Topic of the Week - Chicken Myths, True or False?

[casportpony]

The rooster fertilizes an egg after it's been laid.

Roosters must have a penis.

Ducks and chickens can cross breed.

A RIR can't cross with a chicken of an other breed.

Sex linked chickens can only come from hatcheries.

You can make a hen go broody.

Seriously? Those are pretty funny!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

The most common myth IMO is that hens cannot lay without a rooster. When I got my first 6 gals, I was told this by a fellow with 20+ years of raising chickens who would not listen to reason. Since then I've had many folks shocked I get eggs with only hens.

I wonder if they think those commercial egg farms have roosters on duty so they get eggs..

We hear this one in the city all the time. And people think chickens are dumb!

 

[hlhutchinson]

An old timer told me that if you rub butter on an egg it won't hatch

The same old timer told me that on the first day of spring an egg will stand on its pointy side We tried that and to no avail.

Lol

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Actually, while you can't make a hen go broody, in some breeds who are already prone to broodiness you can help trigger it. Making the coop darker, putting a cover over the nest box entrance and leaving eggs in the nests help encourage broodiness. You can't "make" it happen, and a broodiless hen won't care, but it helps.

 

[adrikeen]

I've got a humorous one!!!
I bought a set of bantams from a TSC store this past spring and the young gentleman "educating me" on my chick purchase and care that was to come stated that "you do realize you will not get any eggs....these are bantams....they don't lay eggs". I managed to remain calm but my husband had to walk away. I did, politely and with a smile, "educate" him back. Although often small...yes....bantam hens do lay eggs.

 

[adrikeen]

On the myth about flying the coop....this may actually have some truth to it. I raised 2 Sebrights, a Porcelain D'Uccle, and an unknown micro mini chicken (I have no idea on breed...I should post her...she fits in my hand and I can't find any photos of a similar chicken) this past spring. All 4 of these little ladies have demonstrated if let out of the run they can fly straight up over the coop/run and across the lawn into my veggie beds. One of the Sebrights managed to fly up, over the coop, and onto a low hanging section of our roof!!! My husband had to coax her down using a broom.

 

[shawthorne44]

I was shocked at how high they can fly. They were getting out of the chicken yard which has a 5+' foot around it. We thought they were starting on a bucket, and we took care of that. Then I saw one stand there, flap the wings and went straight up to the top of the fence. They are Australorpes. So, yeah, they can totally fly the coop whenever they feel like it. I like that they don't, generally.

 

[Blooie]

But I was talking about the phrase itself, not the fact that chickens can fly out of an enclosure!

 

[Peeps61]

Chicken's intelligence is underrated. If you watch them, they are amazingly smart for an animal with a brain the size of a pea .

 

[lazy gardener]

Anyone done a necropsy to see if their brain is truly pea sized???