Chicken Resources on the Web
|
|
Here are sites that provide information about different
breeds of chickens as a primary focus. Many provide additional information and
advice as well.
- Barry Koffler's FeatherSite
- A colorful, well illustrated, and informative site that is my favorite
place to begin. It has a strong section on different breeds (which it
calls an "oddly annotated tour").
- Breeds of Poultry:
Chickens from the Department of Animal Science, Oklahoma State University
- Specifically focused on the different breeds of domestic chickens. Amount
of text provides varies widely among the different breeds. Many but not
all breed pages are illustrated.
- Poultry Pages:
Chicken Breeds
- A British site that provides what it calls basic chicken facts for the
beginner. Nicely designed site, it is full of information and some tips,
plus illustrations.
- Chickenbox, by Johan
Opsomer
- A quirky site from the Nederlands with all sorts of different information.
Special features include little story-poems, tables of characteristics
for each of over 120 diffeent breeds and a guide that helps you narrow
down your search for chicken breeds by matching your needs or desires.
There are lots of picture pages, including a "Watch a little chick grow"
page with day-by-day pictures of the same bird from day one to 55 days
and counting and another that lets you find pictures of chickens by color.
There is chart on diseases with symptoms listed on one side with numbers
corresponding to diseases, ailments, or problems.
- Omlet UK: Chickens
- A British site that provides all kinds of poultry information, including an illustrated pages for chicken breeds commonly (or rarely) found in the UK.
- The DOM_BIRD Web site
- Includes a breed encyclopedia, plus photos, recipes and nutrition information,
and several submitted articles about poultry science and farming. Formerly
associated with the Palm Beach County Poultry Fanciers Association.
- Murray McMurray, Iowa
- The famous hatchery provides a paragraph of information and illustrations
of both adults and chicks. Included here for the information provided, not
as an endorsement of their poultry, products or service.
- Sand Hill Preservation Center,
Iowa
- A family enterprise that has been "trying to preserve old varieties
of vegetables, flowers, fruits, grains, poultry and what is left of the
native flora and fauna" on a farm bought in 1988. The long awaited
Web site is a transcription of the catalog [The owners have no intention
of taking orders over the internet]. Brief information is provided for
all the poultry they sell. The birds are divided into two categories,
regular and preservation. Additionally comparitive information is provided
on egg weight and production by breed.
- Kintaline Farms, Scotland
- Photos, advice, and information about breeds of chickens and other poultry,
some uncommon in North America.
Since several other people have taken the trouble of
compiling and maintaining current lists of hatcheries and breeders, it makes
more sense to link to them than to reproduce their efforts.
- Hatcheries
- FeatherSite: Hatcheries
and Poultry Equipment Supply Houses
- The Poultry Connection Hatcheries and Suppliers Lists: USA
- Hatcheries (Small-scale Production Links), from University of Minnesota's Poultry U.
- Mother Earth News: Hatcheries
Directory
- Breeders
- Jubilee Acres: Chicken
Breeders
- Lunehaven Farm: Breeders
Directory - Poultry
- Heritage Breeds Conservancy: Member
Breeders Directory (only a few list chickens or other poultry in their
annotations, however)
Most of the breed information sites above contain many images of chickens. The sites below have paintings or photographs as their main focus or are especially well illustrated.
- Diane Jacky's Art Gallery.
- Diane Jacky's paintings can be found in the catalogs of leading hatcheries
and have been published in the American Poultry Association's Standard
of Perfection. Hundreds of her images are for sale through cafepress.com.
Her images can also be found on the online catalogs for Murray
McMurray, Ideal Poultry, and
Double-R. There are many other places
you can find Ms. Jacky's art on the Web, as well, but, unfortunately, her
pictures are not always credited to her.
- Poultry Art
by Katherine Plumer
- Poultry illustrations by the artist illustrations chosen for the next edition
of the American Standard of Perfection.
- FeatherSite
and Chickenbox
- I will mention Barry Koffler's and Johan Opsomer's sites again, because
both are full of poultry photography. Both include a special section to guide
you to photographs of chicks. Here is the Feathersite baby
chicks page.
- Lewis Wright's The
Book of Poultry
- Images from a 19th Century book of prints. Images are from lithographs created
by J.W. Ludlow.
- Poultry Photos
- A collection of black and white photographs taken during the early 1900s by Arthur Rice, of Lincolnshire. Only small images are available on the Web.
