Anatomy

1. What is a chicken?
2. What are the different parts of a chicken called? 
3. How do I clip my birds' wings to keep them from flying? 
4. What can I do about my rooster's sharp spurs? 
5. How does a chicken's reproductive system work? 
6. How does a chicken's digestive system work?
7. Where can I find a diagram of a chicken's Digestive System?
   
8. Why do birds have feathers?

Breeds

1. What is the best breed of chickens to raise?
2. What are "Layer" chickens?
3. What are "Broiler" chickens?
4. How many different breeds of poultry are there?
5. What breeds of poultry are officially recognized?
6. What's the history behind particular breeds?
7. What are "Capons"?
8. I've heard that a hen can sometimes turn into a rooster.  Is this true?

Brooding and Sexing Chicks

1. How can I sex day-old chicks?
2. How should I care for newly hatched chicks?
3. I ordered chicks from a hatchery, what will I need to do when they get here? 
4. How are chicks brooded?
5. How can I build a "cheep" brooder?
6. How can I make a brooder even cheaper than that? 
7. How soon after hatching should I remove chicks from the incubator?
8. My chicks have poop stuck on their behind. What do I do? 
9. What temperatures are recommended for Brooding Quail?

Broody Hens

1. If a chicken is hatched in an incubator, when it starts laying will it sit on a nest?
2. How do I get my hens to start setting on hatching eggs?

Cannibalism

1. How do I stop my chickens from pecking on each other?
2. What are the causes of cannibalism and how can I prevent it?
3. My chickens are pecking on one hen's vent. Her oviduct in coming out. What should I do?
4. How do I trim my chickens' beaks to limit their pecking on each other?
5. Why do my birds have an absence of feathers on parts of their bodies?

Diseases

1. My chicken is acting "funny".  How can I tell what's wrong with her?
2. My chicken is acting "weird".  Is this something I should worry about?
3. How can I medicate my chicken if I'm not sure what's wrong with her?
4. What diseases are common in small poultry flocks and what are the symptoms? (PDF)
5. How can I best protect my birds from infectious diseases? 
6. How can I keep my chickens from getting sick?
   
7. I think my chicken's crop is impacted.  How can I be sure and how do I treat it?
8. One of my hens has part of her oviduct hanging out of her vent.  What should I do?
9. My chickens have black spots or scabs on their combs.  What is this? 
10. Why do my birds have an absence of feathers on parts of their bodies?
11. My chicken is really sick.  Should I put her down and what's the best way?
12. What do I look for to detect diseases early?
13. My chickens have dark warts and sores on their face, wattles and combs, what's wrong?
14. My chicken's eye or sinus area is swollen, what can I do?
15. Can I catch a disease from my chickens?
16. My chicks have poop stuck on their behind. What do I do? 
17. Should I have (or order) my chicks vaccinated?
18. How do vaccinations protect my birds?
19. Can I examine a dead chicken to see why it died? 
20. Why do many of my growing birds develop a single twisted, crooked leg?
21. How can I treat a Spraddle Legged chick?
22. Why are the shanks or legs of my chickens rough and scaly?
23. What is West Nile Virus and should I be worried about it?
    
24. Can West Nile Virus infect Chickens and Turkeys? (PDF) 
25. How do I treat chickens to remove intestinal worms?
26. How do I treat my game birds to rid them of intestinal worms?
27. My bobwhite quail appear sick and are losing weight and the mortality is very high.  What is wrong?
28. My laying hens look healthy but many are not laying and some hens that are laying suddenly die.  What is wrong?
29. My laying hens seem to lose their feathers in the late autumn months and often stop laying.  What is wrong?
30. What causes the lesions and scabby areas on the feet and toes of my bobwhite quail?

