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

[nuthatched]

Myth: roosters are aggressive and evil.
Fact: Some, maybe but most aren't. I have scars from my girls being nosey but not any from my boy. Given, if I was wearing something bright, he'd attempt to kick me but he had horrible, horrible aim (he was klutz!) and usually sail past my shins into something hard.

 

[featherhead007]

Fun thread!

I can’t think of any myths that haven’t been covered already.

My roosters crow whenever… though I sleep through it, so I thought they only crowed during the day until my hubby & kids slept in hammocks in the shed which is about 2” away from the coop. Turns out they crow starting at 3am!

Several of my chickens could “fly.” They didn’t take off and go south for the winter or even make it up into the trees to roost (though I’ve heard of bantams that can). Mine could get over the five foot tall fence even with one or both wings clipped. Since the hawk attack in oct 2020, we have fencing on the top of both runs, putting an end to flying out of the pen… they still like to run and fly around each morning when they think I’m coming with treats!

I get blue, green, cream, tan, purple, brown, speckled, dark brown, & white eggs from my girls. The blue & green ones are blue on the inside. The rest are white inside. My Maran has the pinkish bloom over the dark brown eggs more so at the beginning of each laying cycle thus the purple eggs.

Roosters aren’t needed for eggs, of course. My one neighbor refuses eggs from us. She once cracked a chick out into her skillet and now swears off backyard eggs completely. That egg did not come from us as she’s never taken any from me. No amount of reassuring her that I collect eggs daily & therefore they can’t develop into embryos at all (unless she would put them in an incubator) will convince her to try again.

I’m not sure about ACV for animals (though I do use it as well as copper sulfate, and I also use antibiotic prescription meds, Denagard, Corid, etc when needed), but I will stand behind saying that ACV with the mother (homemade or Bragg’s brand) percent of the time cures my stomach pains!! I’ve had gastritis five times (diagnosed by an upper gi the first time) and random heartburn or reflux as well. It cures them all. I take 1 tablespoon in a cup of warm water with a little honey to make it taster. Plus honey is anti microbial too (it lasts for thousands of years like in the pharaoh’s tombs)!

I think my chickens are smart. Not as smart as my outdoor bunny or outside kitties all of whom are potty trained. Sigh. I wish the chickens could be potty trained. Even my horse pooped & peed out & under her stall door during the weeks she was boarded for training.

“You mean it’s okay to pee in my stall?”

 

[Granny23]

I have a cousin who is 100% convinced that all eggs are white and brown eggs haven't been washed yet and are dirty.
Won't even consider my home grown eggs.

What are they? 5?? It amazes me how some families are SO uninformed and they pass this incorrect information down thru the generations. My ex DIL was told by her grandparents, I believe, that roosters sprayed the eggs to make baby chicks...or something along those lines. It was so ridiculous. And she passed that info to my grandkids. I heard that as did my son and we were like Oh Hell No! Lol. That myth dies right here and now and let the real truth be known. She was intelligent and I was surprised she believed that.

 

[Granny23]

Roosters only crow at daybreak.

Nope.

 

[Brooks_]

Roosters only crow at daybreak.

For each time zone...

 

[CoconutCoffee]

I'm sure this has been said already. But I don't know how many people I've heard say brown eggs are healthier. They look at me like I'm crazy when I say egg shell color is genetic and has nothing to do with how healthy the egg is.

 

[CoconutCoffee]

What are they? 5?? It amazes me how some families are SO uninformed and they pass this incorrect information down thru the generations. My ex DIL was told by her grandparents, I believe, that roosters sprayed the eggs to make baby chicks...or something along those lines. It was so ridiculous. And she passed that info to my grandkids. I heard that as did my son and we were like Oh Hell No! Lol. That myth dies right here and now and let the real truth be known. She was intelligent and I was surprised she believed that.

I had a supervisor that was so tripped out on backyard chickens being the same that lay the eggs she gets from the store. Like...what? They're hens. Hens lay eggs. Whether it's on a factory farm or my backyard. Needless to say, she wouldn't accept eggs from me. She couldn't fathom blue eggs being real either

 

[Solanacae]

WOW, talk about a serious lack of gratitude. She should have at least took the eggs and then disposed of them secretly if she didn't want them. Besides, where does she think the grocery store eggs come from, Amazon?

This was the kind of lady who was perfectly happy thinking that her meat just magically appeared on styrofoam trays in the grocery store, pretty sad to have people so removed from their food.

She might have been awkward because she didn't want people thinking she couldn't support herself if she couldn't afford eggs

No, the lady offering the eggs was the wife of our congregation’s leader, whom the lady who was having a hard time financially had already gone to asking for help with paying bills and groceries.

This man and his wife grew a huge garden each year and were always very generous in sharing their abundance. One way that this couple helped those who needed financial assistance was by inviting those needing assistance to come and help in their garden. Those who went not only got an abundance of healthy, fresh produce (and often eggs), but also learned how to grow their own food and become more self reliant. I thought it was a pretty brilliant way to help people, though some didn’t like that they were asked to put forth some effort into helping themselves.

Edited to add: I recognize that some weren’t able to take advantage of the offer because they were working multiple jobs and simply didn’t have the time, and that’s just fine. They were doing their best to try and solve their problems. This particular lady that turned down the eggs didn’t have a job so far as I was aware. She did stay home with her two kids (which is plenty of work, believe me, I know) so she had time in the day, plus the gardening was always done in company of the couple who grew the garden who were more than happy to have kids come along.

 

[troyer]

This was the kind of lady who was perfectly happy thinking that her meat just magically appeared on styrofoam trays in the grocery store, pretty sad to have people so removed from their food.

No, the lady offering the eggs was the wife of our congregation’s leader, whom the lady who was having a hard time financially had already gone to asking for help with paying bills and groceries.

This man and his wife grew a huge garden each year and were always very generous in sharing their abundance. One way that this couple helped those who needed financial assistance was by inviting those needing assistance to come and help in their garden. Those who went not only got an abundance of healthy, fresh produce (and often eggs), but also learned how to grow their own food and become more self reliant. I thought it was a pretty brilliant way to help people, though some didn’t like that they were asked to put forth some effort into helping themselves.

Edited to add: I recognize that some weren’t able to take advantage of the offer because they were working multiple jobs and simply didn’t have the time, and that’s just fine. They were doing their best to try and solve their problems. This particular lady that turned down the eggs didn’t have a job so far as I was aware. She did stay home with her two kids (which is plenty of work, believe me, I know) so she had time in the day, plus the gardening was always done in company of the couple who grew the garden who were more than happy to have kids come along.

That's a great way to be useful in a community. It would be interesting to meet that couple. That's such a hands on ministry.

 

[Solanacae]

That's a great way to be useful in a community. It would be interesting to meet that couple. That's such a hands on ministry.

They are delightful people - simple, frugal, salt of the earth type people.