Puzzled About Poultry?

PUZZLED ABOUT POULTRY?

Are your puzzled about poultry? Yes? Then you have come to the right place!!!  This fall, Lone Pine FFA members in the Animal Science class split into teams and researched different kinds of poultry.  We found that all kinds of poultry lay eggs and have feathers, but are very different in their size, feathers, and habits!  So get ready to go on a poultry adventure, and take a look at what the different teams found!

ALL ABOUT QUAIL BY KARA RACHEL AND ALLISON

*Quail are 9-11 inch tall ground dwelling birds.  Males have a large, teardrop shaped feather, called a top-knot on their heads.  Females have a smaller top-knot that nearly blends in with their feathers.  Quail nest and live on the ground, so although they can fly for short amounts of time, they prefer to walk on their powerful short legs.  Young quail look like small females with lighter crests.  Quail gather in large groups, called coveys, in the fall and winter.  these coveys range from 50-1,000 birds.  Quail have 14 different calls.  The call most frequently heard sounds like cu-ca-cow.

*Quail's eggs, depending on the breed of Quail, hatch at different times.  For example- Bobwhite quail eggs take 24 days to hatch.  the best humidity for eggs to hatch is 70% humidity.

*In nature, the mother generally keeps her newborn baby quail warm.  When domesticating baby quail it is important to place them in a brooder to maintain temperature and keep the quail warm.  the brooder must be set at a hundred degrees, and reduced b five degrees every seven days,

* The most common local quail is the Bobwhite quail. Other similar species include: Common quail, Harlequin quail, Painted bush quail, snow mountain quail, stubble quail, and jungle bush quail.

*Quail can be raised in your own backyard!  The most important part of raising quail is feeding the quail.  It is essential to feed your quail commercially mixed quail feed full of nutrients and vitamins.  You can add supplements, grain and scratch to customize the nutrients.

IDENTIFYING GEESE SPECIES BY TOM, DJ, AND SETH G

Canadian Geese are easily identified by their long black neck, black head, crown and bill.  They have a contrasting white cheek and throat area.  Their undertail coverts are white.  their back, upper wings and flank are dark brown with a lighter brown (sometimes nearly white) belly.  Their legs are black.  In Answer geese the legs are pink or orange and the bill is pink, orange or black.  All gese have white under and under tail.  The neck body and wings are grey or white with black or blackish primairies.

SO YOU WANT TO RAISE TURKEYS? BREEDS AND EARLY CARE BY JAVIER, UMBERTO AND FERNANDO

* The bourban red turkey is a smaller, non-commercial breed with dark reddish feathers with white markings.

*Slate or Blue Slate turkeys are a very rare breed with beautiful gray-blue feathers.

*The black ("Spanish Black" or "Norfolk Black") has very dark plumage with a green sheen.

*The Chocolate is a rarer heritage breed with markings similar to a Black Spanish, but light brown coloring instead of black.

*A poult is a baby turkeys

When raising turkeys they have to be in an enviroment that they can adapt to.  When the eggs hatch, withing the first week it is good to keep them in a room of 95'F.  From six to twelve weeks of age increase their living space to two square feed per poult.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CHICKENS? BY JASMIN AND HELEN

Chickens are sometimes kept as pets and can be tamed by hand feeding, however, some roosters can become aggressive and noisy.  Certain breeds however, suck as silkies and most bantam varieties are often recommended as good pets around children.  While some cities in the United States do allow chickens as pets, the practice is not approved in all places.

There are hundreds of chicken breeds in existence.  The traits used to distinguish chicken breeds are size, plumage color, comb type, skin color, number of toes, the amount of feathering, ear lobe color, egg color and place of origin.  The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the red jungle fowl.

All chickens have a comb.  The comb is larger and often of a brighter color in male chickens then in hens.  Combs are usualy red in color, but some can be purple or purplish-red.  Some of the different comb types are: Buttercup, cushion, Pea, rose, Single, Strawberry and V-Shaped.

Many breeds are selected and are used primarily for producing eggs. The best chickens for egg production are light weight, and do not go broody (become protective of and sit on the eggs full time) often.  The different egg sizes are Pee Wee, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, and Jumbo.

FAST FACTS ABOUT PHEASANTS BY NEIL AND SETH M

The common Pheasant is a well known game bird.  It is one of the worlds most hunted birds.  It has been introduced to many regions and is also common on game farms where they are commercially bred.  Phesants are also commonly found in South Dakota.

Pheasant Hens will lay up to 50 or more eggs in a season.  The eggs are stored at a temperature of 50' to 60' degrees F.  After the eggs hatch they are stored in an incubator at a temperature of 99'-75' F.

The Scientific namefor the common pheasant is Phasianus Colchicus.  Pheasants are native birds to Russia.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Cordata

Class: Aves

Order: Gallipormes

Family: Phasianidae