Some Chicken Behavior Can Be Downright Wacky!

Hens can have extremely goofy chicken behavior and do some of the wackiest things. This is probably part of the appeal of backyard flocks! If you’ve ever wondered if your chicken’s wacky behavior was normal or there’s something wrong with it, you’re probably not alone. 

New chicken-keepers may be especially confused by some of the bizarre behavior of these funny fowl. Some birds act even wackier than others and stump seasoned chicken tenders and experts alike.

Here are some common wacky chicken behavior questions and advice on what, if anything, you should do about it.

I’m Not Dead!

You’ve just found your favorite hen laying over on its side with one wing stretched out, looking nearly catatonic. Don’t worry. It’s probably not dead or even injured. Iit’s actually just sunbathing.

Although it looks strange, this is completely normal behavior and just one of the wacky things that chickens do.

“A normal behavior that scares a lot of people is sunbathing,” says Richard Blatchford, an assistant professor of extension, small to large-scale poultry, for the department of animal science at the University of California, Davis. Blatchford specializes in the husbandry, behavior and welfare of poultry and often talks with poultry producers and backyard flock-keepers about behavioral issues and how to change or address nuisance behaviors.

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“The birds will just go down on their sides, spread a wing out and become motionless on the ground,” he says. “If people don’t realize that chickens sunbathe, they kind of look dead.

“Chickens tend to kind of zone out when they’re sunbathing, so you can get really close to them before they get up or move. I think this adds to the concern there’s something wrong with the bird because they never just sit there when you walk up to them.

“However, it’s totally normal. The bird is fine. They’ll finish their sunbath, get up and do their normal stuff.”

Read more: Care is key to comfort when chickens are molting.

Chickens Gone Bald

If you remember when your first chicken went through its first molt, you may have seriously panicked over your bird going bald. Not necessarily a chicken behavior issue, the first molt can be freaky. But molting is completely normal.

However, there are a couple of reasons why birds lose feathers outside of molt that aren’t “normal” but may or may not be concerning. And some of the associated chicken behavior can be bad, even dangerous.

“The most common scenario is aggression,” Blatchford says. “If there’s aggression in a flock, birds show [it] by pecking. If they’re really aggressive, they end up pulling feathers out in particular parts of the body. You may notice a chicken missing feathers on the back of the head and neck, around the vent and sometimes the back. Feather loss due to aggression isn’t necessarily an issue for the birds themselves. They should grow the feathers back in the next molt.

“However, if…

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A Few Ways To Make Your Land Turkey Friendly

Few things warm a turkey hunter’s heart more than seeing a hen with a brood of newly hatched poults. It is much more satisfying if the sighting occurs on your property.

My wife Beth and I have spent our entire lives hunting turkeys. If you’ve ever hunted wild turkeys, you know what I mean when I say it gets into your blood and often becomes an obsession. It did for us.

We were fortunate to have wild turkeys use and call our small Alabama farm home when we purchased it. But we desired more.

Hunting wild turkeys is more than just killing them. Some of our most memorable hunts were when the gobblers we were hunting came out on top. However, some of our favorite dinners have come from encounters that the gobblers lost. With this in mind, we began looking for methods to improve the property’s wild turkey habitat.

Prepare nesting zones

Wild turkey mating season can begin as early as February and last as late as May, depending on where you live. Soon after being bred, a hen begins looking for a spot to lay her eggs.

Hens typically prefer a nesting place in an area with somewhat forested vegetation. When she has decided on a location, she digs a shallow depression and fills it with leaves, sticks, and her own feathers to build her nest. Hens require a location that provides privacy and cover, as well as food and water nearby.

When Beth and I decided to do our part to assist turkey hens in nesting and rearing poults on our little farm, we relied on years of monitoring turkeys and using the property to help identify spots where hens preferred to nest.

Finally, we narrowed our search to three places with suitable nesting cover and a water source. To improve them, we began by picking small sections on the edge of hardwood drains and girdling the bark of undesirable trees such as sweet gum and hickory.

We also used a chainsaw to drop random trees to offer cover and hasten the natural regrowth of understory plants. Some trees were sawed down but remained attached to the stump.

These trees survive by retaining their leaves and providing instant cover. This is referred to as hinge cutting.

Clear travel corridors

clear travel corridors

We tilled pasture grass in another region in the spring. The pasture we chose was near a six-year-old planted pine stand. The natural vegetation of dog fennel, briars, ragweed, and sedge had regained the site by the fall.

Today, we manage this natural vegetation by mowing patches in the summer on a three-year cycle. This gives the area three unique ages of vegetation.

