Demystifying the World of Chickens Part #1

My goal with this series is to help beginning chicken keepers (or seasoned ones) learn a little bit more about chickens. I don’t claim to be an expert but I do like it when people see how rewarding it is to have these birds around. Most of this information and the tips offered are based on my own experiences and research. We all have different experiences. So, take the information with a grain of salt. It is also my hope that I can help make the process of chicken keeping just a little bit easier for you, our wonderful followers.

1. Learn the terms:

a. Straight Run: it is unknown weather the chick is male or female

b. Pullet: young hen under 1 year old

c. Cockerel/Stag: young rooster under 1 year old

d. Hen: female chicken, will lay eggs

e. Rooster: male chicken, will crow, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, but it will not give you eggs

2. Hens will lay eggs even without a rooster. The eggs will not be fertile. They will not hatch a chick. The rooster only matters if you want fertile eggs which will hatch a chick. NO, a rooster will not increase the rate of lay so stop lying to people. You do NOT need a rooster if you just want eggs for eating.

3. Roosters will crow at ALL TIMES OF THE DAY, not just in the morning.

4. Mean roosters are a thing. Like dogs, their aggressiveness is part genetic, part environmental. The meanest roosters tend to be those roosters that were babied. You let them sit on your lap and pet them. All you’re doing is telling the rooster that he’s above you, which is why he’s sitting on you. He’s really nice until he hits sexual maturity and then whamo! He attacks. If you run off scared or tip toe and sneak around him now, you’re reinforcing the notion that you’re a predator… sneaking around to get his hens. His job is to protect the flock. He will either make you submit and become a lower member of his flock or he will chase you like he would a predator. Either way, it’s not fun. Your best bet is to not baby the roosters so much as chicks. Ignore him most of the time. If he even looks at you sideways or starts to fluff up, you grab him and show him who is boss. After being embarrassed in front of his ladies a few times, he will get it. After that, you ignore him and you will just become the person with the food. Never sneak around or run away from a rooster.

5. A good rooster is worth his weight in gold. He will not only protect his flock but will keep all the ladies in line. He will “court” the ladies by doing a dance before mounting and will break up fights between the hens. When I have a good, dominant rooster in the pen, I don’t worry about introducing new girls. Of course, I always make sure that they’re of good age and size before integrating them. But, a good rooster will not allow bullying to happen. As a breeder, your roosters are more important than your hens. Remember that your hens only pass on their genetics to their specific offspring. If you only have one rooster, he's passing his genetics to all of the offspring. It has also been proven that the genetics of the rooster has a bigger influence over egg color than those of the hen. So, if you want the darkest eggs, your rooster must come from a dark egg line.

6. Choose the breeds that best fit your needs and the environment you live in. If you’re in a hot climate, big heavy breeds may not be the best option for you. If you live in a cold climate, pick breeds with small combs and wattles so they don’t get frostbite. If you plan to free range birds and have predators, you’ll want birds that can forage and are predator savvy. If you want chickens that will stay in your yard and not fly over the neighbor’s fence, you’ll want fluffy, friendly girls who are not flightly. A leghorn or jungle fowl will be up and over those fences and you’ll find them roosting in the trees.

7. Many things determine how often a hen will lay and the quality of eggs/chicks:

a. The breed: Some breeds naturally lay more eggs than others. Hybrid production birds like the Red Sex Link, can lay over 300 eggs per year without much effort. On the contrary, more ornamental breeds, like the Ayam Cemani, will only lay about 100 eggs per year. However, hens are born with the total amount of eggs they will ever lay already stored in their bodies, just like humans. Hybrids lay more as young hens but they will also stop laying sooner than heritage breeds, usually slowing down significantly after 3 years of age. Heritage breeds may lay fewer eggs in a year but will lay for a longer period of time, sometimes up to 5-6 years or more.

b. Daylight: Chickens have light sensors in their skin on the tops of their head. They will lay more eggs when there is about 14 hours of daylight. For us, that is the Spring through Fall. As the daylight hours become fewer in the winter, hens will often slow down or stop laying altogether. Some high production breeds can lay though the winter but will most likely slow down a bit.

