On that note, I have an interesting story I was told by a long-time chicken owner:
I bought two silkie hens from a lady who had a flock of about 10 with a purebred rooster in the coop. The next day a lady I work with bought one of the hens from me as was the plan from the beginning. Her hen, "Sweetie", laid an egg a day for the next three days. I told my co-worker that I would happily incubate her eggs if I could keep 1 if they all hatched. She agreed and brought them to me the next day with a concern about something her aunt, the chicken keeper I mentioned in the beginning sentence, had told her when she informed her of my plan to incubate: her aunt said it didn't matter that the hen HAD been with a roo up until 4 days previous; she had to be with a roo daily for her eggs to hatch. What?? I asked my co-worker what her aunt would think when she brought home a couple of purebred silkies from the eggs and she said her aunt wouldn't believe they were really from the eggs she gave me to hatch. My co-worker, luckily, believes me and thinks her aunt is too "clever for her own good" and doesn't know what she's talking about. Fast forward 21 days and I delivered two adorable purebred silkie chicks, solid white like their mother, to my co-worker. Her aunt is disgruntled but seems to have changed her tune, and my co-worker's chicks are now 4 months old and beloved by her and her kids, lol.
And if I hear one more time that chickens regulate heat through their combs, I'm gonna puke. If that is completely true, what about my game rooster whose comb is non-existent due to fighting through a fence at his previous owner's? He must always be over-heating, LOL
