Caring for Chickens and Other Poultry

This is an IEAC Accredited Course to help you learn and understand how to care for Chickens and other Poultry.

Keeping poultry is both rewarding and practical, offering a sustainable source of fresh eggs, meat, and companionship. This extensive foundation course has been designed for hobby farmers, smallholders, homesteaders, and anyone who wants to manage poultry responsibly while maintaining high standards of animal welfare.

Who is this Course for?

• People seeking to become more self-sufficient
• Anyone thinking about keeping poultry as pets
• Anyone working in the poultry industry who has never formally studied poultry
• Anyone with an interest in, or passion for poultry

You will learn how to create safe and enriched housing environments, understand nutritional needs, and support the natural behaviours of your flock. Through clear explanations and real-life examples, you will learn the day-to-day routines of poultry care, from feeding and hygiene to seasonal management and breeding considerations. Whether your goal is fresh eggs, sustainable meat production, or simply the joy of raising birds responsibly, this course equips you with the knowledge and confidence to succeed.

There is a final assessment that can be undertaken at any time, day or night; and you will be awarded a coveted: IEAC (International Education Accreditation Council) Certificate, which will have your name on it, including full course details.

THE LESSONS IN THIS COURSE COVER THE FOLLOWING:

Lesson 1: SCOPE AND NATURE OF DOMESTICATED POULTRY

• A brief history
• Keeping poultry – profit or pleasure
• Chickens
• Turkeys
• Ducks
• Don’t buy sick birds
• How to help hatchings chicks
• How to revive ‘dead’ hatchlings
• Poultry products and uses
• Value adding to poultry products
• Concerns for human health
• Lesson 1 additional reading
• Review what you have been learning

Lesson 2: BREEDS

• Basic nomenclature
• Categories of breeds
• Breeds
• Chicken (fowl) classification
• Lesson 2 additional reading
• Review what you have been learning

Lesson 3: FOOD AND WATER

• Feeding for stages – starter, growth, maintenance
• Nutrition during reproduction
• Digestive system
• Nutrients from feed
• Water requirements
• Favourite treats
• Feeding fowls
• Feeding turkeys
• Feeding ducks
• Feeding geese
• Lesson 3 additional reading
• Review what you have been learning

Lesson 4: HEALTH

• A definition of health
• First aid kit for poultry
• Administering medication by syringe
• Common poisonous household products
• General basic care
• Common diseases affecting poultry
• Parasites
• Lesson 4 additional reading
• Review what you have been learning

Lesson 5: MANAGEMENT

• Housing and shelter
• Managing waste
• Environmental issues
• Regulations for keeping poultry
• Management procedures for breeding
• Meat production procedures
• Lesson 5a additional reading
• Lesson 5b additional reading
• Review what you have been learning

Lesson 6: THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

• Working in the poultry industry
• Farm management – egg, meat or breeder
• Lesson 6 additional reading
• Review what you have been learning

FINAL ASSESSMENT

HOW OUR COURSES WORK:

•    Enrol any time of day or night.
•    Start studying immediately or later (as you wish).
•    Upon enrolment, you will receive an email containing your “Username” and “Password”
•    Help desk – Contact us via email: info@homestudy.co.uk or call: + 44 (0) 1227 789 649
•    There are automated self-assessment tests at the end of each lesson.
•    At the end of the whole course, you are presented with an automated examination.
•    Gain a 60% pass and receive an: IEAC (International Education Accreditation Council) Certificate.