The oldest vegetation is optimal for nesting, while the youngest is lush with fresh growth and offers turkeys with travel corridors.

Tame the trees

Our final attempt concentrated on a 30-acre loblolly pine stand established…

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VIDEO: Finding North with an Ant Hill

Tyler White is one of those rare creators of online survival content who is amply qualified. Growing up on a ranch, Tyler learned about homesteading and preparedness as a way of life, taught by grandparents who had lived through the Great Depression. Although he had already worked at a guide in Alaska, served with U.S. Army, Tyler knew there was more to primitive survival than he could learn from military schools or other outdoorsmen. His passion for primitive survival drove him on a quest to track down the most knowledgeable instructors in the field, traveling from Utah to the Amazon to Canada and finally back to Utah. Like all competent survivalists, Tyler has experience in a broad range of subjects. Highlights from his background includes criminal justice, law enforcement, archery, small arms, amateur radio, farming, gardening, raising cattle, and poultry. He has attended classified schools, worked in law enforcement, studied too many martial arts to list, and achieved the rank of 2nd Dan in Shōrin-ryū karate.

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NBC: Cookies might not be tracking you, but some of your favorite brands are

It isn’t clear whether retail media networks violate California’s privacy laws or would come under enforcement if the federal privacy bill is enacted, said John Davisson, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which backs tighter controls around consumer data.

“A lot turns on what is made clear to the consumer at the time they’re enrolling in a loyalty program,” he said, including “whether they believe they are just signing up for it to market products to them or whether they are opting into something bigger.”

Read the full article here.

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Make DIY Chicken Treats For A Happy, Healthy Flock

Giving chicken treats to your flock has so many benefits. It keeps your ladies from being bored, and a variation in their diet will boost your birds’ overall health and happiness. 

Chickens are omnivorous, meaning that they eat plants and meat. Here, I’ll cover 15 DIY chicken treats for your flock that encompasses their natural diets. Please remember to always feed these in moderation. Feeding too many treats can have a negative impact on your chickens’ health. 

Snack Piñata

The easy-to-make piñata is a great way to give a snack and combat boredom at the same time. Take corn, watermelon or really any vegetable and fruit that you can hang from a rope and hang it up in the coop! Your birds will be entertained all day by these chicken treats, and you’ll get a funny show watching them peck at whatever you have hanging. 

In my coop, I normally use a mix of different gourds and sometimes I’ll even hang a head of broccoli. They always have a fun time with it!  

Herb Garland 

An herb garland can look beautiful in your coop, make it smell better and serve as an impromptu snack bar for your flock! I always have leftover lavender, oregano, chives, mint, parsley and thyme. 

I sometimes hang it high above their roosts or low other times to give them a sense of change. I take simple twine, bunch up my herbs and tie them into the twine. I then hang it side to side in their coop.

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If I’m going to be gone for a few days, I’ll incorporate some kale and spinach bunches into this as well.  

Chicken Cake

I have only made this next treat twice in my entire time of chicken tending. I don’t bake very often, but if you are a baker, this treat will work out well for you and your flock!

A chicken cake can contain all sorts of goodies, and decorating can be a load of fun also! The recipe is as follows.

Ingredients

  • 1⁄2 cup flour
  • 1⁄2 cup applesauce
  • 1⁄2 cup peanut butter
  • 1⁄4 cup oregano
  • 1⁄2 cup chopped apple
  • 1⁄4 cup parsley
  • 1⁄2 cup chopped strawberry
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
Preparation

Mix your flour, baking powder, peanut butter and applesauce together. After they’re mixed, add the rest of the ingredients. Put it into a cupcake tray with a disposable cupcake tray for easy removal.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, and viola!—a chicken cake! 

You can top your chicken treats cake with a multitude of different things. The first time that I made this recipe for my flock, I cooked the entire cake in a cake pan and topped the whole thing with corn and herb leaves. I used carrots to make a face (because what’s a cake without some decoration) and my flock loved it! 

Read more: Make treat time fun with a modified gumball machine!

Snack…

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How to get started on home renovation?

You want to renovate your home but have no idea where to begin, right? You are not alone, though. Many homeowners begin their remodeling projects without knowing what to anticipate. They don’t regret not having a strategy until they have to endure renovation setbacks. It’s estimated that 80% of houses in our country are two decades old and require immediate remodeling. Experts believe domestic repairs must be done every 15-20 years, even if your apartment is in excellent condition. So, are you going to repair your home now? Before getting started on domestic renovations, consider the checkmarks mentioned here. These bullet points can help you undertake domestic refurbishing properly. Make your house stronger again in 2022 by hiring experts, getting required permits, and obtaining the insurance you need for repairs.

