About the site
This site aims to be an information site for people wanting to keep
chickens on a small scale. We will cover everything from coops to
feeding to diseases. This site is largely complete on the basic information, but predators is still under construction and the breeds and diseases pages are just an ongoing, never-ending project. If you want to submit any information, or a whole
new page then feel free to let me know via the 'contact us' page.
I make no money from this site, and have nothing to sell, nothing to endorse. I do not put links on my links page just because I know the site owner. So, you can be sure that the information is completely impartial. Due to the fact that I am completely skint, and have no credit card so no way to pay for a domain name, I have been forced to get a free .tk domain name. However, this comes with a significant amount of advertising on the splash page. If you are using mozilla firefox and wish to see a (nearly) ad-free version, then right click anywhere on this page, click "this frame" and then "show only this frame". Alternatively, open up a new window and type in www.freewebs.com/professorchicken
I make no money from this site, and have nothing to sell, nothing to endorse. I do not put links on my links page just because I know the site owner. So, you can be sure that the information is completely impartial. Due to the fact that I am completely skint, and have no credit card so no way to pay for a domain name, I have been forced to get a free .tk domain name. However, this comes with a significant amount of advertising on the splash page. If you are using mozilla firefox and wish to see a (nearly) ad-free version, then right click anywhere on this page, click "this frame" and then "show only this frame". Alternatively, open up a new window and type in www.freewebs.com/professorchicken
News
News Archives Can Now Be Found on the News Page
6th May 07 The pictures on the raising chicks page are now brand spanking new and far better.
The T-Rex is no more than a chicken. Apparently. You can find the link to the story on the news page.
25th May 07 Started work on a bedding section on the coops page.
27th May 07 Continued on the bedding section. If there's any other kind of bedding that you've used successfully then let me know (allaboutchickens@googlemail.com)
Moved some things around - list of countries that have visited the site is now on news.
29th May 07 Added new news link - scientists discover bird flu antibody.
Added a section to buying chickens on isolation and introducing new birds to your flock.
1st June 07 The contact us page is sorted out now.
28th June 07 There were 504 people who visited us, 502 from the US. I would suspect that I was listed on a popular site for one day, and I would like to know which one it was so feel free to contact me.
22 July 07 A woman's work is never done. I have decided to split up the breeds into three groups alphabetically (A-I, J-Q, R-Z) instead of the three it was previously. This will mean that there is more space for more breeds, as freewebs has some poxy little restrictions on how many pages you can have per site (without paying), and this was limiting to say the least.
23 July 07 The site has had a major overhaul, and looks completely different. I hope you like it, but if not then let me know, as always.
I reworked the comb page so that it is more my own than the previous large graphic that was up.
Why Chickens?
Here are ten top reasons for keeping chickens.
1. Low maintenance pets - they don't need walking or grooming, just feeding and watering a few times a week, shutting in and out, daily egg collection and cleaning out, any time between once a week to once a month depending on how many chickens you have.
2. Cheap - chickens are a lot cheaper to keep than a dog or cat. With feed costing as little as 4p per day for a large fowl hen fed on non-organic layers mash, they are very cheap. They can also be fed scraps from the table as treats, further reducing feed costs, and also recycling.
3. Great tasting, nutritious eggs. Once you have tasted an egg produced in your own back garden, as fresh as can be, there is no going back. The yolks are a deep orange, rather than the pasty yellow that comes from the supermarket, and they stand proud in the frying pan, instead of spreading out, because they are minutes, hours or days old rather than weeks or months old.
Research shows that chickens allowed to roam freely and eat grass lay eggs that are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E and at the same time lower in cholesterol than eggs from the supermarket, making home-produced eggs healthier.
4. Personality. Believe it or not, chickens have great personalities. There are always the shy ones, and those that run up to you to be picked up and cuddled. They do quirky things that will light up your day, everyday.
5. Walking, living, breathing, beautiful lawn ornaments. Just take a look at our breeds section and you can see the wonderful array of chickens available - not all chickens are brown!
