Chicken folklore, also known as old wive's tales

[MissPrissy]

Quote:

This is not an old wives tale. This is a way of removing the spur - like a fingernail. The heated moist potato softens the spur and makes it easy to twist off without a lot of blood.

It works.

 

[hennypenny9]

The myth that I hear each time I explain that I'm getting chickens....

"They're so dirty!"

No more dirty then any other creature. Good grief.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
LOL - it works, both actually.

The second one you need to turn the chicken upside down lay it on its back, put the head down flat on the ground and draw a line away from the chicken. You can even use a finger in the dirt, no need to use chalk or anything else.

 

[jbowyer01]

I read on a previous post about putting salt on the chickens tail to catch it. It brought back a memory that I havent thought about in probably 30 years! My grandmother told my cousin (Jimmy) and I this when I was about 6 y/o and she then handed us a salt shaker each.

Needless to say it kept us out of her hair for a long while (she was the only one who could collect the eggs and catch the birds). I remember chasing chickens for what seemed like forever! Thanks for the memory.

 

[Wildsky]

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Oh thats great!

 

[theOEGBman]

Honestly, Im shocked it took me this long.... Today my friend and I were talking about my chickens. I was telling her how amazing I think it is that a chick develops in just 21 days, ya know. And I was talking about the eggs being fertile, and told her she didnt have to worry about the chance of a chicken forming in her store-bought eggs if they arent fertile,etc. And she was like.... "How are they not fertile?" She thought you needed a rooster to have eggs! I know this was listed before, but I've never met a person who believe that and told me about it. Pretty shocking since I've had poultry forever, but it just shocked the heck out of me! She was embarrassed when I used the Woman Cycle/Chicken egg deal on her. Thanks for that tip, BTW!

 

[speckledhen]

If you hang around BYC for awhile, you'll want more chickens....




Oh, wait, that one is really true! LOL.

 

[knox_co]

Quote:
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.

To say that it's the calories is too simple an explanation. Those calories come from fats, protein and carbohydrates that must be metabolized to energy. They are not equal in heat increment. The heat increment with protein is the highest, followed by carbs, and then fats. High calories does not translate to a higher heat increment. Oats have a higher heating increment due to higher fiber and protein content than corn while they are lower in calories per pound than corn...

I have wondered about this with my birds. 36 years ago I took a ruminant nutrition class in grad school. We learned about the heat increment value of various feedstuffs. The students all expected a higher concentrate diet would keep the animals warmer in winter. Not so. Digestion of fiber produces more heat than digestion of the starch in corn, for example. If this applies to birds also, then it makes sense to feed whole oats rather than corn as a scratch grain in northern winters.

 

[ordinaryacres]

I've heard for yearS That is a hens feet get wet she won't lay.

 

[BaileyMChicks]

My grandmother always let hens set early spring but not late summer.
Her reason was chicks hatched in spring were more likely to be hens and later ones roosters...
Must have something to do with mother nature?

I think this is actually true. This year I let my hen hatch out 5 chicks in May, and all 5 chicks turned out to be hens. Then I let my hen hatch 2 chicks in June, and I got one hen and one rooster. Then I let another hen hatch out 3 eggs the end of July/beginning of August, and I got 2 hens and I rooster. I would much rather play it safe by letting my hens hatch out chicks in spring and early summer, and early-to-mid fall. Hotter temperatures seems to produce more roosters, at least in the 10 chicks I've had hatch out. I'll have to test this theory next year, to get more data to see if it's really true.