Virtual Meeting for Poultry Project

Hi everyone, welcome to our virtual meeting!

General instructions: we will use the comments section below to “talk” and discuss what we will be learning today. The first time you try and leave a comment, it will ask for an email and a name. It won’t publish the email, but it will show your name, so use a first name only, or with a last initial like “Luke” or “Luke B.”.

As for what we will be learning, look below. I’ll list questions for you to research and a few links to get you started. Use the comments to share your thoughts and research, or anything else that comes to mind.

List of Research Questions

  1. What is molting and why in the world do chickens do this? Is it like reptiles molting?

http://www.grit.com/animals/molting-what-is-it–how-to-help-chickens-get-through-it.aspx
http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/what-happens-when-chickens-molt

Note: think about the trustworthiness of the websites you are visiting? Should you trust a university website over a blogger? How can you tell if the blog is by someone who really knows about chickens? And do you think the Backyard Chickens website is better than the MSU (Michigan State University) site, since it is many, many chickens owners sharing their knowledge and experience?

2. What should owners do when their chickens are molting?

3. How are eggs made and laid? An investigation into one of the most versatile and beloved foods in the world, and what can go wrong with the process.
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/how-chickens-make-farm-fresh-eggs-sponsored/
Note: this site is for Backyard Poultry Magazine, a magazine that we’ve subscribed to for years, and is trustworthy and well done. It is sometimes best to find 2-3 websites that you trust on a subject and always start there for information before looking on Google.

Here’s a nice introductory video:

What can go wrong with egg production?
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/is-your-poultry-medical-kit-ready/

Can you find other good websites or articles, or videos? Share what you find below in comments.

4. How do owners ensure healthy egg production in their chickens?
Some of the links above will have more information about how to prevent egg binding, but feel free to do your own research too.

5. What do chickens really need in a coop? What are some examples? What is the bare minimum and easy to make coop?
Let’s change tacks and think about how to build a safe and appropriate coop for chickens. Where do you start? Find 2-3 articles that have dependable information and could be helpful for a new chicken owner.

6. What does it mean to do showmanship at the Alameda County Fair? What are the rules? How do you practice with your hen?
It can be hard to read a manual about showmanship and understand what is exactly involved in doing showmanship with your hen, so I found some videos with 4-H members showing their chickens:

Were these helpful? Can you find other helpful videos or resources? Share below!

92 thoughts on “Virtual Meeting for Poultry Project”

  1. Chicks need heat and some sort of beding and chick food and water the water a food dishes heavy so they do not tip over

  2. I know Krystlee wants to show one of our birds and both of ours are ether meat or laying we aren’t sure. but one likes to fly off and ones mellow show it also has a lot to do with dose the bird like to move a lot or dose it stay still

  3. the chicks we had dug their way out and sometimes they world be rejected by their mother because of that and would freeze

  4. Someone told us to put a collar around the roosters neck if he crows. My Mom think its wrong. What are your thoughts?

  5. she says she is going to buy a chick at the pet store and she wants a rooster chick . I don’t know if its just me but I can’t tell the difference between hen chicks and rooster chicks

  6. One of the ways to tell if it is a rooter is to ask or to buy a chick a see when it gets older if it jumps on to other chickens it is a rooster

  7. yah but our neighbors around us had a problem with it but after we got rid of him we found out the neighbors down the street liked him crowing

  8. I’m pretty sure an egg bound chicken is when its egg is unable to be laid because it is stuck or for other reasons

  9. I learned a lot about chicken molting, egg bound chickens, and how eggs are made. I am surprised that it takes more than 24 hours for an egg to be made, considering before our chickens started molting, we would get like 10 eggs a day.

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