c. Nutrition: If we forget to refill feeders and they run out of food, even for a day, egg production drops for the next few days. A layer pellet is normally 16% protein. This is the MINIMUM amount of protein for hens to lay eggs for EATING and is not the recommended amount of protein in eggs meant for HATCHING. The reason is that if chickens are not eating enough or are also eating other things, like garden scraps, you’re diluting their protein intake and they’re only really getting about 12-13% protein. Scratch is NOT a complete feed. Scratch, at most, has about 8-10% protein and is supposed to be a supplement to a complete feed, not the only feed. Yes, the hens will still lay, but not as well as they could. Scratch is also different from a Game Bird/Rooster Feed, which is also made of whole grains, but has a much higher amount of protein like Don Roberto Game Feeds (14-22%) or Leach Grain Royal Feed (17%). Lower protein also means less nutrition in the eggs which means weaker chicks (and less nutrition for you). If you’re having problems with chicks dying in the shell or having health problems after hatch, it’s probably due to the lack of protein in the hens’ feed. Most people will say that their 16% layer feed or scratch is fine and their hens lay well. But, most of these people have never seen their hens at maximum egg output or are not paying attention to feather condition and overall build of the birds. Layer pellets are made for HENS with a large amount of calcium to support eggshell production. However, if you read the back label of any of these bags of layer pellets, it will say “Do not feed to roosters”. This is because the high level of calcium can cause kidney failure in roosters since they do not need as much calcium. Giving the minimum amount or less of protein will also mean that chickens will take a lot longer to recover from illness and to come out of molt. At these times of stress, they need the additional protein boost. Do not go the opposite way and give them too much protein. Game fowl feeds made for turkeys and quail usually have upwards of 28-32% protein which is unnecessary for most chickens. Too much protein can cause other health issues like kidney disease and digestive problems. Chickens will use 17-19% protein and then the rest is discharged as excess poop. You’re just throwing money away at that point. On our farm, we feed a 20% protein All-Flock mini pellet and give oyster shell (calcium) on the side if we see an issue with shell quality (which we rarely ever see). The chickens are also given time to forage outside and are given veggies and fruit regularly. At 20%, even if they’re not eating the provided feed at all times, the hens are still getting enough protein to lay beautiful eggs that will hatch big, healthy chicks. The reduced calcium in the All-Flock feed is also not going to cause any issues for our roosters. The mini pellet is small enough that we can switch our young juveniles from chick starter crumble to the All-Flock feed as soon as they go outside and even the smallest birds can eat it. It’s important to note that we also supplement with different feeds depending on the time of year. Pellets and crumbles are great during the hot months because they are formulated to be easily digestible. Chickens do not need grit to digest these feeds. In the winter, when it’s cold, we mix the mini pellets with a whole grain game feed (17% protein). The digestion of whole grains takes more effort. Therefore, the chicken is releasing more body heat which, in turn, keeps chickens warmer during winter. We do not give grains during the summer heat because the extra body heat will overheat chickens quickly. If feeding a grain-based feed, chickens will need added grit.

d. Stress: If chickens are stressed or ill, they will not lay. Heat, cold, predators, bullying, a new environment, new birds in the coop, not enough food, molting, are all stressors which will lead to less eggs. If your chickens look and are acting fine but not laying, check for signs of a predator. Maybe a constantly barking dog or a neighbor’s cat is lurking. You may even see signs of digging around the coop or missing birds.

e. Disease: Illness can take a chicken out of lay very quickly. Egg laying is the first thing to stop if anything is wrong with a bird. Most chicken illnesses manifest as lethargy, sneezing, nasal discharge, listlessness, daytime sleeping, gasping for air, swollen face, watery/red eyes, blood in the poop, feather loss, weight loss, and loss of appetite. It’s important to note that many of these symptoms can also be normal occurrences for most birds throughout the year and do not always denote sickness unless it’s constant and unusual for the specific chicken.

f. Broodiness: Broody hens (those who want to sit on eggs) will not lay eggs, at least not very many. If you do not want your hens to sit on eggs, you can break their brood. The easiest way to do this is to put the broody hen in her own isolated crate or pen with a hard floor. A dog crate works great for this. No bedding material of any kind should be in there. No straw, no wood chips, no loose sand. Make sure they have plenty of food and water. After a few days, they will come out of the broodiness. You’ll know when they’re done because they stop fluffing up at you when you go near. Dunking them in water does not work. Pulling them from the nesting box every day does not work.

g. Vaccination: Most chicken vaccines are made to be given to chickens as chicks or juveniles. Most are to be given before pullets start to lay. This is because vaccination of laying hens can cause a steep drop in egg production and/or withdrawal of eggs for a time. Vaccines, by their very nature, causes the body to simulate an infection so it can develop the antibodies that will later fight off a real infection. So, the chicken’s body will react just like it would if it was sick, by not laying.

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