Poultry
Zoom Course: Keeping Backyard Poultry
- Pros and Cons of raising chickens
- Brooding chicks
- Feeding and watering
- Choosing the breed
- Chicken Nutrition
- Chicken Feeders and waterers
- Chicken housing
- Winter care of chickens
Videos, Factsheets, and Other Resources for the Backyard Poultry Keeper
- Before You Start with Poultry
- Incubator
- Brooder
- Water / Nutrition / Housing / General Care
- Eggs
- Broilers
- Winter Care
- Health and Management Information
- Other Resources
- Health and Management Information (Maine Contacts)
Before You Start with Poultry
- Bulletin #2104, Match Your Need to the Right Breed: Choosing a Bird for the Home Flock
- Bulletin #2215 Why Poultry Might Be a Suitable Enterprise for Persons with Disabilities
- Bulletin #1203, Farmer Skill & Knowledge Checklist — Poultry, Egg Production
- Bulletin #1202, Farmer Skill & Knowledge Checklist: Poultry — Meat Production
- Bulletin #2216, Pros and Cons of Poultry Swaps in New England
- Bulletin #2221, Simple Steps to Starting Healthy Chicks in Maine
- 4-H Egg Business Project: UMaine Extension
- What to think about BEFORE getting chickens for your backyard: eXtension.org, webinar
Incubator
Brooder
- Bulletin #2219 Giving Chicks a Good Start
- Bulletin #2187 Turkey Brooding and Management: Giving Poults a Good Start
- Brooding Small Flocks for Backyard Laying Flock: eXtension.org, webinar
- Starting from Scratch (Word): Simple Steps to Starting Healthy Chicks, SARE 2016
Water / Nutrition / Housing / General Care
- Bulletin #2222 Nutrition for Backyard Chicken Flocks in Maine
- Bulletin #2220 Best Management Practices for Small Scale Poultry Producers in Maine
- Bulletin #2113 Pecking and Cannibalism by Hens: How to Stop It?
- Salt is an Important Nutrient for Poultry
- Pasture Poultry Project, Summer 2017
- Rats and Other Vermin Control on the Farm – video
- Report Predator Damage of Livestock
Eggs
- Bulletin #2227, Lighting For Small-Scale Flocks
- Bulletin #2218 Selling Eggs in Maine
- Bulletin #2113 Pecking and Cannibalism by Hens: How to Stop It?
- 4-H Egg Business Project: UMaine Extension
- Break-even Calculator for Poultry (Excel) UWEX
- Feed Costs and Hens Needed Calculator (Excel) UNH
- Egg-layer Webinar Series Recordings: eXtension.org, series
- Brooding Small Flocks for Backyard Laying Flock, eXtension.org, webinar
- Virtual Chicken, Auburn University; watch how an egg is formed inside a chicken.
Broilers
- Pasture Poultry Project, Summer 2017: UMaine Extension
- Bulletin #2235, On-farm Poultry Processing for Small Flocks in Maine
- Bulletin # 2223 Understanding Poultry Yields
- Selling Processed Poultry in Maine:
- Red Meat and Poultry Inspection: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (MDACF)
- Poultry Exemption — Fewer than 1,000 birds: MDACF
- Selling Meat in Maine – Poultry Focus – video
Winter Care
Health and Management Information
- Bulletin #2216 Pros and Cons of Poultry Swaps in New England
- Bulletin #2109, Avian Influenza and Backyard Poultry (2022)
- Cooperative Extension Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Latest Updates About Avian Influenza (AI) 2019
- Bulletin #2112 It’s a Sneeze, It’s a Wheeze, It’s… Gapeworms!
- Bulletin #2114 Coliform Salpingitis in Poultry
- Bulletin #5028 Lesser Mealworms
- Bulletin #12 Safe Disposal of Backyard Poultry Mortalities
- Farmer’s Response to Disease Outbreaks Like COVID-19
- Drug Use in Layers and Other Livestock
- Mycoplasma gallisepticum: Frequently Asked Questions
- Blackhead in Turkeys 2012
- West Nile Virus (WNV) and Poultry
- Preventing Disease in Backyard Flocks: eXtension.org, webinar
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension Veterinary Diagnostic Lab; Contact:
- Dana Hill, Extension Veterinarian
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
17 Godfrey Drive
Orono, Maine 04409-5735
207.581.2789
dana.c.hill@maine.edu - H. M. Opitz, Veterinarian and Associate Professor Emeritus
mopitz@myfairpoint.net
- Dana Hill, Extension Veterinarian
Other Resources
- Poultry-Related Websites
- Resources for Small-Scale Poultry Keepers
- Bulletin #2432 Guide to Veteran-to-Farmer Training Pilot Program Resources in Maine
- Upcoming and Past webinars for small and backyard poultry: eXtension
Health and Management Information (Maine Contacts)
University of Maine
- Colt Knight, Assistant Professor of Extension – State Livestock Specialist, UMaine Extension, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Rm 133, Orono, Maine 04469. Tel: 207.581.2953; 800.287.0274 (in Maine). Email: colt.knight@maine.edu.
- Dana Hill, Extension Veterinarian, UMaine Extension, 17 Godfrey Drive, Orono, ME 04409-5735. Tel: 207.581.2789. Email: dana.c.hill@maine.edu.
- Donna Coffin, Extension Professor, UMaine Extension, 307 Maine Ave., Bangor, ME 04401. Tel: 207.942.7396. Email: donna.coffin@maine.edu.
State Agencies
- Stefanie Bolas, State Veterinarian, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Tel: 207.287.3701. Email: animalhealth.agr@maine.gov.
- Donna Flint, Poultry Health Technician, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Tel: 207.557.4623. Email: donna.flint@maine.gov.
- Celeste Poulin, Director, Maine Department of Agriculture’s Division of Quality Assurance and Regulation. Tel: 207.287.3841. Email: celeste.poulin@maine.gov.
Note: Where trade names or company names are noted in this document, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension is implied.
© 2022