Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Chicken Trivia
The average hen lives 5-7 years but there are records of them living up to 20 years.
Chickens will lay between 600-800 eggs in their lifetime.
Hens will lay eggs their entire life, but production decreases each year.
Chicken's body temperature normally runs at 102-103 degrees F and can be elevated by feeding them certain foods such as cracked corn.
The record for most number of eggs laid in one day is 7.
The record for the most number of yokes in a single egg is 9.
Chickens can run up to 9 miles an hour.
The chicken is the closest living relative to the T-Rex. And if you've ever seen one run, you'll see the connection.
There are more than 200 varieties of chickens today.
There are more chickens on earth than there are people, with over 3 billion chickens in China alone.
Americans consume 8 billion eggs a year.
If you have a fear of chickens, you are an Alektorophobic.
Chickens can make over 200 distinct sounds to communicate with each other.
One chicken can create enough waste in its lifetime to power a 100-watt light bulb for five hours.
The size egg a chicken lays is determined by the age of the bird, not the size. Hens start out laying small eggs and the size will get larger and larger over time.
Chickens will also lay bigger and stronger eggs if you give them more light, making them think the days are much longer than in reality.
If you have a group of hens and no rooster, one hen will often take up the role of the rooster, stop laying and begin to crow.
Chickens will lay between 600-800 eggs in their lifetime.
Hens will lay eggs their entire life, but production decreases each year.
Chicken's body temperature normally runs at 102-103 degrees F and can be elevated by feeding them certain foods such as cracked corn.
The record for most number of eggs laid in one day is 7.
The record for the most number of yokes in a single egg is 9.
Chickens can run up to 9 miles an hour.
The chicken is the closest living relative to the T-Rex. And if you've ever seen one run, you'll see the connection.
There are more than 200 varieties of chickens today.
There are more chickens on earth than there are people, with over 3 billion chickens in China alone.
Americans consume 8 billion eggs a year.
If you have a fear of chickens, you are an Alektorophobic.
Chickens can make over 200 distinct sounds to communicate with each other.
One chicken can create enough waste in its lifetime to power a 100-watt light bulb for five hours.
The size egg a chicken lays is determined by the age of the bird, not the size. Hens start out laying small eggs and the size will get larger and larger over time.
Chickens will also lay bigger and stronger eggs if you give them more light, making them think the days are much longer than in reality.
If you have a group of hens and no rooster, one hen will often take up the role of the rooster, stop laying and begin to crow.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Cost of Eggs
I was at Whole Foods last night and usually I'm just buzzing through the place, using my cart as a battering ram to get out of of there as quickly as possible. But it wasn't crowded last night so I took a more leisurely pace. I noticed baskets of loose eggs in the produce case and went to take a closer look.
First off, have you ever seen an emu egg? OMG, they are BEAUTIFUL!!! They look and feel like a really big avocado. And I think you'd need a hammer and chisel to crack one open. They are also pricey. I think they were $28 each. Too bad there isn't a chicken that lays an egg this dark green. How cool would that be?
First off, have you ever seen an emu egg? OMG, they are BEAUTIFUL!!! They look and feel like a really big avocado. And I think you'd need a hammer and chisel to crack one open. They are also pricey. I think they were $28 each. Too bad there isn't a chicken that lays an egg this dark green. How cool would that be?
They also had cage free, free range, organic chicken eggs. These were 50 cents each. I'm a tad math challenged and I looked at that for a bit, and then it hit me. "THAT'S $6 FOR A DOZEN EGGS!"
I blogged a while back on the cost of raising chickens (http://the-spice-girls.blogspot.com/2010/12/cost-of-raising-chickens-getting.html) and promised to blog more in the future. I don't expect to re-coop my cost of getting established but I'm hopeful that I can break even once the girls start laying eggs. And at $6 a dozen, I'm starting to think that breaking even is setting my bar too low. I might actually see some savings.
Not just from the eggs, of course. I'm already composting their dropping and plan on fertilizing as much of my garden as possible with this which will save me a bundle. The question is, will 4 hens make enough to make this happen and can I compost it fast enough. Time will tell...