6. One step closer to sustainable living and self-sufficiency. Chickens give us eggs which just don't have food miles, and there are many other reasons why they help the environment . . . . read on.
7. Organic, chemical free, pest control. Chickens love to eat bugs that bite you, such as mosquitoes and ticks, and the bugs that harm your plants like slugs. They sometimes even eat baby mice whole (all together now, EWWWWW!)
8. Free fertiliser. Wave goodbye to buying expensive fertiliser from the garden centre. All it takes is a few months on the compost heap to rot down, and it is one of the best fertilisers on earth, better than cow and horse manure. You can also make liquid fertiliser from their droppings.
9. Save a hen from a life behind bars. By producing your own eggs, you are reducing demand for eggs from hens in terrible conditions at factory farms, and some free range farms. By not buying their eggs, you are sending a clear message that you don't want what they're selling.
You can also rescue hens directly from a battery farm. Just speak to Jane Howorth at the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (UK only, sorry, although you can always ring up a battery farmer yourself).
10. Be unique. Despite their growing popularity (apparently chicken keeping is the fastest growing hobby in the UK), chickens are still comparatively rare. Amaze your neighbours with tasty blue eggs from your araucanas, your furry silkies and your friendly hens that come up just begging to be cuddled, and your garden will be the envy of your street with all that free fertiliser you've been putting in.
1. Low maintenance pets - they don't need walking or grooming, just feeding and watering a few times a week, shutting in and out, daily egg collection and cleaning out, any time between once a week to once a month depending on how many chickens you have.
2. Cheap - chickens are a lot cheaper to keep than a dog or cat. With feed costing as little as 4p per day for a large fowl hen fed on non-organic layers mash, they are very cheap. They can also be fed scraps from the table as treats, further reducing feed costs, and also recycling.
3. Great tasting, nutritious eggs. Once you have tasted an egg produced in your own back garden, as fresh as can be, there is no going back. The yolks are a deep orange, rather than the pasty yellow that comes from the supermarket, and they stand proud in the frying pan, instead of spreading out, because they are minutes, hours or days old rather than weeks or months old.
Research shows that chickens allowed to roam freely and eat grass lay eggs that are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E and at the same time lower in cholesterol than eggs from the supermarket, making home-produced eggs healthier.
4. Personality. Believe it or not, chickens have great personalities. There are always the shy ones, and those that run up to you to be picked up and cuddled. They do quirky things that will light up your day, everyday.
5. Walking, living, breathing, beautiful lawn ornaments. Just take a look at our breeds section and you can see the wonderful array of chickens available - not all chickens are brown!
6. One step closer to sustainable living and self-sufficiency. Chickens give us eggs which just don't have food miles, and there are many other reasons why they help the environment . . . . read on.
7. Organic, chemical free, pest control. Chickens love to eat bugs that bite you, such as mosquitoes and ticks, and the bugs that harm your plants like slugs. They sometimes even eat baby mice whole (all together now, EWWWWW!)
8. Free fertiliser. Wave goodbye to buying expensive fertiliser from the garden centre. All it takes is a few months on the compost heap to rot down, and it is one of the best fertilisers on earth, better than cow and horse manure. You can also make liquid fertiliser from their droppings.
9. Save a hen from a life behind bars. By producing your own eggs, you are reducing demand for eggs from hens in terrible conditions at factory farms, and some free range farms. By not buying their eggs, you are sending a clear message that you don't want what they're selling.
You can also rescue hens directly from a battery farm. Just speak to Jane Howorth at the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (UK only, sorry, although you can always ring up a battery farmer yourself).
10. Be unique. Despite their growing popularity (apparently chicken keeping is the fastest growing hobby in the UK), chickens are still comparatively rare. Amaze your neighbours with tasty blue eggs from your araucanas, your furry silkies and your friendly hens that come up just begging to be cuddled, and your garden will be the envy of your street with all that free fertiliser you've been putting in.
