Poultry

Figure 1: Chickens will make themselves dust baths in bare soil, as seen in this picture. Photo/courtesy Theresa Becchetti.

Health and Care

Grit, such as oyster shells, egg shells (cleaned, baked and crushed), course sand or small gravel (for larger birds) should be provided for birds that don't have access to little rocks in their environment. Grit helps with digestion and grit made of shells or eggs also helps with good egg shell formation. Most backyard birds will have enough access to natural grit and won't need additional grit added into their environment.

Clean water and clean feeding/watering systems help prevent diseases like Coccidiosis, caused by a protozoan parasite.

Only buy adult birds that have been vaccinated against Marek's disease. Birds should be officially classified as U.S Pullorum-Typhoid Clean.

If your chickens have mites, you can make a dust bath for them out of 1 part diatomaceous earth and 4 parts play sand to help control the mites.

For help with poultry issues, please visit this flowchart, to see who you can contact. If you have had a bird die and would like to understand the cause more, here is a link to a submission to the CAHFS lab for necropsy.

Housing and Fencing

Figure 2: In this picture, young quail are raised in a brooder with an automatic waterer, bedding and crumbled pellets. Once they get bigger they will be put in a larger pen to be grown out. Photo/courtesy Brooke Latack.

Quail do not need perches for roosting. They can be housed indoors or outdoors, on the ground, or in cages with wire bottoms that keeps them off the ground.

Pigeons need a shelter, perches for roosting, bedding and nest boxes like chickens.

Pheasants need a flight pen to grow rapidly and develop into strong, healthy birds. If pheasants are being raised for sport, you will want the birds to be good fliers. A large flight pen allows for them to practice flying and strengthen flight muscles.

Guinea Fowl prefer to have more space to roam. They need a shelter, perches for roosting, bedding and nest boxes like chickens.

Chickens need an enclosed coop to roost in at night and to be kept safe from predators. They need a nesting box to lay their eggs. In the coop, a high carbon bedding, like straw should be used to absorb the nitrogen in the manure. Finally, they need a larger enclosed pen or run to be allowed to roam, scratch and dust bathe during the day. For the first 4 weeks of a chicken's life, during brooding, it is common to confine them under a heat lamp to keep them warm and safe.

Ducks and Geese need shelter and a bedding material that is changed regularly. No roosts or nest boxes are needed.

Peafowl need a lot of space. If allowed to free roam, they will need to be trained to come back to a shelter at night, to keep them safe from predators. If left to free roam, they need at least 5 acres. If kept totally enclosed, they need at minimum 200 sq ft per pair. Peahens don't need a nest box and prefer laying eggs on the ground.

Turkeys need a shelter, perches for roosting, bedding and nest boxes like chickens.

Emus need a shelter, a 1/8 - 1/4 acre pen per pair and an exercise pen. A five to six feet tall fence will be required to contain them. Bedding in the shelter will encourage egg laying. Exercise pens that are long and narrow allow for more running room.

Ostriches need a shelter, a 1/4 - 1/2 acre pen per pair and an exercise pen. A five foot tall fence will be required to contain them.

Figure 3: In this picture, ducks graze in a rotational "duck tractor" setting, where they are moved around in portable electric fence pastures. They have a small pool for their water needs, a feeder, and a "tractor", or portable coop, where they lay eggs and find shelter both in and underneath. Photo/courtesy Theresa Becchetti.

Nutrition

Poultry are omnivores (consume plant and animal matter) and they eat seeds, fruits, plant material, and insects.

In the small acreage situation, poultry can be fed grain, produce or leafy green compost scraps, insects and alfalfa. However, poultry are most healthy and productive when the majority of their calories come from a balanced, commercial poultry ration.

Species-specific and life-stage-specific grain should be fed whenever possible. For example, young chickens should be fed starter chick feed until they are 18 weeks old and then switch to a layer feed when they are older.

Reproductive Cycle

Figure 4: Hens laying eggs in a nest box. Photo/courtesy Theresa Becchetti.

Note: egg production for all poultry species usually begins declining as the birds get older.

Quail are monogamous. Both parents take care of the chicks as they age. Females start laying eggs after they are only 7 weeks of age.

Pigeons are monogamous and typically mate for life.

Pheasants are not monogamous. You need a ratio of about 1:10 male to female birds (m:f), if breeding. 

Guinea Fowl are monogamous and need a ratio of 1:1, m:f if breeding.

Chickens require 14-16 hours of light each day to continue laying eggs. Without adding supplemental light, chickens will slow egg production in winter. You can add one 25 watt bulb on an automatic timer at ceiling height for a 40 sq ft pen to add light before sunrise to prevent slower egg production in the winter; but make sure to still provide dark hours, so they roost. If birds get aggressive or have "double yolkers" they may be receiving too much light.

You can start or increase your flock by either buying chicks or hatching eggs.  You can buy chicks from a feed store, order chicks in the mail, hatch fertile eggs from your own flock (you need a rooster) or buy and hatch fertile eggs. You need a ratio of about 1:10, m:f, if breeding. More information on hatching eggs can be found here.

Ducks typically form seasonally monogamous bonds.

Geese are monogamous and need a ratio of 1:1, m:f if breeding.

Peafowl are not monogamous. You need a ratio of about 1:5, m:f, if breeding. 

Turkeys have been breed to be so large that most domesticated breeds can no longer breed naturally. Artificial insemination is required.

Emu are monogamous typically. But trios (m, f, f) and larger groups have been successful.

Ostriches are not monogamous. You need a ratio of about 1:5, m:f, if breeding.