There are many videos on clipping the flight feathers of a chicken, but I chose this first one because it shows how to do it alone. There isn’t always another pair of hands available when you need them. Help is always nice, but the ability to depend on yourself is even better. Note: I feel it’s important to clip both wings. A chicken with only one wing clipped will be unsteady or off balance. The fragile breastbone will take the brunt of a harsh landing, so let’s help keep them on their feet!
As a chicken keeper myself, I can’t stress enough the importance of having adequate housing for your birds. Saving money by building too small will inevitably prove a bad investment when you become overwhelmed by the difficult chore of keeping it clean. Cramped housing also presents problems among the social ranking of the pecking order, thus causing injuries and poor egg production as a result. A chicken coop is a place you will be spending time in too. Tending to chickens must be done whether it’s raining, snowing, freezing, or smoldering hot. It only makes sense to build a convenient and spacious coop that you will enjoy, after all, nothing is fun when it becomes a dreadful chore. Remember, you can build small, but when it’s all said and done the first egg usually ends up costing around $800+. If that sounds like a lot of money, be warned, it could double after two seasons when you feel the need to upgrade your coop. Buy smart and build it right the first time.
Bantam: Diminutive breed of domestic fowl. Boiler: Chicken 6 to 9 months old. Broiler: Cockerel of 2 to 3 pounds at 8 to 12 weeks old. Cock: Male chicken, or rooster. Cockerel: Young rooster under 1-year-old. Fryer: Chicken 3 to 4 pounds at 12 to 14 weeks old. Hen: Female chicken. Point of Lay Pullet: Young female chicken just about to lay, about 5 months old. Pullet: Young female chicken under 1-year-old. Roaster: Chicken 4 to 6 pounds and over 12 to 14 weeks old. Rooster: Male chicken, also called a cock. Sexed Chicks: Separated by sex, pullets, and cockerels. Straight Run: Mix of pullets and cockerels. Broody: When the hen has the urge to sit on her eggs to try and hatch them. Clutch: Batch of eggs in a nest. Comb: Red muscle on the head of chickens. Coop: The place where your poultry lives is referred to as a poultry coop. Crest: Bunch of feathers on the head of certain breeds. Crop: Pre-digestive system of the chicken. Food collects at the base of the neck and is softened before going through the digestion process. Cushion: Area of the back in front of the tail on the female chicken. Down: Soft fine feathers on chicks. Droppings: Chicken manure. Dust bath: To bathe in dry dust or sand, and it helps remove any mites from their feathers. Flight feathers: Biggest primary feathers on the final half of the wing. Free range: To allow chickens to roam the pasture freely. Frizzle: Feathers that curl rather than laying flat also a breed of chicken. Gizzard: Internal organ of the chicken that collects grit and grinds food down. Grit: A grinding agent used in digestion, added to a chicken’s diet if not allowed to free range. Growers: Growing chickens between 9 and 20 weeks. Hackles: Cape feathers of a rooster. Hybrid: Genetically bred from two different breeds of chicken for good characteristics from both. Impaction: Blockage of a body passage or cavity, such as the crop. Keel: Breast bone – which resembles the keel of a boat. Layers: Mature female chickens kept for egg production. Mash: Mixture of wet or dry coarse ground feed. Moult: Yearly shedding and replacement of poultry feathers. Muff: Feathers sticking out from both sides of the face under the beak of certain breeds such as Ameraucana. Nest Box: Secluded safe place where a hen feels she can leave her eggs. Nest Egg: Wooden or plastic egg put in the nest box to encourage hens to lay there. Pecking order: Social ranking of a flock. Pellets: Poultry pellets are formed from a fine mash bonded together. Poultry: Domestic fowls, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, or geese, raised for meat or eggs. Pure breed: Not been crossed with another chicken breed is known as a purebred. Saddle: Area of the back in front of the tail on the male. Spurs: Protrusions on the legs of roosters. Utility: Bred for meat or chickens bred for eggs rather than poultry shows. Vent: Orifice at the rear end of the chicken through which both eggs and feces are passed. Wattles: Fleshy appendages hanging on the sides of the lower beak of poultry.
TBN Ranch Chicken Keeping Resources 