Chicken Myths/Rumors: True or False, Please Share!

[Liz Birdlover]

Rabbits are a cakewalk, getcha a couple coons or squirrels.

I've had Rex & Lop Eared rabbits, dogs, cats, tropical fish, many birds from Finches to Macaws & various reptiles in my care.

I can tell you that aquariums with water turtles were the most high maintenance because they shred live fish when they eat...envision cleaning messy, fish smelling tanks daily.

I also babysat some Cockatoos...never again! Not only do they scream bloody murder for no reason, (so loud that neighbors half a block away heard them even when windows were shut, and neighbor's kids asked if I had Dinosaurs in my house),
but they are great escape artists.
Once they do escape their enclosure, they proceed to whittle every wooden article of trim, furniture, woodwork, and even shred clothes hanging in the closet after chewing holes in closet doors, they destroy anything that they can, and they do it quite well...fun coming home to that mess after work!

I absolutely adore my flock of chickens & roosters!

 

[DParker75089]

Myth^^^

"Cure" and/or "prevent" might not be the right way to describe it, but there does seem to be evidence of some health benefits to the practice of including a small amount of vinegar in your chickens' water.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8136961/#:~:text=The study results have shown,response and small intestine histomorphology.

 

[DParker75089]

You don't train the aggressiveness out of one but you train him to respect his boundaries..

Yeah, I don't think I've trained any aggressiveness out of my rooster, but I've certainly tought him to exercise more discretion when it comes to who he directs it at.

 

[DParker75089]

Myth: Chickens are easy to raise

Well, "easy" is a relative concept. They're more work than a pet rock, but compared to most other livestock chickens are a cakewalk.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Myth/Rumor: Chickens are girls
Story: A lot of people I talk to ask me "Is that a rooster or a chicken?". Maybe it's just me...but that annoys me soooo much! So many people think a chicken is a girl and a rooster is a boy.
True or False: false
Evidence: Chickens are not a sex, they are a type of bird. They are a subspecies of the genus Gallus,known as Gallus gallus domesticus, and to have a self-perpetuating species, you have to have both males and females. If all chickens were females, there would be no more chickens since they couldn't produce anymore.

To make it easier to describe them, we call female chickens hens or pullets and male chickens are called cocks, cockerels, or roosters, but they are all chickens.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Yeah, I don't think I've trained any aggressiveness out of my rooster, but I've certainly tought him to exercise more discretion when it comes to who he directs it at.

I have 1 Roo that used to enjoy running up behind me to kick the back of my leg, when he was just a few months old. He would jump up to spur anyone, once he grew some spurs. He ran towards me a few times & when he jumped up, instead of running, I'd lean forward & catch him mid-air & tuck him under my arm like a football, carrying him as I continued my chores. The look on his face was priceless when this occured...he had a look of shock...like hey, you were supposed to run from me, not scoop me up & carry me around like a baby! A few times he was mad & wanted to be tough in front of the hens...he reached around to bite me, but got a beak full of loose hoodie sleeve instead. Then he'd cluck in displeasure, you could actually hear his ticked off tone! He was a real gutsy boy. My Dad said he'd never enter the coop again, this Roo came at him, didn't even reach him to actually spur him, but Dad got hung up in the chain holding the hanging feeder when he tried to swing an empty bucket at the attacking Roo...it shook my Dad up good, the bucket got tangled up in the feeder chain. As Dad was trying to get untagled, he said that Rooster actually Laughed at him! Then pranced proudly out the door, tail feathers bouncing.
Anyway...I guess Roo & I had some unspoken respect after some time...when he turned 3 yrs old, he no longer ran at me, he'd just give me stink eye & watch me refill feed, water & scoop poop. Once in awhile, I'll scoop him up to sit him on my lap as I look him over & pet him. He actually likes being fussed over, he makes sweet sounds the entire time, but when I'm done, he walks away then turns around to give me stink eye again. He is about 7 yrs old now, he can move fast when he wants to & doesn't like strangers or any other unwelcome critters around the coop, but he doesn't go after me at all anymore. Yes, he still gives me the stink eye, though.

 

[DParker75089]

I have 1 Roo that used to enjoy running up behind me to kick the back of my leg

Yep, that's exactly the same stunt mine liked to pull...until he tried one too many times on a day when I was already irritated by something else, whereupon he learned that leg could strike back. He doesn't do that anymore.

 

[Jenessa_096]

Rabbits are a cakewalk, getcha a couple coons or squirrels.

They are technically my sisters , but I still end up doing most of the work.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Myth/rumor: Round eggs hatch pullets.
Story: I have no idea where this idea originated.
True or false: true in my experience.
Evidence: when I regularly hatched out chicks I set round eggs and the batch was only (at most) 1/8 cockerels. There was definitely more than one variable so I really can't say for sure wether it's true or false. Lots of people swear by it though.

Tried it, doesn't work.

 

[swamphiker]

Ditto, I've got 11 Rooster Lover Boys, sweet as can be. They're SO huggable, so yes, they get daily hugs, & if I sit down they jump up to snuggle on my lap.

How sweet! Thanks for sharing.