McMurray Hatchery Blog
Hatchery News, Updates and Information on Raising Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Turkeys and Other PoultryHow to Wash Chicken Eggs
What's the best way to clean dirty eggs? Should they be washed when you first gather them, or is it better to wait and wash them just before use? Before we answer these questions, let's go over some basics. Bloom Protects the Contents A nearly invisible waxy substance...
Reduce Stress for a Healthier, More Productive Flock
Reducing or limiting stress is one of the best things you can do to keep your flock healthy and productive. Similar to how stress affects us as humans, in poultry it can lead to many problems. Reduced egg production, poor rate of growth and development, greater...
What type of poultry feed should I use?
The nutritional requirements of chickens differ somewhat at different stages of growth. Also, broilers have different nutritional requirements than layers. When selecting a feed, it's important to understand how the manufacturer intended the feed to be used, and make...
7 Ways to Get Cleaner Eggs from Your Chickens
Raising your own flock of layers is a great way to get fresh eggs, but particularly during wet, mucky weather, the chickens will tend to get their eggs dirty. Here are a few things you can do to minimize that: 1. Encourage hens to lay in the nest boxes Put nest boxes...
How to Start Your Flock
In this article, we'll discuss several different ways to start your flock. Buy Day Old Baby Chicks Most of our customers buy day old baby chicks. They're called "day old" because they're shipped to you the day that they're hatched. Amazingly, newly hatched chicks can...
Q&A on Preparing Your Chickens for Winter
Photo by Vera Ting 1. Should I heat or insulate my coop? With their thick coat of feathers, chickens are naturally much better insulated people. As long as they can stay dry and out of the wind, they can tolerate very cold temperatures. If you live in an area with...
Keeping Eggs Fresh
Obviously, the freshest eggs are the ones that come straight from your chickens without being stored at all. But often, you do need to store eggs for a few days, or even a few weeks. So, what's the best way to store them so that they'll stay fresh the longest? Should...
How to Tell if an Egg is Fresh
When your chickens are laying well, sometimes you can start to get more eggs than you're able to use. When you go to use the eggs in your recipes, it's good to be able to tell which ones are getting old and which ones are still fresh. Although it's not obvious to the...
An Interview with Joe Claborn, Part 3
Background: Joe Claborn has worked with McMurray Hatchery for many years and currently raises started chicks and started pullets for McMurray. Joe is also involved with a project that Bud Wood, president of McMurray Hatchery, initiated to start backup flocks for many...
An Interview with Joe Claborn, Part 2
Background: Joe Claborn has worked with McMurray Hatchery for many years and currently raises started chicks and started pullets for McMurray. Joe is also involved with a project that Bud Wood, president of McMurray Hatchery, initiated to start backup flocks for many...
Moving Chickens to Texas
As Avian Influenza (AI) has continued to spread in the United States and Iowa, in particular, we began making arrangements in May of this year for how we could start some backup flocks. Although the strains of AI found in the U.S. have not affected or posed any direct...
An Interview with Joe Claborn, Part 1
Background: Joe Claborn has worked with McMurray Hatchery for many years and currently raises started chicks and started pullets for McMurray. Joe is also involved with a project that Bud Wood, president of McMurray Hatchery, initiated to start backup flocks for many...
My hen is broody. Now what?
It's normal for hens to go broody. Some breeds -- such as Buff Orpingtons, Cochins, or Silkies, and many breeds of bantams -- are more prone to go broody than others, but even production breeds can, on occasion, go broody. Black Stars are a production breed that...
Why Do Chickens Eat Their Own Eggs?
Sometimes you may be getting fewer eggs than you expect, even when your hens are laying well. This can happen if they develop the bad habit of eating their own eggs. Egg eating can start by accident, sort of. Maybe a hen stepped on an egg and punctured the shell. Or...
Why Do You Raise Chickens?
Most of us reading this article have probably already made the decision to raise chickens and have raised them for at least a few years, but occasionally, questions like this come up, perhaps in the form: Raise chickens? Why would I ever want to do that? to which my...
Shop Day-Old Baby Chicks
Day-old baby chicks, ducks, geese, turkeys, and other poultry now available for the 2026 season!