Chicken myths and old wives' tales, please!

[CMV]

My favorite is - You can't eat the first eggs laid. Pullet eggs are not edible.

I'd love to know the origin of this one.

ETA- This is another one that makes me crazy and continues to be perpetuated on this forum- Hot pepper will increase laying or start laying in young pullets.

 

[churchx3]

(1) takes two years to get your first egg (2) no rooster no eggs (3) all chickens have lice

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
Another chick sexing method involves holding the chick by .... its HEAD! I don't remember what the parameters are, but when i heard it, i told my friend, "You might be careful about that one. That method is scary close to 'how to CULL a chick!'" Also, it doesn't work.

 

[jomoncon]

My Mom was raised on a farm. But, being the youngest, she never did anything remotely related to farming - no gardening & certainly no caring for animals. She is the most "city-fied" farm girl ever. Her first words when I told her I was getting chickens was "How can you get eggs with no roosters?"

 

[A.T. Hagan]

"Corn will make your chickens hot so don't feed it in the summer."

"All roosters are mean and will attack you."

"Brown eggs are better than white eggs because (insert numerous reasons here)."

 

[bywaterdog]

"If a chicken looks at you when its being killed, your face will appear in its eyes after death." As cool as this sounds, I've never had it happen.

 

[PunkinPeep]

A.T. Hagan :

"Brown eggs are better than white eggs because (insert numerous reasons here)."

I like this one. Someone got eggs from me and exclaimed, "Brown eggs? I LOVE brown eggs!" They really just love farm fresh eggs, but they associate brown with farm fresh, and there you have it!

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
erm... gotta ask... why were you taking a rooster to church?

Was wondering the same thing myself. Maybe the rooster needed baptized. Those sinning roosters!

Here's one of my favorites...

A white chicken=white eggs, red chicken=brown eggs. Said person was aghast to find that my Aussies lay light brown eggs. Then I proceeded to tell her about Black Minorcas and White Rocks, LOL!

 

[gryeyes]

"Fertilized eggs are better for you, anyway," said my landlady when I first told her one of my chicks turned out to be a rooster.

Although it was a positive statement, I did think it was odd. It sure helps when people at work ask about the eggs I sell. (My landlady is also a co-worker.)

 

[ND]

It's an odd conundrum... You apparently can't get eggs without a rooster, but as equally believed, you can't eat fertile eggs!
Maybe you're supposed to just wave the rooster in front of the hens every now and then...

Rooster condoms?

I recently attempted to explain to my sister's MIL why NO, a chicken tractor (approx 6' long as described, maybe 2' wide) could NOT house 20-30 hens-- ever-- I don't care what she 'saw in a picture'. She didn't believe me, because she saw it in a picture. I think even commercial production hens aren't THAT crowded

Why that fruitcake wants/needs 20-30 hens, I have no idea. I'm not terribly concerned that she'll actually attempt such a thing... she is a high order fruitcake, after all.