I am a writer, sure. But I have many other interests, including my grandchildren, my dogs, and my chickens. The chickens are a relatively new fascination, as I got my first flock in 2018. I quickly learned the following things about them:
Chicken facts you didn’t know you NEEDED to know.
There are more chickens than people in the world. There are in fact 3 chickens per every man, woman and child. That’s over 25 billion chickens, more than any other bird on the planet.
Chickens can recognize over 100 faces, so you can be sure your chicken knows exactly who you are just by looking at you! (Mine come running when they see me in my bedroom window. So precious!)
You can generally tell the color of eggs a chicken will lay by looking at their ears! Chickens with white earlobes lay white eggs. Brown egg layers have red earlobes. (My rooster has purple earlobes!)
Unlike dogs, chickens can see (and dream!) in full-color, just like us!
Hens mate with multiple roosters, however, if they decide they don’t want any chicks from a particular rooster after mating, they can eject that rooster’s sperm.
The joke “Why did the chicken cross the road?” was first printed in 1845 in a New York magazine with the classic “to get to the other side” answer.
The breed “Ayam Cemani” is a very rare breed with black feathers, beak and even organs! Their cost? $2,500 dollars. (Don’t believe it–I’ve seen them cheaper on eBay. I even hatched some and gave them to a friend.).
Mother hens talk to baby chicks while still in the egg, and the chicks chirp back to their mom! (I’ve seen the first hatchlings urge the other eggs to hurry up!)
Chickens were firstly domesticated in China 8,000 years ago.
In 2004 it was discovered that chickens are the closest living relative to the T-Rex.
Chickens have three eyelids.
The most amount of eggs any chicken has laid during a day is 7 eggs, and the most during a year is 371 by a white leghorn. (They usually lay an egg every 22 hours. The fancier the chicken, the less eggs they lay. That’s why most large scale chicken farms use plain white chickens who lay every day).
Roosters are so fearless at protecting their flock that the ancient Romans believed even lions were afraid of roosters! This was evidenced in several fables, such as “The Lion And The Elephant“.
Chickens can taste saltiness but they can’t taste sweetness.
You can buy a “chicken poop” lip balm on Amazon. (Why would anyone want to?)
Human babies take over 7 months to develop object permanence. Chicks? They take two days.
Chickens can’t really fly. Their longest recorded flight? 13 seconds.
Chickens have their own unique language with over 30 different sounds. (One woman, author of CHICKEN TALK, realized that her chickens had a word/sound for her.)
The United Kingdom virtually eliminated salmonella by vaccinating chickens.
One farmer managed to increase egg size and production without any change in feed. His secret? Classical music. (I’ve got to try that! I LIKE classical music.)
On average over 97 chickens are killed every 0.05 seconds after living a terrible life in cages. The ethical alternative? Backyard chickens! Happy hens laying lovely eggs.
Chickens can’t see in the dark.
Chickens disguise their illness when they’re not feeling well . . . that’s why when a hen gets sick and looks sick, she’s usually at death’s door.
The pecking order is real. The way to stop one bird from bullying the others is to separate her from the flock for a few days. When she is returned, she most likely will have lost her place in the pecking order.
Chickens have a type of PMS. When they “go broody,” they stop laying eggs and want to do NOTHING but sit on eggs to have some babies. Some breeds go broody a lot; others rarely go broody (like the commercial breeds). A hen will sit on any hen’s egg, and sometimes she’ll sit on golf balls or rocks, so strong is the urge to hatch some eggs.
A fertilized egg will hatch after 21 days if kept at a steady 99.5 degrees. A broody hen will pluck out her belly feathers in order to keep the eggs warm. I’ve seen a few bald-bellied hens!
I’m sure your eyes are beginning to glaze over now, so I’ll stop. But I have more chicken stories, if you want to read ’em! Just let me know!
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Oh how I loved this, Angie! Yes, please more. Like Frani’s Earth Psalms, you need to write some specifically for chickens! I’m betting you’ve learned a ton about the Lord as you’ve been raising chickens. 😉
Thanks so much for this.
You’re right, Tammy. :-). I will have to dig out some of my chicken stories. They have taught me so much!
I love hearing your chicken stories. I love my girls and even my cranky rooster. I cry when I lose one. Have a blessed day.
I cried when I had to have two sick chickens euthanized. My vet hugged me–I don’t think she’d ever seen anyone cry over a chicken. But they become like family, don’t they? And roosters–ah, how they demand respect. I’m happy to give it as long as they don’t try to flog me. 😉
Oh, what a fun read to start my work week. The covenants for my neighborhood disallows farm animals, or I think I would give chickens a try. My youngest has a couple in Texas, and I love watching them when I go for a visit.
I’m glad you have a place to watch chickens, Robin. Did you know that during the World War–I forget which one–the U.S. government WANTED people to have backyard chickens? Those birds helped feed the country. 🙂
Love this! I want to have chickens one day, but will have to move first. Maybe one day you can give a tutorial on how to get started with chickens. I have a few chickens in my latest screenplay. They’re so interesting! And there is nothing better than fresh eggs.
You bet! I always put a tray of fresh eggs in my airbnb apartment. :-). People love them. And honestly, I think I would keep a few chickens even if they didn’t lay eggs–they’re so entertaining, and my grands love them. You’ll love them, too!
What a fascinating post, Angie! I’m going to file this away for historical research purposes. So many fun tidbits here. And now I know who to ask when I have chicken questions! 🙂
I’m your gal! :-). When I started, I read every chicken book I could find, plus there are online chicken communities that offer sage advice. Lots of people love raising chickens!
I love it! We don’t have chickens but our neighbors do. The hens are often in our pasture, hopefully eating earwigs. I name them all, the frequent guests.
Love it! I name (or my grandkids do) all our chickens, too. They each have different personalities. 🙂
What a fun read to start my Monday! Very informative, too. I can’t have chickens in my neighborhood, so I’ll just be content with my two loving cats. More chicken stories, please.
Happy to provide. :-). Just let me know if I start repeating myself, LOL!
I would love to have chickens but I’m going to live vicariously with yours! More chicken stories please. And pictures too. I’ve seen some of your flock (in pictures) and they are beautiful. And I have loved watching your videos of your granddaughter watching the eggs hatch. 😊🐣
Hatching is so much fun–and educational. I don’t dare hatch as many as I’d like to, because I don’t want to try my neighbors’ patience. (And there’s always the problem of too many roosters). But there’s just something about the miracle of new life . . . 🙂
I connect with you for several reasons, one of which is my maiden name is Hunt. But the most important one is your beautiful writing about Esther.
Thank you . . . what an encouraging note! Blessings to you and yours!
P.S. I love that your initials are SHH! LOL!
We have a broody small hen sitting on our Serama eggs now. Keep the chicken info coming
Seramas are so cute! I’ve never had one, but I have four silkies (one is a frizzle, and another a frazzle). They are like little wind up toys!
Fascinating!!!
Aren’t they? Amazing little creatures. 🙂
So many fascinating things! Unfortunately the supposed chicken-to-t-rex relation is based wholly on supposition and is not possible to prove scientifically. It’s just based on evolutionary thinking. So skip that one. 🙂 But so many neat things to learn otherwise!
I thought it was more based on skeletal structure and eating habits–chickens eat meat, too. They can be ferocious hunters. :-). (Of small things.)
It’s so interesting! 🙂 I love chickens too 🙂 <3
🙂