- Random Chicken
- View a different chicken photo each time you refresh the page. Also available
are video clips, jokes, and recipes.
- Black Forest Poultry, Kentucky
- Art and history of poultry and illustrations of poultry anatomy are featured.
- French Fowl,
from VOLAILLE-POULTRY
- An English language site about more than 30 breeds of poultry that originated
in France(including many I have not found elsewhere on the Web). Short descriptions
and illustrations of breeds.
- AgriPedia:
Poultry Breeds
- From the University of Kentucky, a collection of chicken pictures for 18
different breeds.
The APA, ABA, and Poultry Club (UK) determine and sanction
the standards for breeds and varieties of chickens.
- American Poultry Association
- Includes membership, show and exhibitor information, a health series, and
a current list of breed classifications.
- American Bantam Association
- Includes membership nformation, news and articles, and a list of sanctioned
shows.
- Poultry Club of Great Britain
- Includes news about shows, exhibitions, and other events, plus information,
advice, and images on breeds and other poultry topics.
These heritage and preservation groups are good places
to begin to look for information on rare breeds.
- Society for the
Preservation of Poultry Antiquities
- The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
- The New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy
- Rare Breeds
Canada: Breed Priority List for Chickens and Turkeys
Sites listed here are those with an emphasis on care,
health, and flock management and other advice about poultry. Some may include
information about the different breeds as well.
- Incubation and Embryology
from the University of Illinois Extension
- A site of lesson plans and resources packed with chicken and egg information.
Included is an all-on-one-page History
of Chicken Breeds
- Mississippi State
University Poultry Extension Information Services
- One of the fullest extension service Web sites, with guides for the commericial
industry, small flock owners, and 4-H members. Topics range from the avian
embryo to culling hens.
- Poultry News
- Regular (well, every week or 10 days) updates from University of Auburn Poultry Department on government, industry, and health news affecting poultry and poultry owners.
- The University
of Minnesota Extension Service: Poultry
- A wide variety of information, especially for small flock owners and those
interested in sustainable agriculture.
- Ohio State's Ohioline:
Farm: Livestock: Poultry
- More than a dozen extension fact sheets with information on poultry health
and management.
- UConn's Poultry Pages
- Extension pages, with a nice one on incubation.
- Texas A&M Poultry Department
- The site is now set up in frames, but you can follow the links to a plentiful
list of Extension Publications that are available as PDF files. Separately
you can visit the Poultry
Science Virtual Library, a comprehensive page of links.
- Virginia
Cooperative Extension's Information Resources: Poultry
- Another good source for information. Titles that caught my eye include Management
Requirements for Laying Flocks, Why
Have My Hens Stopped Laying?
- NebGuide: Poultry,
- Online guides icluding: The Home Laying Flock, Part
I & Part II;
Brooding and Rearing the Home Meat Flock
- University of Florida Extension: Poultry
Sciences
- Lots of documents, divided up among these categories: Backyard Flocks, Breeds,
General, Health and Nutrition, Housing Design, and much more. It
- The West Virginia
Poultry Extension Web Page.
- Designed to provide educational and informational materials related to poultry
production, consumer education, and other related poultry topics, this site
provides plenty of its own fact sheets plus many links to other online resources.
- UC Davis's Poultry Web Page:
- Publications & Small Flock & Game Bird Information include leaflets and fact sheets on topics such as candling, biosecurity, health, and feeding.
- Queensland. Department of Primary
Industries. Poultry.
- Extension service-esque advice on poultry health, as well as production.
- NSW Agriculture: Poultry
- A series of practical notes on poultry production, including several topics
related to small-scale poultry keeping, free range eggs, lighting of poultry,
and more.
- Loren Hadley's The Coop
- The Coop provides many resources in its classroom, library, show schedule,
directory, and other sections.
- Mother Earth News Chicken
and eggs page
- A compendium of articles with the homesteader and small operation chicken
farmer in mind. It's started a campaign advocating the nutritional benefits
of pastured poultry and free range chicken eggs.
- The Easy Chicken,
Ohio
- Excellent general resource for beginners starting a flock, or just thinking
about raising chickens. Includes an illustrated guide to Candling.
- Mulligan Creek Poultry Farm
- Follow the road sign to information about poultry, pasturing, and butchering
basics.
