Twin Beaks Chicken Podcast

Chicken Tractors can be for small operations too!

How would you like a way of housing your chickens thats cheaper than the conventional hen house and run operation and will improve your land too?  What if I told you it was also better for the chickens?  Chicken tractors can offer all this and more, and are an alternative worth considering.  Amber and Shannon just picked up their first chicken tractor and want to share with the audience what chicken tractors are all about.

Chicken tractors are a lightweight, low budget, intelligent way to manage your chickens grazing.  With reasonable attention to planning, one can use chicken tractors to make sure that there will always be a supply of the best forage for your birds.  They will always live on fresh ground.  Using a chicken tractor allows for a grazing system that actually improves biodiversity and soil health.  You can avoid "Hammered" land; Property that the birds have killed all the good plants on and compressed the soil.  Additionally, with some planning you can design your chicken tractor with other elements of your property in mind.  What if you could make your chickens weed the yard?  Fertilize the garden?  Chicken Tractors make it easy!

Its a good thing we did the episode on Breaking broody hens, because over the last week one of our hens went broody.  Did the techniques we talked about on the show work?  We had some unanticipated results, and we'll talk about them for our weekly Chicken Update.

If only we could see as they do....

Were also going to cover some strange and unusual stories in Ambers Cabinet of Curiosities.  Chickens see a completely different world than we humans do.  You may think you can tell how your chicken sees things, but you'll be blown away by what Amber has to tell you about what makes chicken eyesight unique; even among birds.   Do chickens live in a psychedelic wonder world invisible to human eyes?  Get the birds-eye view with Amber!

Over half a century ago, a man cut off a chickens head.  And didn't kill it.  Friends, when circumstances such as these arrive, you know the players are going straight to stardom.  You'll want to hear Ambers story of the headless chicken, and the weirdest chicken festival in the world.

And if thats not enough chicken obscurity; if you are not yet entertained; stay tuned for the end of the show for the amazing talent of our one stringed guitar player and his song about chickens!  Here on Twin Beaks Podcast, we bring you not any chicken festival, but the weirdest chicken festival imaginable- All this and we still make the chicken tractors run on time.

Are your chickens eating each others eggs?  Are they stressed out?  Bored?  Picking at each other?  Does it seem like they go looking for things to get themselves into trouble?  Did you know chickens can be TOO heavy?  Are yours eating too much?  Does it seem like they are constantly trying to escape?  What if I told you that you can add something to your chicken operation that addresses and mitigates all these issues?  For Free?  Yes, chicken toys might be your answer!

Many chicken owners are under the mistaken impression that providing chicken toys to your flock is a frivolous, self-indulgent affair.  Something that people that think too highly of their birds do.  "Experts" even warn people away from certain chicken toys, merely on principle that the idea is "silly".  Far from it, apart from providing yourself, your family and your chickens with entertainment, chicken toys help to prevent many problems from starting with your flock, and even stopping some problems after they've started.  Chickens are smarter than many people think.  They need mental stimulation!  Apart from addressing problems, some chicken toys will provide practical improvements to your birds environment, we'll go over the various advantages during the show!  Are you just setting up the yard for chickens?  Make sure they've got something to keep their minds busy!

You don't need to have a big budget to provide chicken toys for your flock either.  In fact, many chicken toys can be made for free.  Odds are, you have everything you need to start making chicken toys today.  And... you should!  Chicken toys are very entertaining for both humans and chickens.  They're a great way to keep your kids involved with the flock as well.  There are a lot of creative, cheap or free ways to make toys  for the flock and we'll make sure you've got at least one good idea that you can use today!

Make sure you catch the rest of the show too; Strange things are going on in the chicken cabinet of curiosities (or should we say closet?) and a word of warning in song to those who prey upon the chicken.. One day you'll look up, and see Ghost Chickens in the Sky.

Witchcraft, chicken ghosts and tips on which musical instruments are best for your chickens... Where else but the Twin Beaks Chicken Podcast!!

Goth ladies love the Chicken Lifestyle Too!

Which Chicken Lifestyle choice is right for you?  If you've been to the supermarket lately, or have thought about marketing your own eggs, you've doubtlessly noticed that there is a growing range of "Lifestyle choices"-quality of life standards for the laying hens- boasted about on egg cartons.  "Cage Free", "Free Range", "Outdoor range" and many more.  But what do these descriptions really look like in practice?  Are you making the decision that actually reflects your values?

