Neil Armitage (533)

I am an experienced poultry keeper who has been raising chickens for over 20 years in challenging conditions in Yorkshire, UK. I am passionate about helping people learn about and enjoy the benefits of keeping chickens. I love raising chickens because they are such friendly and productive animals, providing me with fresh eggs, meat, and fertiliser, and they are a lot of fun to watch.
A pair of Silkie chickens eating.

Feeding Silkies and what to give as treats

A free range chicken out on grass.

Should I free range my chickens and bantams?

How much is too much to pay for silkies.

Where to get Silkies and how much to pay for them.

The breed standard of perfection for the Silkie chicken.

Silkie breed standard.

A silkie chicken plucked and ready for cooking.

Keeping silkies for meat

A family of Silkie chickens.

Incubating and hatching Silkie eggs

A Silkie chicken from the history books.

History and origin of the Silkie chicken

Silkies need a little extra care.

Care of Silkie chickens

One of my Silkie cross chickens I use for hatching chicks.

Broody Silkie chickens

Organic feed is more expensive but better for your chickens.

Organic chicken feed and do you need it

What is the best thing to put on the floor of a chicken run.

What is the best floor materials for a chicken run?

Should you give your chickens extra light and how to do it.

Artificial light for chickens

Good fences are a necessity for chickens.

How high do fences need to be for chickens?

Bantams will dig up your garden, ruin your lawn and dust bathe in your flower beds just like all other chickens.

Will bantams ruin my garden?

When well looked after bantams live a long time.

How long do bantam chickens live

Do bantams need smaller coops than large fowl.

Bantam chicken coops and housing

A bantam wyandotte in the snow.

Bantams and winter

Chickens can get lonely, feel depressed and be sad.

Do chickens get sad, lonely or depressed?

Breeding bantam chickens is a little different to breeding large fowl

Breeding chickens and bantams

Should you get large fowl or bantam chickens.

Should I get large fowl chickens or bantams

Large chickens and bantams can be kept together quite easily if a few rules are followed.

Keeping bantams and large fowl chickens together

Most people get Silkie chickens to be pets.

Silkie chickens as pets

This si my pet cat. he is no threat to any of my chickens but some cats are a problem.

Bantams and cats

Bantams are smaller than other chickens and need to be kept inside for longer before they are let out to free range.

When can bantams go outside?

Bantam chickens are a lot smaller and quieter than large fowl.

Are bantam chickens quieter?

A splash rose-comb bantam chicken in a show cage

Bantam chicken keeping

This is one of my Barnevelder cockerels resting on the grass in front of a row of trees.

Should you have trees in the chicken run and which ones are the best.

A bucket of fresh eggs collected from my hens. All chickens are seasonal layers to some extent.

Seasonal chickens vs Year round layers

3 white orpington hens and a cockerel on pasture in my garden

Orpington chickens as pets

A young buff coloured orpington chicken, sometimes called a grower.

Breeding Orpington chickens

A close up of a buff orpington showing the characteristics in detail.

Orpington characteristics

Egg shell thickness and strength and how to measure it.

Thickness and strength of eggshells and why it matters.

Chickens forage instinctively, it is not a learned behaviour.

All the chicken behaviours, and which are instinctive or learned.

The mobile air cell in this egg is clearly visible.

Detached, saddled or tremulous air cells and what to do about them.

An egg clearly showing the air sack in the round end.

Air cells in eggs. Where to find them and what are they for.

The floating egg method of testing the freshness of eggs with the results.

How to test eggs for freshness. 4 methods with the results.

A chicken behind bars

The laws and regulations of chicken and poultry keeping.

Terms and conditions.

A chickens having a poop.

Diarrhoea in chickens. What causes it and how to deal with it.

27 actionable ways to save money on chicken feed and keeping costs

27 ways to save money on your chickens and their feed bill.

Orpingtons like the jubilee and the blue are rare and expensive

Where to get Orpington chickens and how much to pay for them.

A trio of white Orpingtons clearly showing the difference in the sexes.

Sexing Orpington chickens, how to tell the boys from the girls.

Marking eggs safely.

How to mark eggs safely.

An chicken hanging after processing.

Keeping and raising Orpington chickens for meat.

3 light brown orpington eggs in a display

The Orpington egg. Size, colour and quantity.

The origins, history and development of the orpington chicken.

The history, origin and development of the Orpington chicken.

A silver laced wyandotte hen showing off her feather patterns

Chicken feather patterns with breed examples, pictures and video.

What to look for in breeding stock and how to choose the best birds

Selecting chickens for breeding. What to look for and some do's and don'ts.

A close up of the eye of a chicken showing the third eyelid or nictitating membrane

What is wrong with my chickens eyes? Diagnose and treat eye problems in chickens.

The chicken keepers survey

Take our poultry keepers survey. New for 2024.

Chicken math in action

Chicken math explained with real examples.

Two Guinea fowl grazing free range.

The complete A to Z of what Guinea fowl can eat.

The life cycle and habits of chicken mites and how to deal with them

Chicken mites, what are they and how to deal with them. With mite FAQ'S.

Pecking order movie review, who will rule the roost

Pecking order (2017) movie review and trailer.

A laying hen's beak in close up.

What is wrong with my chicken's beak?

The girls from my egg flock settling down at bedtime.

A chicken's bedtime: What is it and why does it change?

A chick with an unhealed navel is likely to get infected with Omphalitis or mushy chick disease.

Omphalitis or mushy chick disease and how to prevent and treat it.

A bad hatch with unhatched eggs in the incubator..

Why your eggs aren't hatching and what to do about it.

My egg flock eating some pumpkin seeds.

What seeds can chickens eat? 17 seeds tested and costed.

Some of my chickens getting chopped pineapple as a treat

Can and should chickens be eating pineapple?

This cockerel is showing no signs of stress what so ever.

19 causes of stress in chickens and how to reduce it in your flock.

A flock of chickens that have been cleaning themselves very well.

How do chickens keep themselves clean?

A hen with her comb and wattles in excellent condition.

What is wrong with my chickens comb?

A mother hen with her chicks feeding on pasture

Can and should chickens eat grass and is it good for them?

Gaping and respiratory symptoms are classic infectious bronchitis.

Identification and treatment of infectious bronchitis (IB) in chickens.

My chickens in deep snow when the temperature is 10 Fahrenheit.

What makes chickens cold hardy and which breeds are best?

A few of my laying hens with a leghorn cockerel.

Laying hens and their care.

My chickens eating figs as a treat

Can and should chickens eat figs.

My bantam barnevelders eating

Feeding bantam chickens.

6 Japanese bantam eggs on display

Japanese bantams as egg layers.

A show quality Japanese bantam

Are Japanese bantams friendly?

A prime example of a Japanese bantam at a poultry show

Japanese bantam breed standards and characteristics.

The Japanese bantam is a small ancient breed with a long heritage

The Japanese Bantam.

What products do I recommend for chicken keepers

Recommended products for chicken keepers

Sexing Serama bantam chickens is very difficult

Sexing Serama bantams.

A single serama bantam egg

Serama bantam eggs.

Amazing pictures of Serama bantams

Serama gallery of images.

Raising Serama is a little bit more difficult than other chickens

Raising Serama bantams.

Breeding serama is all about healthy, small birds with attitude.

Breeding Serama bantams.

Serama can eat normal chicken food but prefer it cut smaller

Feeding Serama bantams.