- Greg Davies's The Chook Shed
- An Australian site both fun and informative. Information and illustrations of breeds, plus advise and tips on raising chickens.
- MyPetChicken
- Has as its aim "to show prospective chicken owners that it's okay to keep chickens and to walk them through the process, plus provide some great resources & pictures for the seasoned chicken keepers." At the site are a chicken care guide and an interactive breed selection tool.
- PoultryEssays.com
- Bob Martin is yet another Australian with poultry advice to share. The essays
range in scope from incubation to eggs to chick sexing.
- Sustainable
Poultry: Production Overview
- A report from ATTRA (National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service)
on "raising poultry on pasture, including descriptions of production
systems and facilities, as well as detailed nuts-and-bolts information."
- Robert Plamondon
- This Oregon poultry farmer has answers and advice and opinions about all
manner of poultry-related topics, including free ranging and pastured poultry.
- The Chicken
Page from the Farm at Morrison Corner (Stowe, Vermont)
- Summarizes on one page a good bit of helpful information about raising chickens.
It begins with encouraging advice: "Chickens have got to be the easiest, most
forgiving, creatures for a small farm to manage."
- ChickenCrossing
- Dedicated to the pet chicken owner, this site is especially intended for folks keeping chickens in urban settings and small farms. There are pictures, stories, and a forum.
- Chicken Keeping
- Terry Golson's page of fun, advice, recipes, and recommendations, plus excerpts from a farmstead cookbook and a HenCam Blog.
- The Small Farm Resource
- Included among its resources is a page of FAQs on Raising
Poultry.
- Mad City Chickens
- Information, advocacy, advice and photos from a group of pro-poultry people
from Madison, WI, where, because of the group's effort, single-family homes
now have the right to raise poultry in the back yard.
- The Chicken
Project
- Along with photo essays, this site provides plans and details of an attractive
coop designed
to house up to 10 chickens.
- The Homestead Poultry Flock, from the Modern Homestead
- Homesteaders, farmers, and orchardists Harvey and Ellen Ussery, who live in Hume, Virginia, offer advice on feeding, housing, breeding, and pasturing poultry among other topics in their guide.
- Journey to Forever's Poultry
for small farms
- Includes some advice on topics not as well covered elsewhere, such as how
to raise maggots for chicken feed, and butchering tips.
- The late Douglas Adams' Chicken
Theory
- Well, perhaps this doesn't provide very helpful information, but it is technical
and about chickens.
POULTRY FORUMS AND ONLINE DISCUSSION
GROUPS
If you have a chicken question, there is a good chance someone else has has asked it, too. In fact some of the same questions keep appearing over and over in many of forums, discussion boards, lists, and groups. Most of the groups have an archive where you should look for questions similar to your own before you ask. You should also keep in mind, that although many lists have very experienced old-timers and real poultry experts, there is no guarantee that the answers provided have addressed or will address a question well, accurately, or completely.
Each of the following groups has its own personality based as much on the current members of the group as anything else.
- The Classroom
@ The Coop
- The "classroom" is the coop's bulletin board, one of several resources the
Coop provides to small flock owners, breeders and exhibitors. The moderator
attempts to keep this board more informative and less chatty, and some categories
include some very technical exchanges.
- The Poultry
Connection
- TPC includes a general poultry forum for members and guests.
- Backyard Chickens hosts both a message board, maintained by EZBoard, and its BYC Forum.
- Both invite socializing, but provide exhanges for information on breeds, eggs and chicks, care and health, and other chicken information.
- Yahoo Groups
- There are over a hundred poultry groups on Yahoo, but these are some of
the longest running, most active ones.
- dom_bird (open)
- PasturePoultry
(open)
- Chickens-101 (membership required)
- Homestead Poultry (membership required)
- Poultry Egg Swappers (membership required)
- RarePoultryBreeders2 (membership required)
- NOTE: Because of some spam and other problems, the original RarePoultryBreeders
group is not recommended.
- sci.agriculture.poultry
- Through Google Groups, you can read, search, and review recent and archived
messages. Jerry D. Jones' History
of the Breeds was originally posted on sci.agriculture.poultry.
- ChickenCrossing Forum
- Open to any chicken fancier, especially those keeping chickens in urban settings and small farms.
- CANADIANCHICKENEGGSWAPPERS
- If you are Canadian and like to swap chicken eggs, this group's for you.