Egg Production

1. Why Have My Hens Stopped Laying?
2. Why are my chickens eating their own eggs? - Mississippi State Univ
3. How can I prevent my hens from eating their eggs? - Virginia Tech
4. How can I prevent my hens from eating their eggs? - Florida State Univ
5. One of my hens lays double yolk eggs. Is this normal?
6. I found a tiny egg today with no yolk.  What caused that?
7. What causes Poor Pigmentation in Dark Shelled Eggs?
   
8. Why do my hens lay eggs with thin or soft shells?
9. How can I tell if my hen is egg-bound and what can I do about it?
10. What causes Blood Spots in freshly laid eggs? 
11. How do I properly care for my laying hens to get maximum egg production?
12. How does a chicken's reproductive system work? 
13. How long do hens produce fertile eggs after being separated from the rooster?
14. How long must roosters and hen be kept together before fertile eggs are produced?
15. If a chicken is hatched in an incubator, when it starts laying will it sit on a nest?
16. My laying hens look healthy but many are not laying and some hens that are laying suddenly die.  What is wrong?
17. My laying hens seem to lose their feathers in the late autumn months and often stop laying.  What is wrong?
18. Why did my laying hens stop laying eggs this winter?
19. How can I identify poor egg producing hens in my flock?

Exhibiting Poultry

1. I have show birds that I want to exhibit.  How do I get them ready?
2. How do I wash my chicken?
3. What should I feed my show poultry? (PDF)
4. How do I raise Broilers for Show? (PDF)
5. How can I organize a poultry show?

Feed and Nutrition

1. What do you feed your birds and how?
2. Should hens be full-fed or meal-fed and how much should they eat?
3. What medications should I have in my chicken feeds?
4. Should I put feed medications in my game birds feeds?
5. Should whole soybeans be fed to poultry?
6. What feed ingredients are used in quail diets?
7. What feeds should I offer my bobwhite quail?
8. What types of feeds should I offer to my chickens?

Fertility

1. Candling eggs - How is it done to determine whether an egg has a living embryo?
2. What do fertile and infertile eggs look like when candled? 
3. How are eggs fertilized?
4. How can I tell if my chicken's eggs are fertile?
5. How long do hens produce fertile eggs after being separated from the rooster?
6. How long can I store fertile hatching eggs before they must be incubated?
7. How long must roosters and hen be kept together before fertile eggs are produced?
8. How old must a rooster be before he can fertilize a hen? 
9. What are the parts of a hatching egg and how are they formed?
10. * More Info 1 (Eggs)
11. * More Info 2 (Incubation)

Game Birds 

1. What feeds should I offer my bobwhite quail?
2. How can I improve the quality of feathers on my bobwhite quail?
3. How do I get rid of mites and lice from by game birds?
4. How do I treat my game birds to rid them of intestinal worms?
5. How much floor space should I provide for my bobwhite quail?
6. My bobwhite quail appear sick and are losing weight and the mortality is very high.  What is wrong?
7. Should I put feed medications in my game birds feeds?
8. What causes the lesions and scabby areas on the feet and toes of my bobwhite quail?
9. What feed ingredients are used in quail diets?
10. What temperatures are recommended for Brooding Quail?
11. How can I build a breeder cage for quail?
12. How can I build a flight pen for gamebirds?

Getting Started with Poultry

1. What is the best breed of chickens to raise?
2. Points to Ponder Before Starting a Poultry Operation
3. What books would you suggest for a new chicken farmer?
4. * More Info 1 (Getting Started) 
5. * More Info 2 (Raising Poultry)
6. * More Info 3 (Poultry Farm Management)

Guinea Fowl Questions 

1. How can I tell male from female guinea fowl?
2. How do I care for baby guineas (keets)?
3. What should I feed my Guineas?
4. Can Guineas and chickens cross breed?
5. Can Guineas and peafowl cross breed?
6. What do Guinea eggs look like?
7. What colors do Guineas come in?

Housing

1. How much floor space do chickens need?
2. How much floor space should I provide for my bobwhite quail?
3. How do I build a chicken coop?
4. Can I use Cedar chips as bedding? 
5. What factors should I consider while designing my hen house?
6. How did you build your chicken pens?
7. How do I build a nest box?
8. How do I build chicken roosts?
9. How can I build a "cheep" brooder?
10. How can I build a breeder cage for bantams or quail?
11. How can I build a flight pen for gamebirds?

