What are some of the most mind-blowing facts about chickens that few people actually know??

[Barnette]

You've heard about the caretaker who fainted in a broiler house?

No...

 

[Callender Girl]

Your sweetest hen will happily devour baby birds that fall out of their treetop nests; the evidence is often little feet sticking out of the hen's beak.

 

[CoopBoots]

Roosters can be involved in nest selection, preparation, and even sometimes sit a little. Mine don't go much past suggesting real estate to the ladies but it's possible we've mostly bred the trait away, much like how many hens no longer brood either.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

That they eat mice, snakes and meat. Oh and they are cannibals! They will happily steal a chicken nugget out of your kids hands or fly over a fence when you are butchering roosters. I watched them violently start ripping the bodies apart while they were still flopping around. I now have to lock them in the floor to ceiling pens when butchering.

Note: Also before I get a comment from someone who has never seen a chicken eat a chicken. No my chickens are starving they free range on 30 acres during the day and have 24/7 access to Kalmbach flock raiser. Chickens are just brutal.

 

[RoyalChick]

I find most non-chicken people are unaware that chickens are individuals with their own character and preferences. Dare I say personality?

 

[TooCheep]

I find most non-chicken people are unaware that chickens are individuals with their own character and preferences. Dare I say personality?

Yup. I've described this to several people. Chickens can be more or less:

• friendly/flighty
• food-oriented
• quiet/noisy
• dominant
• active/athletic/lazy
• inquisitive

 

[Barnette]

Oh yes, mine are full of personality

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Hens can crow.

Hens can be generally louder than roosters.

Chickens can fly very well.

 

[Esrun]

Hens can crow.

Hens can be generally louder than roosters.

Chickens can fly very well.

Our top hen, Princess, crows like a rooster. Every. Single. Day. Many times

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Our top hen, Princess, crows like a rooster. Every. Single. Day. Many times

I worry about this because we could never convince our neighbors it's not a rooster!