- Specific Breeds and Classes of Poultry
- Ameraucana Breeders Club
Forum
- msn Groups: American Brahma Club
- Cochin Forum
- Dark Egg Layers
- Java
- The
American Farmer's New and Universal Handbook [plus sub-title 99 words
long]. Philadelphia: Cowperthwait, Desilver, and Butler, 1854.
- Chapter VII, Poultry or the Various Domestic Fowls, starts on p. 290. Available
through the University of Michigan's Making
of America series.
- H. S. Babcock. "Chickens
for Use and Beauty." The Century; a Popular Quarterly. Volume 40
(May 1890): pp. 47-60.
- An article by a renowned authority of the time describing the recognized
breeds of the day. Available through Cornell University's Making
of America series.
- Liberty Hyde Bailey. The
School-book of Farming; a Text for the Elementary Schools, Homes and Clubs.
New York: Macmillan, 1920.
- Topic 25, which begins on p. 318, is Poultry. Written by the famous Cornell
professor and horticulturalist, the poultry unit includes subtopics include
the egg, origins, place on the farm, feeding the flock (including the recipe
for the Cornell ration for laying hens), housing, mating, hatching and brooding,
feeding chicks, diseases and pests (including a recipe for Lawry's lice powder).
Available through Cornell University's Core
Historical Literature of Agriculture series.
- Caleb N. Bement. The
American Poulterer's Companion: a Practical Treatise on the Breeding, Rearing,
Fattening, and General Management of the Various Species of Domestic Poultry.
5th ed. New York: Harper & brothers, 1852.
- A wonderfully practical guide, and plentifully illustrated. Available through
the University of Michigan's Making of
America series.
- Geo. P. Burnham. The
History of the Hen Fever: a Humorous Record. Boston: J. French and
company, 1855.
- Before there was Frank Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles, the hoola hoop, beany
babies, or Pokemon, there were chickens. This classic book describes the fad
that took the world by storm after the introduction of some exotic breeds
of chickens in the early 19th Century. Available through University of Michigan's
Making of America series.
- William Crozier and Peter Henderson. How
the Farm Pays. The Experiences of Forty Years of Successful Farming and Gardening
by the Authors. New York: Peter Henderson, 1884.
- Section on "Rearing and Keeping Poultry" is on pages 224-240. It includes
some economic advice (it is hard to make poultry pay) and descriptions of
various breeds. Available through Cornell University's Core
Historical Literature of Agriculture series.
- William Budington Duryee. A
Living from the Land. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1934.
- Advice for families experiencing country life for the first time in what
the author believed would be a new era of homesteading. "Chapter IX: Poultry
as a Source of Income" begins on p. 123. Available through Cornell University's
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
series.
- "Easy-On" Caponizing Set
Instruction Book. Chicago: Sears, Roebuck, and Co., 1922.
- Available as a Web page and a pdf file (tools not included), these instructions
are provided by the Palm Beach County Poultry Fanciers Association.
- Charles Wyllys Elliott. "The
Poultry Lovers." The Galaxy. Volume 8 (July 1869): pp. 70-82.
- An essay on poultry and poultry farmers that is part hommage and part informational.
There is a short discussion comparing breeds, but in 1869 there were fewer
to discuss. The author does add an extra consideration among the breeds --
cockfighting ability. Available through Cornell University's Making
of America series.
- Felch, Isaac K. Poultry
culture: how to raise, manage, mate and judge thoroughbred fowls. Chicago
:W. H. Harrison, 1885.
- A pioneer in the promotion of poultry production.
- John Hammond. Farm
Animals; Their Breeding, Growth, and Inheritance. New York: Longmans,
Green, 1940.
- Regarding poultry, Hammond discusses fertility, sexing of chicks, the growth
of chicks, and special breeding problems. Here's a sample sentence: "There
is a rhythm in egg production, although there is no corpus luteum to regulate
it.
- Milo M. Hastings. The
Dollar Hen Syracuse: National Poultry Publishing Company, 1911.
- Hastings wrote this to assist "in placing the poultry business on a
sound scientific and economic basis" and "to help the poultryman to make money,
not to spend it." From Project Gutenberg.
- William Adams Lippincott. Poultry Production
Washington, DC: Lamon, 1914.
