Chicken folklore, also known as old wive's tales

[Calebs Acre]

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If the needle moves in a circular motion (on its own, with no help) it's a hen.
If the needle moves in a straight line (back and forth) it's a rooster.
If the needle stays still, the egg is infertile.

I heard the same thing about kids. I have a friend who still uses this method with her miniature horses and it's been 90% correct...as good as most hatchery sexers. LOL

 

[flakey chick]

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I think that may come from their relatives. An alligators sex is determined by incubation temp, not genetics.

 

[clarkestep]

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Even if it means you have to molt and loose all of your hair? Eyebrows? Eyelashes?

And even if it means you have to ovulate and 'lay' almost EVERYDAY during the 'on' season? Not me, no way, Jose!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

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Even if it means you have to molt and loose all of your hair? Eyebrows? Eyelashes?

And even if it means you have to ovulate and 'lay' almost EVERYDAY during the 'on' season? Not me, no way, Jose!

If that was the case, then no, I wouldn't. But, when was the last time we actually got a "break" from the routine? Unless we "burnout", we are in a constant "laying cycle," even if we don't "lay an egg" everyday.

( LOL.. I'm trying to stay subtle, so Terrie doesn't delete me! I got in trouble for comparing the chicken's cycle to ours not too long ago. I'm hoping because this is more "subtle", I'll be okay.. Love ya Terrie..

)

-Kim

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I've heard all kinds from visitors at my home. The most frequent is that you need a rooster around to have eggs.

I had one fellow ask me what I did to the eggs to make them edible, he thought they had to be boiled or pasteurized or somehow processed to make them into a table egg.

I gave a dozen eggs to another fellow and he told me that it had been a long time since he'd seen an unbleached egg. It was his contention that all eggs are brown at the farm and that eggs are bleached to be sold at the store. I chuckled and told that it just depends upon the breed, that some breeds lay white eggs. He tried to argue with me. "Well I've never seen a white egg on a farm!"

There are a couple that are perpetuated here too. "Feeding corn produces body heat in a chicken, thus you shouldn't feed it in the summer, but it will keep them warm in the winter". Not true...

Another one that bugs me is setting up a heat lamp in a brooder. People have the idea that you can measure the temperature under a heat lamp with a thermometer and adjust the temperature to 95 degrees. Heat lamps just don't work that way. They don't heat the air in a space like a normal heater would, but they heat objects directly by infrared rays, which makes temperature readings problematic. You can measure how well the rays are heating the thermometer, but you can't really measure the warmth that a chick would get from a heat lamp...

 

[CathyB]

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Really??This is my first year with chickens and have read that on here so many times that I have not even considered buying scratch or corn for my girls yet.

I have many people tell me I will not have eggs because I have no rooster. I uses the human comparission several times and that always makes them get it!

 

[MissPrissy]

If you will do the research you will find scientific evidence of chickens fed corn producing as much as 8 BTUs of heat per hour. In the winter this body heat generated inside a draft free coop helps aid them in not suffering from the cold.

If corn generates that kind of body heat in winter it generates the same in summer.

The same as people look for lighter cooler foods in summer. On a 100F degree day without an A/C are you going to sit around eating a steaming bowl of beef stew with rice and corn bread on the side? Or are you going to seek something lighter and more cooling?

 

[ravenfeathers]

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yeah... i mean, it's a question of calories, really, not corn specifically. it just so happens that corn is absolutely busting with calories. that's especially important for a bird, as they have higher metabolic rates than mammals.

i know that i supplement with a feed containing corn for my horses in the cold months. after several years of playing with feeding programs, i can see that the corn in their winter diet keeps them in better body condition and happier in bitter weather than a low corn winter diet. outdoor animals need a higher caloric intake to keep their body temperature stable in inclement weather. science!

 

[Opa]

I think the back of my head has started to molt

 

[MissPrissy]

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