Neil Armitage (537)

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.
What are the orpington breed standards

Orpington chicken breed standards.

A small flock of Buff Orpington chickens free ranging on grass

The Orpington chicken.

My Guinea fowl and chickens feeding together

Keeping Guinea fowl with chickens and other poultry.

A flock of Guinea fowl on perches in a coop

Do Guinea fowl need a coop?

A batch of Guinea growers in a coop.

Guinea growers and growing on. A Guineas teenage years.

A Guinea hen with a large brood of baby keets.

Brooding keets and baby Guinea fowl.

A guinea fowl keet just hatching inside the incubator.

Artificial incubation of Guinea fowl eggs.

A mother guinea raising her brood of keets naturally

Hatching Guinea fowl eggs naturally.

A home produced Guinea fowl prepared and trussed ready for cooking

Raising Guinea fowl for meat.

A guinea fowl on her nest with keets.

Guinea fowl nests and nesting boxes.

A large nest full of Guinea fowl eggs.

Guinea fowl eggs.

A brooder with 25 guinea fowl keets.

Raising Guinea fowl keets successfully.

Telling the males from the females is difficult with Guineas.

Sexing Guinea fowl.

A flock of Guinea fowl feeding free range.

Feeding Guinea fowl.

A prime example of a male Guinea fowl.

Male Guinea fowls

A guinea fowl taking a dust bath to help keep parasites away

Do Guinea fowl get parasites?

A dog with a dead Guinea fowl.

Guinea Fowl Predators

A Guinea fowl with all its wing feathers intact.

Clipping and pinioning of Guinea fowl wings.

Guineas and chickens eating mixed scratch as a treat

Treats for Guinea fowl.

A family of multi coloured guinea fowls

Breeding Guinea fowl.

Guinea fowl suffer less disease than other types of poultry but they do get sick.

Diseases of Guinea fowl.

Catching guineas requires patience and determination.

How to catch Guinea fowl.

A flock of Guineas eating in a garden

Can you keep Guinea fowl as pets?

A flock of guinea fowl having a communal dust bath

Do Guinea fowl need a dust bath?

Guinea fowl love to be free range but not everyone can.

Free ranging your Guinea fowl.

There are 20 or so guinea colours with more being bred all the time

Guinea fowl colours for adults and keets.

Everything you wanted to know about Guinea fowl in a short question and answer format

Guinea fowl frequently asked questions (FAQ's). With links.

Guineas are much more agressive that other types of poultry under the right circumstances.

Are Guinea fowl aggressive?

Guineas are different from other types of poultry and are not as easy to keep as chickens

Are Guinea fowl easy to keep?

A flock of Guinea fowl out in the snow and ice.

Are Guinea fowl winter and cold hardy birds?

Guineas will eat anything that fits in their mouths.

Are Guinea fowl good pest control?

A flock of guinea fowl surround a snake.

Guinea fowl and snakes.

Guineas tend to ingore most other pets.

Guinea fowl and other pets.

A nest of guinea fowl eggs.

Guinea fowl hatching eggs and how to select them.

A domestic Guinea fowl in full flight

Do Guinea fowl fly?

A printed plate of guinea fowl in the wild

The history and origin of Guinea fowl.

There are good reasons to keep guineas and just as many reasons not to keep them

The pros and cons of keeping Guinea fowl.

Guinea fowl can be trained to some extent and can become tame eventually.

Can you tame and train Guinea fowl?

What equipment do you need to keep Guinea fowl

Guinea fowl basic equipment list.

Where can you find guinea fowl to buy and how much will they cost you.

Where to get Guinea fowl and how much to pay for them.

What do you need to know before you get guinea fowl.

Before you get Guinea fowl.

Are you allowed to keep guinea fowl?

Can I keep Guinea fowl?

4 guinea fowl free ranging

Beginners guide to keeping Guinea fowl.

Vulturine Guinea fowl in grassland

Types of Guinea fowl

pages, sites and resources that might be of use to chicken keepers

Chicken and poultry keeping resources and links for schools and teachers.

Guinea fowl at a watering hole

Guinea fowl and their care.

.What to do after chickens have died.

After chickens have died.

A dying chicken

How do you know if chickens are dying?

A dying chicken made comfortable in a dog crate

How to comfort a dying chicken.

Eggs in the incubator

Do eggs move and wiggle before they hatch?

These two chicks are Silve laced Barnevelder bantams

What do baby chickens look like with 50+ breed examples

Caring for chickens is easy if you follow a few rules.

Chicken care basics

My flock of Light Sussex chickens with my pied guinea fowl

How many chickens should I get?

A chicks just hatched in an incubator.

What is an egg incubator?

Nearly all the eggs consumed are unfertilised, including the ones I produce.

Why do hens lay unfertilised eggs?

A flock of sebrights. chickens can get fowl pox.

Fowl pox in chickens and how to treat it.

two hens sharing a nest to lay eggs.

What time of day to chickens lay eggs?

A large clutch of ducklings

Can you raise ducklings with a broody mother hen.

Two just hatched chicks still wet in the incubator

What do baby chicks look like during and after hatching.

All these chickens have flown up to a perch that is 5 foot high

Can chickens fly? And how high?

A fertile hatching egg candles at 10 days showing the embryonic development

When to candle fertile eggs during incubation

A rooster broding a clutch of chicks and keeping them warm.

Do roosters brood chicks or share chick care?

A selection of fake eggs in a nest with some chicken eggs

Do fake or pot eggs help chickens lay?

A whole crate of just hatched straight run day old chicks

What are "Straight Run " chicks? with a price comparison.

A chicken running across the field.

How fast can a chicken run?

A flock of my chickens stood around in a muddy field

Dealing with muddy chicken runs. With 16 solutions.

A flock of free range chickens that have escaped to a vegetable garden

Managing and controlling free range chickens

Should a coop face a particular way. This one provides both sun and shade.

What direction should a chicken coop face?

A chickens in a nest box.

How many chickens can share a nesting box?

Every loves a nest full of fresh eggs like these.

11 reasons chickens stop laying eggs and what to do about it.

This is what to look for when candling eggs.

How to candle hatching eggs with candling lamps on test.

Getting your chickens looked after while you are taking a vacation

Vacation chickens care, looking after your hens in the holiday season.

What makes a brooder and how to set one up properly to keep your chicks safe.

What is a brooder?

How to feed Pekin bantams and keep them healthy.

Feed, treats and supplements for Pekin bantams.

A mother hen protecting her clutch of chicks

Are hens protective of their chicks?

A day old Silkie chick being carefully handled by a keeper.

How to handle and hold baby chicks.

A whole flock of chickens that were killed by a weasel

What is killing my chickens. Guide to predators with identity table and images.

Modern hybrids chickens are carbon copies of eacjh other and benefit from hybrid vigour

Can you breed hybrid chickens.

A selection of eggs from different poultry species all kept for their eggs

Which birds are farmed for their eggs

A wing claw in chickens

Wing claws in chickens and domestic poultry.