- A general text on poultry, their care and feeding, from a poultry professor at Kansas State. Available through Cornell University's
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
series.
- Harry Lamon. Practical poultry production St. Paul: Webb, 1920.
- A complete guide to poultry raising, from breeding to feeding, butchering to marketing. "Available through Cornell University's
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
series.
- My Poultry Day By Day, 1901.
- An anonymous diary with monthly advice (October: "This is the month to crow
over your neighbour if your pullets are laying and his are not."). Written
a hundred years ago, it is brief, fun, and informative. It is included on
the British Free Range Egg Producers Association Web Site.
- Robert Jennings. Sheep,
Swine, and Poultry. Philadelphia: J. E. Potter, 1864.
- A practical manual from a veterinary surgeon with information on poultry
and their diseases. Descriptions of breeds are included, but the names are
not the same as we use today. Included are the Bolton Grey, the Blue Dun,
and the Chittagong. The Spangled Hamburgh pictured and described here appears
to me to be the Houdan. Available through the University of Michigan's Making
of America series.
- Kansas State University makes available its archive of historical
bulletins, circulars, and reports as PDFs. Those related to chickens include:
- BULLETINS
- 150.
Hens place on the farm. Oscar Erf, October 1907.
- 159. Analysis
of Eggs. JT Willard and RH Shaw, March 1908.
- 162. The
Marketing of Eggs. A.G. Philips, December 1909.
- 164. Selection
and Feeding of Laying Hens. A.G. Philips, January 1910.
- 180. Bacteriological
Studies on Eggs. Otto Maurer, November 1911.
- 252. Crossbred
Poultry, D.C. Warren, December 1930.
- 256. Farm
Production and Consumption of Poultry in Kansas. Morris Evans and H.L.
Collins, January 1932.
- 256. The
Poultry Enterprise on Kansas Farms. Morris Evans, July 1932.
- 274. Capon
Production. Loyal F. Payne, January 1936.
- 284. Poultry
Diseases: Their Prevention and Control. L. D. Bushnell and M.J. Twiehaus,
May 1939.
- 307. Distinguishing
Sex of Chicks at Hatching Time. D.C. Warren, September 1942.
- 308. Economics
of Poultry Enterprise on Kansas Farms. R.W. Hoecker, December 1942
- 315. Capon
Production. Loyal F. Payne, May 1943.
- 326. Poultry
Diseases, Their Prevention and Control. L.D. Bushnell and M.J. Twiehaus,
June 1945.
- 423. Egg
Products Industry of the United States, Part I: Historical Highlights, 1900-59,
Joe W. Koudele and Edwin C. Heinsohn, 1960.
- CIRCULARS
- 60. Chicken
Management on the Farm. R. M. Sherwood, et al., March 1917.
- 61. Chicken
Houses, Ross M. Sherwood, July 1917.
- 67. Pedigreeing
Poultry, William A. Lippincott, May 1918.
- 70. Poultry
Diseases, L. D. Bushnell and J. G. Jackley, October 1918.
- 93. Culling
Farm Poultry, Loyal F. Payne, May 1922.
- 99. Poultry
Breeding Records, William A. Lippincott, October 1923.
- 122. Poultry
Management on the Farm, Loyal F. Payne, 1926.
- 147. Culling
Poultry, Loyal F. Payne and Howard H. Steup, April 1929.
- 178. Poultry
Management, Loyal F. Payne, January 1936.
- 216. Culling
Poultry (Circ. 147 rev.), Loyal F. Payne, November 1943.
- Rural Affairs : a Practical and Copiously Illustrated Register of Rural
Economy and Rural Taste, Including Country Dwellings, Improving and Planting
Grounds, Fruits and Flowers, compiled and edited by J.J. Thomas. Albany,
N.Y. : L. Tucker, 1858-81.
- A nine volume compilation of articles that originally appeared in the Illustrated
Annual Register of Rural Affairs. Available through the University of
Michigan's Making of America series.
Poultry is mentioned quite often, but some articles of particular note are:
- Management
of Poultry, by D. F. Heffron of Utica. Starts on p. 218 of Volume II (1859-60-1)
- Domestic
Poultry, Varieties, Rearing and Management, by C. N. Bement, and illustrated
by someone signing him or herself Ferguson. Starts on p. 50 of Volume III
(1861-2-3)
- Poultry
Houses, Coops, and Yards, by C. N. Bement, with plans. Starts on p. 126
of Volume IV (1864-5-6).
