Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry, 4th Edition: Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guineas, Game Birds

by Glenn Drowns

Overview

Whether you’re running a farm or interested in keeping a few backyard birds, Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry covers everything you need to know to successfully raise your own chickens, turkeys, waterfowl, and more. Stressing humane practices throughout, Glenn Drowns provides expert advice on breed selection, housing, feeding, behavior, breeding, health care, and processing your own meat and eggs. With tips on raising specialty species like doves, ostriches, and peafowl, you’ll be inspired to experiment with new breeds and add diversity to your poultry operation. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603427685
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	05/22/2012
Series:	Storey's Guide to Raising
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Glenn Drowns, author of Showing Poultry and Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry, 4th Edition, and his wife conserve and promote rare breeds and varieties of turkeys, ducks, geese, and chickens at their Sand Hill Preservation Center in Calamus, Iowa. Drowns, a highly respected poultry judge, has raised standard turkey varieties since 1989, and he received the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy’s Breed Conservation Award in 1999 for his contributions to the identification and survival of rare turkeys.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Should I Raise Poultry?

THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE ANSWERS to the question, "Should I raise poultry?" For some, the thrill of exhibition and the thought of winning first place in a poultry show are enough to convince them to begin raising. For others, it's the excitement of seeing a little bit of nature in their backyard. For still others, the pleasure or necessity of producing their own eggs and meat will start them down the poultry road. The artistic are drawn to the beauty and diversity of the birds. Hardcore gardeners are intrigued by the possibilities of using poultry for insect control and manure as fertilizer in their backyard gardens. A few individuals will even find poultry to be the perfect pets. Nearly everyone can identify with some facet of the poultry world and find valid reasons to raise these wonderful creatures.

Many folks who decide to raise poultry want good food and something attractive. If that's your desire, you can have it. Entire breeds and many varieties of poultry are raised primarily for ornamental purposes. Keep in mind, however, that while they are considered ornamental, many of these breeds also produce a reasonable number of eggs and an acceptable meat product. With poultry, you can have the best of all worlds: eggs, meat, and aesthetically pleasing birds.

Raising Your Own Food

Perhaps the desire to know all the raising and feeding practices involved in the production of one's food is a leading reason many people in the twenty-first century choose to raise poultry. Backyard raisers may have decided to establish their own flock because they want to avoid genetically modified organism (GMO) crops used to feed commercial animals, or they are concerned over the use of preservatives and hormones. They may be trying to avoid trans fats or they may find the agribusiness approach to raising poultry inhumane and feel that supporting that kind of raising is bad for the environment.

Needless to say, one of the principal reasons for raising your own poultry is to have a good supply of fresh, delicious eggs. Nothing compares with eating an egg from your own flock that has a nice, deep, rich, dark orange yolk when cooked. It's a far cry from the pale, sickly, yellow, flattened yolk of an egg purchased at a supermarket.

You might also choose to butcher extra birds and supply your family with fresh, nutritious home-raised meat. Knowing exactly what your animal was fed and how it was cared for can make you feel at ease about the long-lasting health and environmental consequences of what you're putting into your mouth.

For all the reasons one chooses to become a backyard raiser, one principle holds true. Anyone — producer or consumer — who knows the origin of his or her food can't help feeling confident and relaxed about this choice.

Fowl for Exhibition

Exhibiting poultry can be a very rewarding experience. For those with the competitive spirit, 4-H membership offers exposure to poultry at an early age, and poultry species make ideal 4-H livestock projects. Children and youths have an early opportunity to learn about the animals firsthand, care for them, keep record books, and gain knowledge of the science and economics associated with raising livestock. Keep in mind that poultry projects aren't just for rural youths; these projects give urban and suburban kids an opportunity to raise animals too, with the support and guidance of a national organization. Plus, raising a few chickens in the backyard is far easier than raising a cow or pig.

If you're fortunate enough to live in an area where poultry are allowed, you don't even have to wait for 4-H to get started raising poultry with younger children. Although children can't join 4-H earlier than age nine, five- and six-year-olds can gain a great deal from raising poultry, especially in the area of responsibility.

At some point, however, your growing children may find the simple 4-H endeavor no longer satisfies their competitive desire. Up until the age of eighteen, they can show at professional exhibits that include juvenile divisions. As their poultry-showing skills improve, they can advance from the juvenile to the adult division, where raisers picking up the hobby in adulthood will begin. This division may be very competitive; raisers tend to develop their own high-performing show-circuit poultry strains. These birds are not necessarily heavy egg or meat producers, nor are they necessarily proper breeders, but you can bet they will be properly colored, feathered, and marked, and have all of the traits required in the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection.

Poultry for Profit

People often successfully raise poultry as a source of income. In days gone by, this income was known as the farm wife's "egg money." She would take care of the hens, take the eggs to market, and keep the profits from such endeavors for household expenses or other family needs. Those days are in the past — now men and women are the farmers, of course — but there is still a distinct possibility that money can be made from raising poultry.

