Breeding Farm Animals

Quail are small game birds raised for consumption and eggs. Popular varieties include the Bobwhite quail and the Japanese quail. Whatever the type you wish to raise, you can start your own...

Quail are a type of small gamebird found wild throughout the United States. Quail are raised domestically for ornamental purposes, as well as eggs and meat. Starting a quail flock by hatching...

The call duck is a small bantam duck breed. The tiny duck, which looks somewhat like its relative, the mallard duck, weighs less than 2 pounds and is typically used for ornamental or pet purposes....

The Pekin is a type of duck breed. Originally from China, it is one of the most widely raised duck breeds in North America for both meat and eggs. The duck has white plumage and an orange-yellow...

Most folks who raise laying hens start their flocks with day-old chicks from a hatchery. This allows them to avoid the expense and hassle of raising unwanted males. As the price of chicken meat...

Selective breeding of cattle presents a vital avenue in producing purebred animals. Cattle, as with all other animals, may not always make the best judgment in determining with whom they mate....

The ability to tell the sex a baby chicken is not an easy process to learn and takes training and experience. The importance of knowing the sex of the baby chicken saves the manufacturer of these...

A healthy population of red worms--Eisenia fetida or red wigglers--will double about every 90 days. You can sell your surplus worms to bait stores and institutional or individual customers. Red...

Red wiggler worms, also called red worms, will happily reproduce if you provide optimal living conditions and expansion room. They usually take about three months after being introduced into new...

Cattle are among the most important animals utilized by humans. Cattle provide meat, milk, cheese, butter, cream and leather, clothing to those who keep them, as well as those who never have seen...

In the wild, an emu will incubate and hatch its own eggs, sitting on and guarding them. They will do the same on your farm, as well --- but you can also remove the eggs and incubate them...

Many people raise quail, whether for eggs, meat, or breeding. Though quail and their eggs are smaller than chickens, their laying patterns are actually similar.

Sika deer originated from Siberia, Japan, China and Taiwan, and were brought to the United States in 1916. They are reddish brown to black and can weigh between 150 and 220 pounds. Sika deer have...

For fertile bird or reptile eggs to hatch, conditions must be optimal. These conditions include a constant, appropriate temperature and steady humidity. Properly built incubators provide these...

Abstain from sexual activity for two to four days leading up to testing. This will reasonably ensure the man is receptive to sexual stimulation and will not have a depleted sample as a result of...

You can hatch fertile chicken eggs and other types of eggs at home in an incubator. You need an incubator to carefully control the conditions for the eggs. The temperature and humidity must be...

There are several different methods by which it can be determined whether or not a cow or a heifer is pregnant. Verifying pregnancy in a cow allows for proper veterinary care to be prescribed....

Geese are wonderful additions to small farms. Raising geese from eggs is just as easy as buying hatchlings or adult geese. Using an incubator increases the odds of successfully hatching the egg....

Shipping hatching eggs is one way to get birds to people who live far away. It's a great way to obtain birds of a given breed at a lesser cost than having birds shipped.

Proper storage of eggs that will be set or incubated is important to ensure the highest fertility rate and hatching success.

One of the fastest growing food demands our planet faces is for fish. Available at nearly every restaurant, fish are a staple item in many peoples' diet. Though the oceans are full of life, and...

There are many types of donkeys. Each has a particular feature to them that makes it unique. Donkeys have been widely known through the years as being great animals for transporting people and...

Many breeders of poultry practice line breeding, and this article explains an effective way to keep a closed flock using a form of line breeding called Spiral Breeding.

Cows give birth and suckle live young like other mammals, usually one calf at a time although twin births occasionally occur. A healthy cow with good nutrition in pregnancy can usually birth her...

Kidding season is an exciting time. Having a kidding kit prepared ahead of time can make the kidding go more smoothly.

Male and female goats should be kept separate until you are ready to breed them. You will then be able to watch for symptoms of pregnancy so that you will know if your breeding sessions were...

The female goat, also called a doe, is pregnant for an average of 150 days. This is called the gestation period. To track the stages of pregnancy and accurately predict the due date, it is...

As the zygote matures, it goes through a series of rapid divisions known as cleavage. The zygote does not put on any additional mass nor does it increase or decrease in size during this period. ...

Homemade chicken incubators can be used to hatch eggs as a science experiment, or to hatch eggs to increase the number of chickens you raise for the table. You can make a homemade chicken...

Learn how to assist a baby chick during it's hatch, for emergencies ONLY!

A rabbit hutch is a dwelling for rabbits. A rabbit hutch made of wire is sturdy enough to keep the rabbit in and keep predators out, and wire does not retain odors. You will need to include a...

Chick embryos need proper heat, moisture and physical movement of the eggs in order to survive to hatching. During its 21 days of incubation, the chick will grow from the size of a pinhead to 1.5 oz.

People see duck eggs at different stages---some infertile, bearing no duckling inside; some cracked and open on the ground; and some from poor-at-brooding mothers just waiting to be hatched....

The gestation period for cattle varies, but usually lasts 276 to 283 days. Calf gender, age, breeds, and multiples are among factors affecting gestation length. Getting cows pregnant once a year...

We started with 4 chicks. They were a day old when we bought them. Each time we went to the feed store we fell in love with more birds. We now have 10 Sex Links, these are layers and meat birds, 2...

Artificial insemination (A.I.) is a fast growing practice on farms big and small. The semen of a bull is extracted and stored in tubes called "straws." One straw is enough to breed one cow. Straws...

How in the world do you get a male alpaca to breed when he is just not into things? I will show you one technique to get the job done. This is the easiest trick in the world and it really works! ...

Angus cattle are known for efficient growth, strong maternal instincts and certified beef, characteristics that have helped make the breed the most popular in America. More cattle are recorded...

Making sure your cow is in estrus, or "in heat," is the first and most important step when breeding cattle by artificial insemination. Although there are some behavioral cues to indicate that a...

The first person to use artificial insemination (AI) successfully in cattle appears to have been E.I. Ivanoff, a Russian scientist, around 1900. Russia was the first country to use AI in cows; in...

Silkie chickens are Bantam-style chickens with fur-like, fluffy feathers. They are mainly a show breed, and are not highly prized for either meat or eggs. Their skin is black, and they are not...

Many people are deciding to raise their own chickens for eggs, even in urban locations. For some, it's about simplifying their lives and getting back to basics. You might be surprised to learn...

Barred Rock chickens are a variety of the Plymouth Rock breed, developed in New England in the early 1800s. They are considered a dual-purpose bird, good for laying as well as meat. Raising Barred...

If you have the land, the zoning and the love of large animals, raising hogs is a great way to provide extra meat and income for your family. Hogs are relatively inexpensive to keep and produce...

Organic food and healthy living are high on the priority list of many people today. When it comes to pork or other meats free-ranging is as close to perfection as you can get. Raising pigs on a...

Hatching duck eggs can be an exciting process for both adults and children. It takes close to a month for duck eggs to hatch, so it requires a lot of patience and daily work. The work is not...

Black Angus cattle are a popular choice for beef ranchers due to their fast growth and great temperaments. Black Angus are well-known for passing their traits to other breeds when crossed with...

Black Angus cattle are known in the cattle business as "the business breed." In fact, the Mid-Texas Angus Association has that line as its catch phrase. The reason is simple: for anyone raising...

Artificial insemination (A.I.) is a common method used to breed cattle. The process involves taking semen collected from a bull and depositing it in a cow. The primary advantage of A.I. is it...

Raising rabbits is one of the simplest, and most affordable, ways to put food on the table and maybe add a few bucks to your bank account. The initial investment is low, and the profits can be...