- More on poultry
house and breeding coops (designs and how to keep them pure) starting
on pages 67 and 160 of Volume VI (1870-1-2).
- Harry Oscar Sampson. Effective
Farming; a Text-book for American Schools. New York: Macmillan, 1918.
- The chapter on poultry (21st of 23 chapters) begins on page 425. It provides
introductory information on breeds, housing, feeding, brooding and incubation.
Available through Cornell University's Core
Historical Literature of Agriculture series.
- E. L. D. Seymour, editor. Farm
Knowledge: A Complete Manual of Successful Farming. 4 volumes. Garden
City, NJ: Doubleday (Prepared exclusively for Sears, Roebuck, and Co.), 1918.
- Section 6. Poultry and Birds (in eight chapters) is found in Volume
I. It includes information on care, commercial production, and detailed
descriptions of breeds. Other information can be found in Volumes II,
III,
and IV.
- Henry Stephens. The Farmer's Guide to Scientific and Practical Agriculture.
New York: L. Scott, 1852. Volumes I
and II
- Since Stephens, assisted by John P. Norton, details the labors of the farmer,
in all their variety, and adapts them to the seasons of the year as they successively
occur, you will have to browse through both volumes for references to poultry.
Available through the University of Michigan's Making
of America series.
- Elliot G. Storke. Domestic
and Rural Affairs: The family, Farm and Gardens, and the Domestic Animals.
- The chapter, "Domestic Poultry, Their Breeds and Treatment in Health and
Disease," begins on page B243. Available through the University of Michigan's
Making of America series.
- U. S. Department of Agriculture.Farmers
Bulletin No. 51: Standard Varieties of Chickens, 1897.
- Descriptions and illustrations of thoroughbred chickens from more than a
century ago. Available through Chickenscope,
a site from the University of Illinoisw that includes many topics related
to chickens and eggs developed in cooperation with a group of Illinois schools.
- G. C. Watson. Farm
Poultry; a Popular Sketch of Domestic Fowls for the Farmer and Amateur.
New York: Macmillan Company, 1901.
- 364 pages full of information about chickens and other poultry. Among reasons
providing for going into the poultry raising are because it requires little
capital with a chance for a quick return on investment and because it can
be engaged in by both men and women. Watson provides in depth descriptions
of breeds divided up in categories of egg, meat, general-purpose, and fancy.
In addition there are chapters on housing, feeding, breeding, diseases and
enemies.
Special Topics
In this section are direct links to some of the sources
for health and disease found within some cooperative extension sites, plus other excellent online sites. I hope you won't
have to visit any of them often.
- Merck Veterinary Manual
- "The single most comprehensive electronic reference for animal care information"
has a lengthy section on poultry.
- Avian Disease
Fact Sheet from the Virginia Cooperative Extenstion's Information Resources.
- Diseases and Pests
of Chickens from Mississippi State University Poultry Extension Information
Services
- Diagnosis, identification, and suggestions for treatment. One page is arranged
by symptoms.
- Penn State University Extension Health and Disease
- A large collection of links to various health and disease issues, including
Avian flu and biosecurity.
- Poultry
Genetics for the Nonprofessional
- If you are interested in chicken genetics (including such topics as sex-linkage,
lethal genes, and blue feathering), this site is a good place to turn. The
information has been put together by a poultry breeder who is also a chemistry
professor (and the professor's sister).
- F. A. Hays. Poultry Breeding Applied Washington, DC: Lamon, 1948.
- Written following the latest scientific principles, but targeted to be "understandable to the average poultryman," this book covers material found in a poultry breeding course at the agricultural school that becaome the University of Massachusetts. Available through Cornell University's Core Historical Literature of Agriculture series.
- Frederick Bruce Hutt. Genetics
of the Fowl. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1949.
- Dated, but useful, scientific look at what makes up a breed. Includes information
on combs, skin, plumage, and eggs. Available through Cornell University's
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
series.
- Harry Lamon. Poultry Breeding and Selection Washington, DC: Lamon, 1932.
- Lamon was Senior Poultryman for the National Poultry Institute. This book was written as a text for a course, and each chapter is a lesson. Available through Cornell University's Core Historical Literature of Agriculture series.