Keep in mind that even though a great deal of work is involved and long hours of focused energy are necessary, the profits may not be large. But you do have an opportunity to make poultry a profitable business venture, nevertheless. Backyard raisers are never going to be able to be more profitable than the giant egg farms or broiler facilities that produce millions of eggs and millions of butchered birds per year. However, you can seek out well-paying niche markets to help make your poultry hobby profitable.

Niche Markets

Niche markets are created by the demands of consumers desiring a product that is rare or can't be found easily among more mainstream products. For example, a niche market is created when someone wants farm-fresh eggs laid by free-range laying hens. Other niche markets are customers who desire eggs from hens that have been fed a special diet to produce eggs higher in omega-3 fatty acids or eggs from soy- and/or corn-free rations. Also, of course, some customers seek to eat eggs with unique colors such as the pastels of the Ameraucanas and Araucanas, or the deep, dark brown eggs of the Marans, Penadesencas, Welsumers, and Barnevelders.

In order to find potential customers, you must research the market in your area, and work to develop your clientele. Know your particular area and what people desire, and then go for that particular avenue.

Colorful Eggs

Colored eggs can be lucrative! For example, even though there is no content difference between brown eggs and white eggs, people think brown eggs are fresher, and will dole out more cash for them. A marketing ploy some years ago gave consumers the idea that brown eggs were fresher because they came from local farms, and white eggs, more common in the supermarkets then, were shipped in and therefore older. This gave brown-egg sales a boost over white-egg sales for a time.

Although there is something aesthetically pleasing about those deep, dark brown eggs that makes one think of a farm in a rural peaceful setting, the difference in egg flavor depends solely upon what the chickens have been fed. A stale egg is a stale egg and a fresh egg is a fresh egg, regardless of the shell color.

If you want to make a little extra cash on eggs, keep in mind that you can develop niche markets among people who enjoy getting an assortment of colored eggs. You can provide a colorful variety in the egg carton: blue, green, tinted off-white, white, light brown, and a deep, dark, almost chocolate color. The eggs' colors are almost as diverse as the birds that produce them. A flock made up of Ameraucanas, Orpingtons, Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Langshans, and Marans will provide a customer with the delight that comes with a pleasing color palette.

Locally Grown Meats

You may find a niche market for fresh meats in your area. Search out those who long for the taste of real chicken — not the tasteless flesh that must be prepared with a salty coating or broth injections to provide any semblance of flavor. By selling a young chicken that has a traditional texture, you provide customers with an intensely flavorful meal unlike what most people have experienced. Even older hens will produce a rich, tasty broth for chicken and dumplings, chicken and noodle combinations, or other comfort-food dishes.

Some ethnic cultures that prefer dark-feathered or other particular types of birds have created a demand for live birds. Southeast Asians value Silkies; dark-feathered birds are prized by all cultures other than European-descended U.S. residents. In the United States, many folks seem to like their chickens with white feathers and yellow legs, and they have to be easy to dress. Other cultures don't always share these values, and once they find you are a source for the type of chicken they prefer over others, you can easily develop a working relationship and perhaps profit for your farming venture.

Other sources of revenue include niche markets for Coturnix quail eggs for pickling and boiling for lunchtime and snacks, duck eggs for baking, and fresh geese for traditional holiday meals. It is almost impossible to locate a fresh-dressed goose for Christmas or other holiday dinners, but roast goose is especially prized by the people of Central and Eastern European descent and by "foodies" desiring a new twist on a traditional dinner.

People are beginning to seek out heritage turkeys and naturally mating turkeys (those that are able to breed without artificial insemination) that do not have the large, particularly broad breasts, but have rich, succulent meat.

With the rise of niche markets, and people hoping to purchase locally raised food, many opportunities exist for the person hoping to turn their poultry venture into a profit.

Pet Fowl

Perhaps because so many folks were charmed as children by Mother Goose stories that included illustrations of little ducklings, goslings, and baby chicks, there will always be people who want to raise poultry for pets. During the Easter season, when many across the world are celebrating spring and new life, people are particularly attracted to purchasing poultry for pets.

Arguments exist both for and against using poultry as pets, although I've come to find there are no absolutes regarding which breeds are suitable as pets. I've seen the wildest chickens become very tame and docile around someone who's spent a considerable length of time with the birds. I've also seen chickens that I usually consider tame and docile act wild when their raiser has not spent any time with them or has treated them poorly. Just as people have their own personalities and mannerisms, poultry personalities are uniquely individual. Some tend to make better pets than others, however (see chapter 23, Poultry as Pets, for further discussion).

Poultry as Pesticide

Yet another important reason to raise poultry is for insect control. Although there is a limit to how much they can eat, ducks, guineas, and other poultry species can certainly provide backyard insect control, and allowing them freedom to roam is advantageous to any gardener as long as certain precautions are taken. For example, you wouldn't want to turn them out onto a newly sprouting vegetable or perennial garden. Poultry love the first tender shoots of green in the early spring and will devastate a tulip bed in seconds.

Ducks

Ducks are particularly helpful in areas inhabited by slugs and insects such as earwigs, cockroaches, and crickets. Their beaks probe the ground around trees and shrubs and bushes looking for all those luscious little slimy mollusks, as well as earthworms, insects, and larvae that may be found under the litter in and around your garden.