Whether you buy eggs, or you sell them, or you just want a better understanding of the issues, you'll want to tune in to this weeks show.  Joining us is Avia Moore.  Avia is a student and intern at the U.C. Davis poultry facility as part of her pursuit of a degree in veterinary medicine, who also has an established career in the Goth/alt fashion industry.  She is familiar with the issues of flock management in caged and range environments, and know the various benefits and pitfalls of the different lifestyles of industrial birds.  Have a listen, what she has to say may shock you!  Did your eggs come from a scene that looks like Little House On The Prairie?  Or is it more like a Sex Pistols Mosh Pit?    Can you actually tell what chicken lifestyle the hens had?  We'll go over the different choices, and help you find a chicken lifestyle you're happy with.

Did the bird that lays your eggs grow up in a mosh pit?

And.. if you make eggstra money selling eggs, or are a backyard chicken evangelist, you'll want to hear about whats going on in the industry to share the news with your neighbors and customers.  There are limits to what you can reasonably expect from people who raise birds by the thousands in terms of attention, care, and quality of life.  Judgments of the industry aside, its simply impossible for someone to raise 10,000 birds with the same chicken lifestyle as your little backyard flock.  Thats part of the appeal of your eggs, and you'll want to know the alternatives to discuss them for your customers.  What will you say when someone asks you why your eggs are twice as much as they are in the store?  They're making a chicken lifestyle choice.  Discussing alternatives in chicken lifestyle will make your customers feel confident they made the right decision.

We're also going to cover issues with the industry that pertain to the back yard chicken enthusiast  in Ambers Cabinet of Curiosities.  China has recently signed a trade deal with the US to allow processed cooked chicken from China into the US market.  If you eat chicken, or sell chicken, you're going to want to hear the story.    Also we'll talk about A completely preventable tragedy that kills entire flocks of backyard chickens, and threatens their owners weekly in this country.  Don't let it happen to you!  And, we'll look back for a laugh at an article from 2008 that declares the "Backyard Chicken Movement" as a fad.  Has the movement grown much since?  We'll look at some numbers.

Is your hen in the mood for the brood? Are you concerned with her obsessive devotion to her nest? Why has she stopped eating and started pulling out her feathers? What is this avian insanity which has befallen your fowl friend? In this show we discuss why hens get broody, how it affects your hen physically and mentally and what you can do to break this broody behavior ....or use it to your advantage!

There are many great things about having a broody hen. Have you ever incubated eggs and cared for chicks until they are ready to go outdoors? Its a huge job and a mother hen knows how to do it best. Whats even better is having a broody hen hatch a clutch of chicks from eggs you ordered online or bought locally. These eggs can be a variety of pure breeds specifically chosen to fan the flames of your flock fanaticism. Imagine the variety of chicks you could hatch and all without need of a rooster! We will also give a few suggestions if you're looking for a broody breed who will care for her chicks like a crowned goddess of motherhood.

But, nature loves to provide, and in many cases, you might not want a broody hen.  There are lots of obscure tips and tricks to cure even the most stubborn hen of broodiness. Some are very simple and may work with little effort and others will require more diligence. Be reassured if you want your hen to keep laying instead of being a “lay about” we have solutions for you. We have anti brood secrets that will stop even the most ambitious hen as well as tips for understanding brooding behavior and nest site preferences.

Our Cabinet of Chicken Curiosities is a bit darker this week with some scary stories of chicken thievery. We all know we have to keep our clickers safe from tooth, fang and talon but what about human predators?   The recent "discovery" of the joy of back yard chickens has led to climbing prices, and with climbing prices comes..... Theft.  We share some news about poultry pilferers and shudder at the thought! Peering deeper into the Cabinet we will peruse some stunning examples of strange genetics, and naughty bird behavior!   Did you know chickens can mate with peacocks and have occasionally hatched and reared young? Find out all about the legendary pea-chick!

This week at the end of the show, we have a fantastic story-teller named Akizur sharing the story of "The Good Farmer and The Chickens". A fantastic parable, told brilliantly.  After you've heard it on the show, check out this video to watch Akizur tell the story.  That's a treat in itself.

Are you looking for an affordable, simple way to boost productivity in your flock?  Are you being overrun with pests?  Flies?  Mites?  Rats!?  Do you sell eggs?  Would your customers like to see that signature deep, rich, orange color to their yolks that says "Home grown and farm fresh"?  Maybe you just like to "Mother" your hens?  All the best for the girls, right?  Whatever the reason, and there are many, you, and your chickens can benefit from the use of herbs!

