The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled an increased interest in backyard poultry production. New flock owners may need to learn a few basics for their birds to thrive. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment will offer a webinar series to help with the learning curve.

“We recently launched a Facebook page to connect with our Kentucky small flock folks,” said Jacquie Jacob, UK poultry extension project manager. “Kentucky has a lot of new and experienced poultry enthusiasts, and we want to reach them with our research-based information to make them as successful as possible.”

Each event in the series is free and will be hosted via Zoom at 7 p.m. EST.

The schedule is as follow; click the title to go to the Facebook event page for each offering.

• Feb. 11 – Getting Started with Small Flocks. Discussion will include rules and regulations, types of chickens, housing and equipment. 
• Feb. 25 – Managing a Flock. Discussion will include daily, weekly and monthly activities for managing a flock. 
• March 11 – Disease Prevention. Discussion will include procedures and best practice to keep disease at bay.
• March 25 – Waste Management. Discussion will include the waste products that go hand-in-hand with backyard chickens and how to deal with them in an environmentally friendly way. 

The Kentucky Poultry Extension, Small Flocks Facebook page provides a place to share helpful information for raising small flocks.