Domestic renovation done right in 10 steps

While watching popular “home reno” shows on HGTV, homeowners may think it takes 24 minutes to refurbish a home. However, the experience will show you that domestic remodeling projects aren’t simple and may consume several days. But you can make these projects less time-consuming today by organizing them properly. Learn how to start domestic repairs if you wish to commence the project successfully and finish it before the deadline. In countries like the UK, the prices of these home-reno projects have increased 36% since the pandemic! But you can remodel your house cost-effectively by carefully following our below-mentioned guidelines. So, here is what you should do:

1. Evaluate the task

Folks often embark upon domestic refurbishing DIY even when they don’t have sufficient experience to get the job done right. We suggest you evaluate the project and determine which parts can be done DIY or need a professional’s undertaking. For instance, you should contact a reliable painter to paint large-scale rooms and your house’s exterior properly. These housepainters can handle projects that amateurs can’t do. So, evaluate each portion of the renovation project properly.

2. Interview different contractors

Don’t hire the first contractor you contact. Instead, interview multiple contractors and then consider the one you should recruit. Interviewing different individuals will allow you to compare quotes while evaluating which seems more competent. Not meeting multiple contractors can allow someone to overcharge you or not give you the expertise you seek. So, do your homework before hiring these contractors. Read online reviews about them and hire the one who seems experienced enough.

3. Choose design preferences

What sort of ideas do you have about redesigning the apartment? Don’t meet an interior designer if you haven’t decided what kind of domestic design you prefer for the upgrade. Read some magazines about home décor to get inspired and have better ideas about revamping the apartment. Don’t permit the interior decorator to purchase expensive materials at your expense. Make sure that you stick to the budget you have established. Decorate your house cost-effectively if possible.

4. Determine your budget

Don’t overlook the monetary aspect of the “home reno” project. Create a realistic budget for home repairs and include the contractor in the budget-making process. Remember to…

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What To Hoard And How To Barter

Times have been rough. The old world you know is long gone, replaced with a blunt cruelty you never imagined possible. People are dispersed, cities are collapsing, and infrastructure is completely lacking.

It has been 20 months since the government collapsed, and various attempts to stabilize or form a new one have failed, taking the last traces of an orderly economy with them.

Cash will continue to play a significant part in how people buy and sell things in the early stages of any long-term crisis because people feel that those bits of paper still have worth.

Credit and ATM cards will be the first to go since a lack of electricity limits their usage, and paper money will follow any large-scale state collapse.

However, for a short period of time, perhaps a couple of months, as long as a guy has a wad of dollars in his pocket, he can still buy stuff from the uninformed and others who don’t understand how economies work.

As you stand in the rubble of a vacant grocery store, you understand paper currency is merely a nostalgic relic of a bygone era.

If you cannot generate what you require, you must either go without it or locate someone who does and is prepared to trade for it.

What can you barter?

There is a common set of needs that a person must meet in order to survive any disaster.

The broad stroke bullet points of that list are food, shelter, fire, water, medicine, and protection, as those categories must be supplied and refilled when they run out. Otherwise, your chances of surviving will be reduced.

Given this, the extra gear you get can be utilized to exchange for the consumables you run out of. Remember that the value of a single object is determined by the law of supply and demand: the scarcity of an item and the desire for it increase its worth.

Knives become much more valuable when they are in low supply.

The trick is determining what items are vital in a survival situation, and the most obvious are those that expire rapidly, such as food.

what can you barter

However, this presents a dilemma. Storing an extra loaf of bread or a few boxes of crackers with the purpose of trading them later will not help because it will only last a few weeks. Bags of wheat and grains, on the other hand, will last for several years.

The longer something lasts, such as sugar, honey, bouillon cubes, and salt, the more it can benefit you in the future when trading for veggies or fresh eggs.

People have vices, wants, habits, and desires, and you need to make the most of them. However, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol addiction can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, their need for spirits, cigarettes, and coffee may be so severe that they are willing to pay…

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Bloomberg Law: Website-Browsing Surveillance Suits Erupt After Appellate Ruling

The software also enables companies to conduct a form of human-subject research without the consent of the human subjects, and operates without regard to important privacy concerns such as limiting the amount of data that companies collect and retain, said John Davisson, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Read the full story here.

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Liberals call for ban on Homeschooling: Claim it’s Right-Wing Extremism! Push to Ban Independent Thought Ramps Up!

