Care
Turkeys Care in Spring: Blackhead Risk And Meat-Bird Decisions
Turkey spring diverges in one defining vulnerability — blackhead disease — plus the maturation pace and space decisions that set the meat-bird economics.
Poultry Log™ Blog
Practical guides for poultry growers.
Care
The Egg Song: Operational Signal, No Economic Meaning
The egg song signals a laying hen in the nest and a completed lay — operationally useful, economically meaningless. Count dozens, not songs.
Care
Dust Bathing for Chickens: Cheap Infrastructure, Expensive Absence
Dust bathing manages parasites through the behavior itself and keeps feathers functional — a dust area belongs in the run design the way the feeder does.
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The Pecking Order: How Flock Hierarchy Works And What Breaks It
The pecking order is the flock's dominance hierarchy — a settled order is an asset, an unstable one produces feather loss and bullying. Space, resources, and enrichment are the levers.
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Chicken Foraging: Enrichment With Real Dietary Contribution
Foraging is the behavior chickens are built for — enrichment with real dietary contribution, pest reduction, and feed displacement that is genuine but partial.
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The Annual Molt: Phases, Protein, And The Planned Gap
The molt is the hen's programmed feather replacement — a planned production gap whose cost is a management variable: protein for the rebuild decides the return.
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A Broody Hen: The Three Options And The Record Discipline
A broody hen stops laying for the broody period — the economic question comes first: hatch, wait, or break, decided per hen against the flock's per-dozen economics.
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Aggressive Roosters: Three Sources, One Safety Boundary
Rooster aggression has three real sources — hormonal, learned human-directed, dominance spillover — and one non-negotiable safety boundary: injury risk is a legitimate culling criterion.
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Ducks Care in Summer: The Water-Change Discipline
Ducks handle heat better than chickens — through water contact — and the summer risk concentrates where that advantage lives: warm, fouled water and the hygiene it demands.
Poultry Log™