Article updated April 2015 Some people struggle with the thought of owning a rooster and wonder if they should keep one with their flock. Others, wish they hadn’t got a rooster and now want to get rid of him. I can’t make the decision to get, keep, or remove a rooster for anyone; however, I
(This article was reviewed on 30 Mar 2013) I recently wrote about keeping roostersand what they taste like if a person decides to get rid of their rooster and eat him. However, I didn’t elaborate on the slaughtering process and just what steps actually need to be taken to get the chicken from the
This article was updated on 28 Nov 2015 I‘ve known people who have given up and given away their chickens simply because they felt chickens were too much trouble to look after. In fact, we’ve even benefited from people asking us if we could take their birds off their hands for free because they were
The death of my American Hovabator incubator Updated on 12 Dec 2015 When my American Hovabator incubator died, it put me into a bit of a spin because I essentially wasted about 60 quail eggs due to the thermostat packing it in. Basically, the temperature soared overnight to past 120 F and the developing embryos
Keeping chickens isn’t a difficult thing to do but you do have to get some of the fundamentals right and one of those areas is flooring. In particular, the flooring areas within the coop itself and any areas you (or the kids) have to regularly walk over to gather eggs or maintain the pen. Large
Article updated on 7 May 2015 As a follow-up to my article on “Different types of chicken feeders” I thought I would write about what I consider to be the best drinkers for chickens and indeed other poultry. At the same time, this article will also cover some simple rules for chicken drinkers, various types
With all the wonder foods and so-called weight loss remedies pushed onto us all daily, I never recall ever hearing about eating quail as a healthy meat alternative or to help lose weight. That’s such a pity because quail is one of the world’s wonder foods and more people should know about it. Of course,
In a world where just about everything is supersized up, quail are no exception – welcome to the world of giants and Jumbo quail… Whether you call them Coturnix quail, Japanese quail, or Pharaoh quail, they all pretty much mean the same thing – a small domesticated breed of poultry. They come in various colours
Those who think ducks only require a bucket of water to keep them happy are plainly wrong. Ducks will survive with access to just a humble bucket but they won’t be happy about it and anyone who claims otherwise is delusional! I’ve only had ducks for about 18 months, as at the date of this
This article was updated on 27 Oct 2015 Summer in Queensland, Australia (where I live) means snake season and it’s the same for many other places around the world. Snakes are fine in the wild but around the home they are not so welcome and if you keep chickens you can be rest assured snakes
There’s a power struggle happening in the chicken feeder business between two emerging chicken feeder backyard manufacturing “giants” called Royal Rooster and Dine-a-Chook. Both chicken feeder manufacturers have a large presence on eBay because there’s no better place to test out a home-made idea or invention and see if a market can be created. If
My DIY dog proof fence for my free-range chicken area is about 6 weeks old now and I am extremely happy with how it turned out. I could have paid several thousand dollars to have a fencing contractor come and do this job but I did it myself for a fraction of the cost that
If you are looking to buy chickens or other poultry in the Brisbane and surrounding areas it’s hard to go past Heritage Hatching & Hens as the place to go. Brisbane based chicken breeder Heritage Hatching & Hens has turned a hobby into a growing small business in selling purebred chickens and in my
This post gives a simple guide and my six recommendations for keeping ducks in the backyard like: eating and drinking needs, habitat requirements, sociability, and general care. Some people may not realise that ducks are as easy to keep as chickens but to ensure this special breed of poultry is kept happy in the backyard
This is a simple guide about breeding Japanese or coturnix quail in the backyard and basically my assessment of the most relevant information people need to know for breeding new quail stock and practically how I breed my own quails. I've tried to write this article based on my experiences and incorporate my thought processes
Yes, you can keep ducks and chickens together is the short answer but there are some special considerations to be made if you plan to keep both of these beautiful poultry breeds side-by-side. Therefore, in this short article I’ve selected the most important areas to consider when keeping ducks and chickens together pointing out where
We all know the benefits of keeping chickens and producing your own eggs but how about being really different and producing a carton of eggs with several different colours like: white, chocolate, brown, speckled, and even blue! Yes that’s right, chicken eggs can come in a variety of different colours and even multi-coloured so what
This article sets out easy and simple tips or steps to take in preparing your chickens so they stay safe and well for when you go away on holidays or as they say in the USA, vacation. Everyone needs a break sometimes and no matter how much you love being around your chickens there comes
Before I get into my little story, which proved to me beyond doubt how chickens can learn from a single experience and remember it for years, I would like to quickly outline some other observations and opinions I have about them. Also, at the end of this post are two videos: the first one is
This article was updated on 14 Apr 2015 When I first built our duck dam/pond I never imagined these cute waddling birds could do so much damage with their bills to the walls! Seemingly overnight, our ducks had eaten away large segments of dam wall where the water lapped the earth and caused so much
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