Guinea Fowl

Guineas provide a wonderful dryland alternative for insect control. Their diet is predominantly insects when allowed to consume them. Given only moderate amounts of grain, they will go in search of grasshoppers, crickets, and cockroaches — any sort of bugs that they can find.

I've observed them even eating squash bugs, the very nasty-tasting, stinky-smelling insects that do so much damage to squash and melons. They will work their hearts out looking for green cabbage-moth caterpillar. They have a keen eye and a good sense of where the insects are located. I've seen them moving through an orchard getting grasshoppers on a daily basis; each day they rush out of their pen and move farther along in the orchard to where the grasshoppers have not yet been eliminated.

Poultry for Pleasure

The beauty of a poultry flock and the entertainment they provide are reasons enough to raise them. Just seeing them in your yard after a long, hard stint at work can turn your whole day around. When the stresses of modern society and the pressures brought on by technological advances have wreaked havoc with your nerves, coming home, turning your poultry out on your lawn, and letting them roam gives you a sense of relaxation that can't be matched. It is not uncommon for me to go to the henhouse to drop off treats or just to watch the birds and their antics. The multiple colors, personality differences, and individual mannerisms of each breed and type of poultry will provide hours of relaxing pleasure.

Ducks always seem to be happy and enjoy a nice clean place to sleep. Even though they love to play in the mud and get grimy during the day, they become excited and make a pleasant little sound once back in their coop when they find that you've cleaned it out and restocked it with fresh, dry bedding. They know you've done something good for them and they, in turn, work their hardest to help you by providing you with a reliable egg and meat supply, and insect and weed control.

Even if you don't choose to make your birds pets per se, they soon identify you with their feed source, and, perhaps, as the person who brings them treats. If you regularly give table scraps, such as extra lettuce leaves or some other tidbits headed for the compost pile, they will come running to see you. Believe it or not, they are similar to dogs and cats that wait for you to get home from work at the end the day. As you may know, it is extremely rewarding when little creatures come running to see you with welcoming looks on their little beaks and bills.

While busily doing your evening chores, you'll find it hard to dismiss the aesthetic and mental health reasons for raising poultry, whether selling their eggs is a profitable business or not. Poultry are beautiful, working with them is relaxing, and they provide you with food. What more could you ask for in a hobby or vocation?

Combining Species

Can you mix different species of poultry together in one facility? Purists in the crowd feel it is best to have a separate building or pen for each type of poultry on your property, but it's not critical. You can easily raise chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, and in some cases turkeys all together, once they are no longer babies. Even babies can be kept together for a few days. If the size of your facility is adequate, and a mixed-species flock has ample space outside for an exercise area, most all poultry can be kept together.

The problem with mixing species arises when waterfowl are raised with other fowl. Ducks and geese are cute as pie when they are day-olds, but once they discover how much fun it is to toddle from the water source to the feeder and back again, they'll do it a million times, soaking everything — a condition chicks, poults, and keets don't tolerate well because their feathers become matted, leaving them unable to maintain a proper body temperature.

Waterfowl can make life harder for other cohabiting species in the cold winter months. Waterfowl, especially geese, insist on taking daily baths, regardless of the outside temperature, and in their zeal to get clean, they typically splash all other members of the household. Geese and ducks can tolerate the cold better because their bodies have a fatty layer of insulation; chickens, guineas, and turkeys are not as fortunate. I've seen geese jump in a tub of water when it was ?38°F (?39°C) and quickly turn to ice. Their feathers had frozen water droplets on them and all the flabbergasted birds around them also were covered with ice crystals.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Glenn Drowns.
Excerpted by permission of Storey Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Part 1: Getting Started
1 Should I Raise Poultry?
2 Housing and Supplies
3 Poultry Biology
4 Baby Basics
5 Feeds and Feeding
6 Heritage Breeds

Part 2: Choosing the Right Chickens
7 Laying Chickens
8 Meat Chickens
9 Dual-Purpose Chickens
10 Bantams
11 Ornamental Chickens

Part 3: Turkeys, Waterfowl, Guineas, and More
12 Turkeys
13 Waterfowl
14 Guineas
15 Coturnix Quail
16 Game Birds
17 The "Uncommon" Poultry

Part 4: Fowl Practices
18 Incubation
19 Home Processing
20 So, You Want to Be a Breeder?
21 Marketing and Sales
22 Showing Poultry
23 Poultry as Pets

Part 5: The Bigger Picture
24 Growing Your Own Feed
25 Flock Health
26 Dealing with Predators
27 Government Regulation
28 Calendar Considerations

Appendix
A: Poultry Feed Requirements
B: Characteristics Indicating High and Low Egg Production Characteristics of Layers and Nonlayers
C: U.S. Weight Classes for Shell Eggs
D: U.S. Standards for Quality of Individual Shell Eggs
E: Incubation Troubleshooting Chart
F: Poultry Ailments Checklist and Diagnostic Aids
G: Using a Wet-Bulb System
H: Types of Rodenticides
I: Poultry Manure Information

Resources
Glossary
Index