The big day has arrived - Terry Beebe concludes his series on incubation with a look at chicks HATCH day has arrived (in the case of chickens this is the 21st day) and, hopefully, there are some nice healthy chicks in the hatch tray. The chicks need to be left inside the incubator or hatcher until they are standing and moving around.

Opportunity for smallholders - Janice Houghton-Wallace meets John Kirkpatrick, of the Traditional Meat Marketing Company NOT many people, apart from those in the commercial poultry industry, will know the name of John Kirkpatrick. However, when I tell you he was the man who came to the aid of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall when his broiler unit "experiment" set up for the Channel 4 "Hugh's Chicken Run" programmes needed a manager, he will be much more recognisable.

The reality of cheap chicken - Janice Houghton-Wallace looks at the effect of the ‘Chicken Out’ campaign MILLIONS of people must have experienced a steep learning curve this January, as Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver set about explaining to the public the difference in living conditions between free-range and broiler chickens via a week of hard-hitting television programmes.Reader comment (1)

Hidden cost of cheap chicken - Janice Houghton-Wallace looks at the free-range campaign by celebrity chefs IN the week that the Government finally decided that battery cages for laying hens should be outlawed by 2012, celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall fronted a series of hard-hitting programmes about the unacceptable conditions in intensive chicken broiler units, campaigning to improve the living conditions of meat birds as well.Reader comments (3)

Getting started with incubation - Terry Beebe begins with the basics – incubating eggs naturally or artificially? INCUBATION is a subject which many people find hard to understand, but it is a natural form of reproduction and development of a fertile egg, which after a certain length of time hatches and produces the next generation of whatever breed is being incubated.Reader comment (1)

Poultry - what do you think?

Poultry is continuing to dominate the agricultural news. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall with his "Chicken Out" campaign has brought a flurry of related articles about the welfare of broiler birds, with revelations about how intensive meat birds are reared, coming thick and fast. On the other side, the poultry industry has hit back saying that there is confusion between the way caged egg-laying hens are kept and conditions for meat birds.

Hidden cost of cheap chicken

At a time that the Government finally decided that battery cages for laying hens should be outlawed by 2012, celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall fronted a series of hard-hitting programmes about the unacceptable conditions in intensive chicken broiler units, campaigning to improve the living conditions of meat birds as well.

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Why aren’t my hens laying? - Terry Beebe looks at how to improve your birds' egg production

LAYING hens are usually taken for granted, they just keep laying eggs and they are easy to look after. Easy maintenance is always quoted especially to the newcomer who has decided to attempt to enter the wonderful world of poultry keeping.

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Preparing for those cold days - Janice Houghton-Wallace looks at how to keep poultry healthy over the winter period

WHEN it comes to the short and often wet and windy days of winter it makes sense to lessen the work of looking after the poultry as much as you can.

A keen taste for brown eggs - Jeremy Hobson offers some suggestions for the perfect addition to the breakfast table

"WHAT'S in a name? That which we call a rose: By any other name would smell as sweet" has, it must be admitted, a far finer ring to it, than has, "What's in a colour? That which we call an egg: By any other colour would taste the same".

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