Ten Things I Have Learned from My Chickens

Raising Chickens Fowl Visions

I’m sure we can all name one thing we have learned from our chickens. Well I ran across this post from Gardening 4 Life blog where the owner told the Top 10 Things I’ve Learned From My Chickens.

When I read the post it made me sit back and think about what my chickens have taught me. I have alot of the same as Gardening 4 Life but I thought of a few different ones so I will post my top 10.

10 Things I’ve Learned From My Chickens

1. Chickens don’t need water to take a bath. They take dust baths.
2. Chickens have a pecking order. If you have raised chickens anytime at all you will know that there is always a dominate hen or rooster in the flock and they make it known by pecking on the others to let them know who is in charge.
3. Hens are noisy. When I first started raising chickens I thought that chickens were fairly quiet animals but I quickly learned that it doesn’t take much to set off a flock of chickens. Most of the time it is due to one of the hens laying an egg but sometimes the reason for the commotion is never discovered.
4. They eat just about anything. Today it was the pipe wrap on the water hydrant; who knows what it will be tomorrow.
5. Chickens are cannibals. If one bird has a bald spot on it anywhere then the chicken should beware because the others will spot it and peck on the poor bird until blood is drawn. This is a strange behavior that I do not understand.
6. Chickens make great pets. They are easy to keep, easy to feed, and entertain themselves but are also social creatures. They like to be in company with others; no matter if it is people or other chickens.
7. You cannot have just one chicken. Why? Because they are addicting! Kind of like M&M’s, you can’t just have one. The more chickens you have the more entertaining they are.
8. Chickens are like people, each have their own personalities. Some are friendly, some are aloof, and some are down right mean.  The mean ones are the ones that go to auction.
9. Don’t leave an egg laying around or it may get eaten or sat upon by a broody hen. Remember chickens will peck anything and that includes their eggs.
10. Don’t mess with a broody hen. If the broody hen does set on the eggs, then beware of the broody hen! She will guard the eggs and set until the appropriate time when cute little chicks hatch. Do not disturb her or you are likely to get pecked. After the chicks are born she is worse.

You know I could go on. Chickens have taught me so much and I mean that for real. I am in my middle ages and have not enjoyed animals as much as I do my chickens. Entertaining is not the word. I enjoy the sounds they make as I approach, the roosters crowing in the morning, raising baby chicks and hearing them chirp, the hens following me as I head to the feed cans, watching the roosters as they try to maintain or gain dominance in the barnyard, and so much more. I did forget the main reason for having chickens was eggs originally. I guess that is because with 52 chickens on my place right now I am getting about 6 per day. That should change soon since my sex links just turned 5-months-old. Anyway, I love raising chickens!

Tags: raising chickens