of 1910

A temporary shortage of water is more injurious to poults then a temporary shortage of feed.
- From The Almanack of 1960

If you want the eggs for consumption, you will need to pick them up daily to prevent the hens from setting them.

Shavings in the scratch area allows a hen to dig or fashion a concave surface to lay her eggs, thus, making the scratch area the single most attractive area in the hen house.

Check a couple of your chickens now and then for pests like mites or lice. If one has it, chances are the whole flock will have lice/mites. Check under the wings and around the vent area.

Most eggs are clean when they are laid, however, if the nesting material is dirty it is likely that the eggs will become soiled as well. Replace the nesting material once it becomes contaminated with dirt or fecal material.

Rusty iron placed in the chicken’s drinking water vessel acts as a valuable tonic.
- Reprinted from The Almanack of 1910

Birds that are heat stressed have increased mortality, reduced weight gain, and poor feed conversion.

Most chicks are sexed at hatch by examination of the complex folding of the vent area (this roughly corresponds to the anal area) of the chick. the method is quite difficult and requires much practice to acquire the skill.

Consider whether you want to have a mobile chicken coop, often called a chicken tractor. For many, the flexibility of being able to move their chicken coop around is a real bonus. It could be that your yard is small and you’d like to have options, or, for many, they would prefer to be able to move the coop around and not just trample one area of grass.

Birds that are kept in confinement and not provided with areas to roost will show signs of agitation and increased locomotor behavior, especially around dusk.

Eggs should be refrigerated as soon after collecting and cleaning as possible. eggs are perishable and will deteriorate in quality unless maintained at proper temperatures. Refrigerate at temperatures of 50–55 degrees.

Let's Talk Turkey

Raise turkeys separately from chickens and avoid walking from chicken pens into turkey pens. Blackhead and other diseases could easily be spread from chickens to turkeys.

Turkey poults love heat. they will be happiest if you keep their brooder temperature at 95–100 degrees F for the first week, and then lower the temperature by about 5 degrees F per week, until they are fully feathered, approximately 6–8 weeks old.

Never give turkey poults cold water, as it can kill them. the water should always be lukewarm.

Pine shavings, ground corncobs, or rice hulls all make good bedding for turkeys. Never brood them on slick surfaces like newspaper.

If you’re planning to raise 10 or more poults, buy a 100-pound bag of turkey starter that contains medication to prevent coccidiosis, a common intestinal disease. turkeys should develop immunity to this disease after eating medicated starter feed.

Poults sometimes start to pick on each other badly enough to cause bleeding or even death. to prevent this, cut off one-half of the upper beak at 10 days of age with a dog toenail clipper.

Trim beaks on a cool day, if possible.