Poultry

Find out if chickens can eat cantaloupe flesh, seeds, and rind, how much to feed, and which other melons are safe treats.

Avocado contains persin, a toxin that causes fatal heart damage in birds. Here is which parts are worst, what poisoning looks like, and what to do if your flock got into the compost.

Bell pepper flesh, seeds and pith are safe for chickens. The leaves, stems and flowers are not. Here are the portions, the ages and the parts to cut off.

Which fruits, vegetables, and kitchen scraps are safe for backyard chickens, the 90/10 treat rule, and what to never feed them.

Barred, laced, spangled or Columbian, and the pattern names the breed. How to tell a Barred Rock from a Dominique, which lay best, and which suit a backyard flock.

Yes, peel included, and citrus does not block calcium, thin eggshells, or cause feather picking. What the real limits are and why most chickens ignore oranges anyway.

Miniature chickens at a quarter to half standard size, laying small eggs and eating far less feed. The real disadvantages, breed choices, and mixing them with standard hens.

Plain cooked store-bought mushrooms yes, in small amounts. Wild mushrooms never. What’s toxic, how much is safe, and what to watch for.

A group of chickens is called a flock, with no fanciful alternative. What a brood and a clutch are, the full hen and rooster vocabulary, and how the pecking order works.

Guinea fowl sounds decoded: only females make the classic buckwheat call, males sound different, and the alarm calling many keepers value. What to expect.