Home Grown Poultry Magazine | The Poultry Site for Poultry People!

	A Funny Chicken Story.
	Serama - Worlds Smallest Chicken!
	Wyandotte: All American Breed.
	Breeding From "Unrelated Parents".
	How to Keep Chickens in a City.

Backyard Homesteader
Practical Ideals for Self-Sufficient Living.

Heritage Breeds
Heritage breeds are worth saving simply because of the genetic diversity they offer.

Send us your photos, if our visitors choose your photo you could make the cover of an upcoming issue!

Today's Dominique's do not have the same level of broodiness as their forebears because they are largely descended from a 1920s attempt to turn them into a thoroughly modern breed.

Heirloom Seeds
The loss of genetic seed diversity facing us today may lead to a catastrophe.

	Brahma The Gentle Giants Brahmas are an Asiatic breed of chicken, originating in the Brahmaputra region in India where they were known as "Gray Chittagong's". Their heritage is unclear, but they're are assumed to be closely related to the Jungle Fowl (Gallus Gigantus) and the Cochin chicken.
The first Brahmas were brought to the U.S. from China in 1864, and were used as a utility fowl for their edibility and generous egg laying and hardiness even during the winter months. Read More

Pair of Wood Ducks

Barnevelder Cock

Helmeted Guinea fowl

Narragansett Tom

ARTICLES - Fri, June 27, 2008
Serama - World's Smallest Chicken!
	The Serama, also called the Malaysian Serama is a bantam breed of chicken originating in Malaysia. They are relatively new outside Malaysia, having been recently imported to North America. They are the lightest chicken in the world. The Serama are characterized by their vertical tail feathers, near-vertical wings, full breast, and short legs. Seramas are not yet recognized as a breed by the American Poultry Association or the American Bantam Association, but enthusiasts are working on making this so.
Serama in the U.S. have been the subject of controversy with regard to what ideal type/standard should be pursued. As a result two schools of thought have emerged, the original Malaysian Standard proposed by the U.S. Serama Club, and the American standard proposed by the Serama Council of North America. Read More

FEATURED - Mon, Sept.29, 2008
How to Keep Chickens in a City.
	Join the “urban chicken movement” and raise your own backyard flock. Chickens are both fun and useful to keep. Don’t expect to keep a breeding flock with noisy roosters, but your hens will earn their keep and provide enjoyment by laying eggs for you. Chickens can provide you with healthy, home grown eggs and meat, quality nitrogen-rich fertilizer, pest control and companionship. Perhaps surprisingly, a reasonable number of chickens can adapt very well to the constraints of an urban environment. It is even possible to keep chickens indoors through the use of diapers.
Check local laws and regulations. It may be illegal for you to own chickens in your city, so call the local animal control office or your local municipality and ask what the laws are in your area. More and more ordinances are available online as well, so it’s worth doing a search. Since roosters are perceived as noisy, they usually tend to fall under your city’s noise/nuisance ordinances. While hens are normally very quiet, they may still be subject to nuisance ordinances. Check the city code before you get your birds and become attached to them! Some cities limit the number of chickens you can have on a given amount of land. Especially in areas that were recently rural or have a strong farming culture, no law or license may be required to keep chickens. If chickens are illegal in your area all is not lost. Many people have managed to get pro-chicken ordinances passed, such as Madison, WI and Ann Arbor MI. Research the breed and number of chickens you want to keep before you buy them! Be aware that many breeds also come in “bantam” size (like “toy” breeds for dog) that are roughly a quarter of the size of large breeds. Read More