Today on the show, Amber and Shannon talk dig deep into the cabinet of curiosities, and pull out an old "Snake oil" product; "The Sex Finder". Was there a now forgotten technology for home sexing....anything... on the farm?  Check out the "Annihilator" of all prior chicken sexing technology!

Speaking of technology, chickens are at the forefront of the science of protecting people from the ravages of mosquito-borne diseases!  Would you believe that the solution to malaria might be smelling like a chicken?  Can you use chickens as a natural mosquito repellant?  Amber has the story!

Were going to talk about chickens that would fool any sex detector; would you believe a chicken thats half male and half female?  You would!?  Well how about a chicken thats female on one side and male on the other?  Its one of those things that happens in Amber's Cabinet of Curiosities!

Today were going to take a look at incorporating herbs into your chicken raising.  Herbs can be used for countless purposes in caring for your flock, and can be used topically (such as lining the nest with insect deterring plants) or internally.  Herbs can be used for a number of purposes; They deter parasites, internal and external, improve overall health and immunity, can be used curatively, and will even keep flies and other insects at bay, just by leaving them around the coop.  Herbs can be a low-cost, low effort method of solving or preventing a number of problems that we chicken tenders face.  Have a listen to some of Ambers tips for using herbs in the coop, and start having healthy, relaxed, and bug-free birds today!

Lastly, we bring you another strange and unusual ballad by Tacheo Ischi;  you might want to click through after you listen to the show to see the video for "Chicken Attack"; the story of good overcoming evil with the power of the chicken.  You know you needed it, You're Welcome.

A chicken about town

What if there were chickens everywhere in your town? While towns all over the world argue about whether or not to allow their citizens to own chickens, other towns have taken a different approach.  They allow flocks of feral chickens to run all over town!

I had thought that you had to go to a place like Guatemala to find a town enlightened enough to let their chickens run free, but it turns out there was a town, much, much closer!

Amber and I visited Yuba City, Ca, which is just such a town.  We had no idea that fate had delivered us directly into a flock of feral chickens.  How do they survive?  How do the locals feel?  What about other cities?  Would you believe that one city has taken advantage of their 300 member strong chicken population, and even have a yearly festival?  We'll tell you all about it!

Also in this weeks show; we're moving to a new town!  Amber bought a house, and the chickens have far greener pastures ahead!  Pardon us while we make the transition.  An episode might be late here and there, but were not going away any time soon!  Moving to a new town means starting all over with our chicken yard, chicken coop, our whole chicken set up. Stay tuned to future episodes and follow along as we show you how we make a new home for our chickens!

Amber has Medieval Christian Chickens in her Cabinet of Curiosities this week!  What did Christian Medieval Monastics have to do with your hens wonderful personality?  Amber takes a deep dive back into chicken history to bring you the curious history of Friar Tuck and Fryer Turken.

We've been really busy with the move, theres a lot of work to do on the new house.  But we did get the chance to watch the movie "Chicken People"; An entertaining look at the world of show chickens.  Chicken shows may sound silly, but they're highly competitive, very exacting, and the competitors (ok, their people) take the shows very seriously.   The characters in the movie are complex and interesting, and theres lots of very, very pretty birds to look at.  If you've been curious about chicken shows, the movie gives the audience a good look at the workings of chicken competition.

Let us know what you think of the show in the comments or on our Facebook page; we look forward to hearing from you!

Announcing our upcoming contest!

Does your hen look like its gone gangsta?  We thought maybe one of our hens had been talking to the local High School kids, and had started sagging her pants; but it turns out that she has ascites!  There are several conditions that can cause your hen to look like her abdomen is sagging.  Some of them are dire emergencies- none of them are good.  During the show we're going to explore the different conditions that cause this symptom, and what the treatments for these conditions are.  Treating ascites requires some special skills and tools, you'll want to know what these are so you can be ready in advance!

We're not just talking about dire medical conditions like ascites though;  tune in to hear about our upcoming contest!  We've been working away on a special, unique project for lovers of arcane chicken lore.. Have you ever wondered if people did things differently when raising chickens 150 years ago?  Heres your chance to find out!  Listen to the show for all the details!

Remember some time ago we mentioned that A French artist had closed himself up in a giant display case in an art museum where he was trying to brood a clutch of chicks?  Well, despite prognostications of doom from the "experts"; success!  What in the ever-lovin' what?!  We'll catch you up on this guys crazy experiment!