Not just from the eggs, of course. I'm already composting their dropping and plan on fertilizing as much of my garden as possible with this which will save me a bundle. The question is, will 4 hens make enough to make this happen and can I compost it fast enough. Time will tell...
Sunday, January 2, 2011
No Treats - No Love
Yep, that's what it's come to. I knew chickens were very food motivated and even read that in all my books. But somehow I thought it would be different for me. I thought since I raised them from day-old chicks, they would think of me as their mom and just love to hop into my lap when I came to visit.
This afternoon, I went out to visit the girls who were resting under their house, their favorite place to hang. I'm sure they feel safe under there. And it's dry and protected from the wind.
Not one of them would get up to come see me. I bent down and made eye-contact. And not a single one moved. Not even Ginger who is my love-bug and always come over to let me tickle her tummy.
I fed them several dozen live crickets yesterday and felt they had too many treats so I scaled back today and only gave them some arugula this morning. And clearly, they noticed. If they don't see treats, they aren't going to bother to get up. No Treats = No Love!
This afternoon, I went out to visit the girls who were resting under their house, their favorite place to hang. I'm sure they feel safe under there. And it's dry and protected from the wind.
Not one of them would get up to come see me. I bent down and made eye-contact. And not a single one moved. Not even Ginger who is my love-bug and always come over to let me tickle her tummy.
I fed them several dozen live crickets yesterday and felt they had too many treats so I scaled back today and only gave them some arugula this morning. And clearly, they noticed. If they don't see treats, they aren't going to bother to get up. No Treats = No Love!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
How Many Nerves in the Finger?
OMG. Lots and lots and lots.
I know this because Poppy has tried to take off my finger on many occasions. They love to eat out of my hands. And it's fun to feed them from your hand. But when introducing something new, they study it, and look at it and then Poppy will go in for the kill. This is especially true with soft things like oatmeal or yogurt. She literally takes my entire finger tip into her beak and clamps onto it.
Ginger, on the other hand, is so delicate and just pecks at the tips of my fingers. And only pecks hard enough to take the food off of my finger. Which is not hard at all. And she has turned out to be quite the love bug. If I don't pick her up, she'll hop up into my lap. This morning, she snuck around to my back and hopped up to the middle of my back and then up to my shoulder to watch the other girls eat their apple.
The kids who live next door came over to say hello to the girls the other day and were giving the girls some bits of their croissant. I was keeping a close eye on my Poppy to make sure she didn't get too close to those tiny fingers. That would traumatize those poor kids for the rest of their life if she were to get a good peck in. And I purposely bought docile hens so that the people could come visit with them and not be attacked. Fortunately, no fingers were pecked.
But Ginger did peck me in both the mouth and the eye when sitting on my shoulder this morning. I know she's just going after anything that looks like it might be food. Maybe having her sit on my shoulder is not such a good idea.
They are still technically teenagers. I'm hopping they mellow out more as they continue to age.
I know this because Poppy has tried to take off my finger on many occasions. They love to eat out of my hands. And it's fun to feed them from your hand. But when introducing something new, they study it, and look at it and then Poppy will go in for the kill. This is especially true with soft things like oatmeal or yogurt. She literally takes my entire finger tip into her beak and clamps onto it.
Ginger, on the other hand, is so delicate and just pecks at the tips of my fingers. And only pecks hard enough to take the food off of my finger. Which is not hard at all. And she has turned out to be quite the love bug. If I don't pick her up, she'll hop up into my lap. This morning, she snuck around to my back and hopped up to the middle of my back and then up to my shoulder to watch the other girls eat their apple.
The kids who live next door came over to say hello to the girls the other day and were giving the girls some bits of their croissant. I was keeping a close eye on my Poppy to make sure she didn't get too close to those tiny fingers. That would traumatize those poor kids for the rest of their life if she were to get a good peck in. And I purposely bought docile hens so that the people could come visit with them and not be attacked. Fortunately, no fingers were pecked.
But Ginger did peck me in both the mouth and the eye when sitting on my shoulder this morning. I know she's just going after anything that looks like it might be food. Maybe having her sit on my shoulder is not such a good idea.
They are still technically teenagers. I'm hopping they mellow out more as they continue to age.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)