- Harry Lamon. The mating and breeding of poultry New York: Orange Judd, 1923, c1920.
- Covers both principles and practices of breeding, and provides descriptions and advice concerning every breed then accepted to the standard. "Available through Cornell University's Core Historical Literature of Agriculture series.
- The TROUP (Time to Restore our Utility Poultry (T.R.O.U.P.) in the U.K.)
Genetics page
- Jill Bowis addresses poultry genetics with a focus on how it might be used
in restoring pure breeds.
- Chickmap
- And if you really want to get technical, Roslin Institute's Chicken Genome
Mapping Project resource page will lead you to a wealth of online resources,
technical reports, gene maps, and other documents.
- US Poultry Genome Project
- Somehow integrated with, but separate from, the Roslin Institute's work
in the UK is the US Poultry Genome Project. Its Web site is another technical
resource for anyone interested in gene mapping.
- Folklore of the Egg
- From Easter traditions to proverbs to nursery rhymes
- History
of Poultry Dishes, by Linda Stradley
- Origins of chicken ala king, General's Tso's chicken, and other recipes
- Geoffrey Chaucer. The
Nun's Priest's Tale
- The story of Chauntecleer and faire Pertelote, cock and hen, his foreboding
dream, her advice, and his encounter with a fox, his quick thinking and escape.
- Delaware's Blue Hens
- Origins's of the state bird and state university's mascot
- Urban Legends about chickens:
- Freeway Chickens
(This one's true.)
- Why Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC
- FAA's chicken launcher
- Shoplifter's frozen chicken
headache
- An illustrated step-by-step guide and advice by Melvin L. Hamre on home
processing of poultry from Minnesota cooperative extension.
- Mulligan Creek Poultry Farm created the first illustrated Web guide to butchering.
It provides different advice and perspectives.
- Slaughtering
Chickens is an illustrated talk-through from The
Farm at Morrison Corner
- How to butcher
a chicken in 20 minutes or less ...while leaving the carcass and feathers
intact! [how to skin a bird], by Roger Grim (from Backwoods Home Magazine)
- Home Processing
of Chickens, by Daniel E. Bigbee, a Nebraska Extension Poultry Specialist,
provides illustrated step-by-step instructions.
- Home
Processing of Poultry, by Joe G. Berry and Charles Lester, is Pamplet
F-8400 of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. It is available as a
PDF.
- SMALL SCALE
POULTRY PROCESSING is a forty-page publication (PDF) developed by Anne
Fanatico, Agriculture Specialist with the National Center for Appropriate
Technology (NCAT). Small scale, it should be noted, in the terms of the publication,
range from 50-5000 birds processed in a day.
- Processing
Poultry at Home, from Texas A&M, is a 12 page guide available as a
PDF.
- Global Flyfisher has a page on chickens that concentrates on skinning them properly for purposes of using the feathers for tying flies.
Placing chickens before eggs on this web site, I have
divided up this final section into the following groups.
- Grading and Egg Quality
- US
Standards, Grades, and Weight Classes for Shell Eggs (USDA regulations)
- USDA offers a guide How
to buy eggs
- University of Florida Extension has a good page on Egg
Quality
-
- Marketing Boards for Fun, Facts, and Propaganda (I'll let you decide
which is which)
- American Egg Board
- Canadian Egg Board
-
- Eggs and Cholesterol (a variety of different interpretations)
- Delicious Organics: Eggs
- University of Illinois Extension Service's summary of the Eggs
and Cholesterol controversy
- Some facts and fears about eggs tackled by the American Council on Science
and Health:
- Egg
Story Unscrambled
- Scared
by Eggs and Milk But in Love with Herbs
- University Science News: Why
Eggs Don't Contribute Much Cholesterol To Diet
-
- Egg Arts and Craft
- Learn Pysanky
- World
of Pysanky
- Adriana's Pysanka -- illustrations,
instructions, and history
- Ukrainian Museum:
Pysanky
- The Art of Pysanky from the Ukrainian Gift Shop
- How I blow eggs,
by Sunni Bergeron
- And for more links, see the Pysanky links maintained by Dr. Myron Hlynka, Dept. of Math.& Stat., University of Windsor.
This page authored and maintained by: John R. Henderson (jhenderson@ithaca.edu),
Sage Hen Farm, Lodi, NY.
Last modified: Presidents Day, 2008
URL: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chlinks.html