Homeschooling Kids Extremism

As the federal government ramps up its propaganda to deem anyone who doesn’t toe the democrat line an extremist, it seems those who grow their own food, homeschool their children, and want to live a self-reliant lifestyle have become the next target of the tyrants who wish to kill off independent thought and self-reliance.

It’s something we have warned about for over a decade and probably why we have been essentially shadow banned from social media and significant search engines – those who told tell the truth and refused to sell their websites to the mega-corporations that run over 99% of the internet have been demonetized, demoted in search, and shadow-banned on social media. In July of 2021, Facebook began warning users that they might have seen or been exposed to “extremist content” on social media. Oddly, the warnings seemed to target users who belonged to gardening, homeschooling, canning, and other groups that dealt with traditional skills and values.

Screenshots shared on other social networks showed a notice asking, “Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” and another that alerted users, “you may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently.” Both included links to “get support.” This all came around the same time the White House admitted to working with social media companies to ban so-called extremists content.

Apparently, wanting to have the skills to live without government intervention in every aspect of your life is now an extremist position.

Homeschooling parents are targeted for wanting to provide an actual education for their children!

As the democrat party plunges into their dystopian wet dream, fresh off their historic win of convincing a majority of our brainwashed population that they should give up their civil liberties due to a cold virus, it seems there is no end to the insanity in sight. In fact, one of their many targets appears to now include homeschoolers as well – you can’t have children being taught to think for themselves!

The one upside to the democrat pandemic was how many parents saw their kids come back to life once the school shut down. Before the so-called pandemic, only 5.4 percent of households reported home-schooling children. During the pandemic, that number jumped to 11.1 percent.

“So parents are finding out, we do not need a government teaching license to be effective teachers. We do not need $12,000 of our neighbor’s tax money for our children to learn. We do not need the professor created curriculum,” Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute and editor in chief of Home School Researcher, told The Hill.

“We do not need our children to be around 27 peers for six hours per day to be well socialized. We could have more family time, we could have a more flexible schedule. We do not have to live at the whim of the institutional school and its schedule,” Ray added.

Kids who were once tormented, abused and told what to think…

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Front Yard Pharmacy: Your Herb Garden, by B.W..

Introductory Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Use medicinal herbs under direction from your own doctor and with your own discretion. Always do your research before taking any medication, herbal or otherwise.

Does the world as it sits right now have you feeling overwhelmed and more than a little nervous about the future? Maybe you’re prepping like crazy, putting back food and water. Maybe you’re rearranging your investments and starting some of the projects you’ve been wanting to do for years.

In all of your preparation, have you made considerations for what you will do if modern medicine takes a nosedive? If cold and flu season ends up being much more problematic than it has ever been? What if you can’t find painkillers or cold medicine at the stores anymore? What if the pharmacy doesn’t exist in a future world?

Enter the medicinal herb garden. Often talked about as an alternative to modern prescription drugs, this is not a new topic to today’s prepper. Maybe when you think about medicinal herbs you conjure whimsical images of cottage gardens with neatly labeled herbs, shrubs, and trees. Or do you picture a romp through the woods gathering the herbs you need for your newest brew?

While there is nothing wrong with an apothecary-esque garden or a foraging expedition, the goal of this article is to place medicinal herbs in the spotlight as specimen plantings and feature plants of your front yard. The herbs, plants, and trees I suggest here will be powerful medicine for you and your family and are beautiful enough to sneak into even the most limited of spaces.

A Word of Encouragement for the Beginner

When I first heard about medicinal herbs, the first emotion I felt was fear. I’m not joking. My brain had a physical reaction to that combination of words because over the span of my lifetime there were subtle warnings. “DANGER!” “NOT APPROVED BY THE FDA.” “ALWAYS SEEK APPROVAL FROM YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE TAKING ANY HERBAL SUPPLEMENT.”

There is even a disclaimer at the top of this article, but I’m telling you right now, that is there because it has to be there, on the advice of attorneys. I don’t want any one of the people reading this to go out and drink 2 gallons of elderberry syrup, proceed to throw up, and sue the pants off me. I believe the general population is smarter than that.

The collection of warnings from bureaucrats made me feel like I needed a Ph.D. in pharmacology to even think about tinkering around with herbs for medicine. But, I’m here to encourage you. Don’t be afraid! While it is always smart to use caution when trying something new, it is insanely unlikely that taking herbs will harm you to the extent that you are made to believe.

Many beginners are afraid that you will take these herbal medicines and immediately drop dead from a heart attack. Or poison yourself unknowingly. Or start singing “Kumbaya” with the spirits of your…

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