Incubation & Hatching

1. How can I make an egg incubator (1)?
2. How can I make an egg incubator (2)? 
3. Can I Hatch Eggs in a "Chick-Bator"? 
4. At what temperature must eggs be held during incubation?
5. How long does it take to hatch various species of birds?
6. How can I hatch colored chicks for Easter?
7. I lost the instructions to my styrofoam incubator?  Where can I get a copy? (PDF)
8. How can I build an egg candler? 
9. Candling eggs - How is it done to determine whether an egg has a living embryo?
10. What do fertile and infertile eggs look like when candled? 
11. When incubating eggs, what environment conditions must I carefully control?
12. I had a poor hatch of eggs, what did I do wrong?
13. How do I conduct an Incubation and Embryology Project in School? 
14. How do I get my hens to start setting on hatching eggs?
15. How do I properly fumigate to sanitize my hatching eggs and incubator?
16. How does a chick embryo develop? (1)
17. How does a chick embryo develop? (2) 
18. How long can I store fertile hatching eggs before they must be incubated?
19. How soon after hatching should I remove chicks from the incubator?
20. If a chicken is hatched in an incubator, when it starts laying will it sit on a nest?
21. Should I wash dirty hatching eggs before I incubate them?
22. What are the best methods to follow for sanitizing eggs and incubators to reduce bacterial infections?
23. What are the parts of a hatching egg and how are they formed?
24. Why do my chicks die in the egg after they pip or break the shell?
25. My newborn chicks have poop stuck on their behind. What do I do? 
26. Are there any suggested exhibits for science projects that involve the incubation of chicken eggs?

Pests & Parasites

1. How do I treat chickens or gamebirds to rid them of mites, lice and ticks?
2. How do I treat chickens to remove intestinal worms?
3. How do I treat my game birds to rid them of intestinal worms?
4. Why are the shanks or legs of my chickens rough and scaly?
5. How can I best protect my birds from infectious diseases? 

Poisons

1. How do I know what plants are poisonous to my chickens or gamebirds? (1)
2. How do I know what plants are poisonous to my chickens or gamebirds? (2) 
3. How do I know what plants are safe for my chickens or gamebirds?

Predators

1. What is killing my chickens? (Predator FAQ)  (Courtesy of Black Forest Poultry) 
2. What is killing my chickens? - (c) Ronald Florence 2002 
3. How can I get rid of ground predators such as Raccoons, Opossums, Skunks, etc?
   
4. Will an armadillo harm my chickens or eat their eggs?
   
5. My neighbor's dog killed some of my chickens, what were they worth?

Sanitation

1. How can I dispose of poultry wastes?
2. How do I properly fumigate to sanitize my hatching eggs and incubator?
3. Should I wash dirty hatching eggs before I incubate them?
4. What are the best methods to follow for sanitizing eggs and incubators to reduce bacterial infections?
5. What are the fertilizing values of broiler litter?
6. What is the recommended method for disposing of dead poultry carcasses?

Science Projects

1. Are there any suggested exhibits for science projects that involve the incubation of chicken eggs?
2. What poultry project opportunities are offered to 4-H youth?

Miscellaneous Questions

1. What is a chicken?
2. What are the different parts of a chicken called?
3. How can I hatch colored chicks for Easter?
4. My chicken is acting "weird".  Is this something I should worry about? 
5. What's the best way to transport poultry?
6. My chicken is really sick.  Should I put her down and what's the best way?
7. How do I clip my birds' wings to keep them from flying?
8. What can I do about my rooster's sharp spurs? 
9. Why do birds have feathers?
10. What's a Capon?
11. I've heard that a hen can sometimes turn into a rooster.  Is this true?
12. How does a chicken's digestive system work?