And of course, not content to be merely on the cutting edge of all things medical and experimental  of a chicken nature, we also have you covered with obscure, chicken entertainment as well!  We found a highly entertaining music video and song we think really captures what the show is all about;  stay through to the end for Linus Lemon's glorious ode to his chickens!

Where are you going to learn about ascites, watch a French artist try to hatch chicks with his body heat, and add to your ever-expanding collection of Odes to the Chicken?  -Twin Beaks Chicken Podcast -Of course!

What do you do in a chicken emergency?  No I don't mean you need to get to the store and buy more chickens, a real first aid emergency?  Are you ready for a medical situation?  Birds are adept at hiding injury and illness and by the time you've noticed theres something wrong, you might have to act fast!  Its important to have everything you might need at hand and ready to go!

Do you know what sorts of things you might need in a chicken first aid emergency?  Amber and Shannon have many years of collective experience dealing with avian emergency care, and some of their answers might surprise you.  With a little preparation, at virtually no expense, you can be well prepared to deal with most of the emergencies you're likely to face.

So gather around your earbuds, pull down a chair and join Amber and Shannon for a quick look at how to stock a good emergency response kit for your coop, chicken news, oddities, and more- all on the

Twin Beaks Chicken Podcast- "We make the chicken tractors run on time."

Are your chickens living up to their full potential?  Do you have the kind of relationship you want to have with your chickens?  Don't be content with a flock of unmanageable fowl, start training your chickens now!

We promise no chickens were harmed in the production of this episode; we called it the hunger games because thats what training chickens is all about.  YES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! using our proprietary, trademarked, occult chicken training techniques, you too can start training your chickens- for the cost of chicken feed!  Its true!

It might surprise you, the kinds of things you can train a chicken to do.. Run obstacle courses, play tic tac toe, solve puzzles, pull a wagon... and so many more things.  I don't know about you, but I figure if I feed em and clothe em, they might as well be entertaining!  Amuse your friends, confuse your enemies, start training your chickens today!  They're smarter than you think!

Also in the podcast, we'll talk about our recent flock jailbreak, one small, often overlooked aspect to the coop that might save you a lot of trouble, and of course we'll break down the controversy of whether humans make good brooders...

Wait... What?

Thats right?  Think you can lay an egg?  Well a French artist is trying to hatch a brood using his own body heat in a live artist installation where he has vowed to sit on his chicken eggs for three weeks...until they hatch.  Is this guy crazy?  Is it a little Eggstreme?  Or will he be the first human to brood his own chicks himself... You gotta hear about all the details on this one!  Where are you going to go for  your French artists trying to sit on eggs to hatch them while spending weeks on display in a plastic box fix?!?  The TWIN BEAKS CHICKEN PODCAST of course!!

This week we take the show to Guatemala for a very special look at chickens Mayan Style!  We spent a month in the Lake Atitlan area of Guatemala, exploring through the Mayan tribal villages in search of chicken secrets and ancient chicken wisdom!  Amber and I were lucky enough to stay for a week with our friend Alex, his wife Juana, and their wonderful family.  Alex's mother in law, (also named Juana) is a local elder and village shamaness who was gracious enough to sit down with us for an interview about chickens- from the Mayan perspective. You won't want to miss this one-  How does a Mayan shamaness treat a chicken?  Like a cake!

A chicken bus; Mayans know the proper place for a chicken and give them the balcony seats!

We'll also talk about how chickens are raised in the villages.  This might be of particular interest to you homesteader/prepper/permaculture and budget chicken raising types.  No fancy plastic gravity feeders and miniature victorian chicken coops in Guatemala!   No "Pet Chickens"either; the Mayan chicken works for a living!  How do people raise chickens on a subsistence budget?  How do they raise chicks?  Why don't people steal all the loose chickens running amok?  Why don't the feral dogs kill them?  Tune in and find out!

Finally, we got back from our trip to discover that our chickens are just too big, and eat too much.  Time to sell some on Craigslist.. Did we make or lose money raising the birds?  Was it worth it?   We'll go over the considerations of when to sell birds, and how to make the most money.

We're proud to celebrate our 10th episode of the podcast!  Whether its the bliss of Takeo Ischi's German Chicken Yodeling, Mayan Shamans on how to raise chickens, or brilliant interviews with hot, freshly hatched chicks; we strive to bring you unique and interesting perspectives, art, insights, and cultural oddities from throughout space and time!  We love all things chicken, and we hope you do to!

This ain't your grandmas chicken podcast, Its Your Mayan Grandma's Chicken Podcast!