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Call for questions: CHICKENS! (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-14 02:00:46
Imported:
2026-06

Content

That's right, we're doing an episode on chickens. 

(And if you missed it, the egg *did* come first in the form of an Oology episode: https://www.alieward.com/ologies/oology2)

Okay, don't chicken out. Gimme those questions. And as always, let me know if I've never said your name before or if I've said it wrong!

Boqboq,

Your Dadward

Comments

Rachel Kendrick

Are there any theories as to why so many people’s home chickens haven’t been laying eggs for months!?

Samantha Freeman

FTQA here! Why are chickens so mean to one another?

Emma

Are backyard chicken eggs more of a salmonella risk or less?

Maité Huerta

What is the best kind of pet chicken?

Mariah Ramsey

Why does it seem that chickens know they evolved from dinosaurs? My in-laws’ birds are very raptor-like.

Kendall M

Are there “breeds” of chickens like you see with dogs? And is that why some eggs have white shells and other have brown shells or is that something else?

Beau Jarvis

New to the patreon! What’s the real difference between free range, cage free, and other marketing terms around eggs? Are these chickens actually able to live a good life?

Red Cedar

In America those white and brown hens are the most popular breed on small and big farms- but tons of breeds exist. What makes those the best for eggs? Or does breed not affect quality of produce eggs?

Paul Smith

Talk to me about BLUE EGGS. (Please)

L. Wink

How much of an environmental disaster is chicken poop? Is it worse, better or just different than cow or pig?

Jackie

So this bird flu, how bad is it for chickens?

Maité Huerta

Also, if I get a pet chicken, will it love me or just tolerate me for food?

Ali

Are chickens really mini dinosaurs?

Kayla Pilcher

How smart are chickens? Are they as smart as dogs? Like can we teach them tricks? Also what's your favorite chicken joke 🐤🐓

Adam Silk

What causes woody chicken breast?

Elta Sparks

Please ask about lash eggs! I've seen them pop up in lists of "grossest things people need help identifying" lists and they look no bueno.

Jackie

If humans all suddenly disappeared from the planet, would chickens do great? Or have they been so domesticated they wouldn’t be able to cut it without us.

Amelia Heins

Do chickens enjoy being held? Is it common for them to form bonds with their owners?

Adam Silk

What's the deal with water glassing eggs? I've heard you can keep eggs for a year plus at room temperature like this.

Brittany Shafis

It’s my first question!! What kind of enrichment would you suggest for backyard chickens so they don’t feel too cooped (lol) up.

Jackie

How long have humans been domesticating chickens?

Bonnie Detwiller

Why did chickens evolve being unable to fly?

Savannah McGuire

Why do some chicken breeds seem more intelligent than others? Looking at you Polish....

Brandi Harbaugh

Do we eat unfertilized or fertilized eggs? And how are they fertilized? Is it better to have pasteurized or unpasteurized eggs?

Erin Knapp

Is there a difference between white and brown eggs (besides obviously shell color)? What causes the difference shell colors?

Average_pi

Featherless chickens: explain please! ( my younger sibling asked this one, he's into chickens) also explain fancy fluffy chickens and highest chicken flight And green chicken eggs. Thanks!

Cnidarian Knight

Are farm raised chickens different from wild chickens?

Greg Walloch

Roosters cluck and crow at all hours of the day and night, not just in the morning like in cartoons. Why? Why do they do this?

Michael

How come chickens can't taste spicy stuff?

Ryan Holaday

I’ve heard they scientists have genetically modified chickens to grow teeth by turning OFF a gene, suggesting that they used to have teeth. This supports the idea that chickens are dinosaurs. Is there any truth to this?

Kells

Are there any benefits, for the chickens, in the ways that we’ve bread them to be larger for consumption?

Rebecca Goerling

Will chickens add non-chickens to their pecking order? Do they have chicken fight club when we're not looking?

Corrine Feinberg

First time question! Are chickens domesticated versions of an older wild species? How did modern chickens become a thing? 🐓

Kieran C.

Can most backyard chicken breeds fly, or does flight ability scale by breast size somehow? (Which, if so, huge mood my feathered friends.)

Finlay

Hi first time question asker here! but Why…oh why do chickens yell at us all as the sun rises. are they just angry at the world? what’s going on

Asha Ramakumar

I am studying farmed animal law and want to know, what are the psychological effects of debeaking?

Cate Muenker

How long can a chicken live with its head cut off?

Anna Thompson

Lots of people on my running route have chickens and some roosters. I hear the roosters crowing at all hours of the day. Is crowing at dawn/sunrise flimflam? Are they reacting to me like the dogs behind fences are when they bark or am I a non-factor to them?

Bel Jensen-Hill

First time question asker, so naturally I'm coming in hot with a weird one. What’s the deal with chicken cannibalism? Would they do that if they came across a fellow dead chicken in non-stressful environments, or is it a behavior limited to factory chickens?

Mykenzie King

My sister has a phobia of chickens, I will be sending her this ep as soon as it comes out hehe Anyway, I read that chickens are probably the closest thing dna wise to a dinosaur and scientists are experimenting with recreating Dino’s from chickies. Is any of that true? Possible? If it happens I want to coin now Jurassic Cluck

Daughters of the Red Sunset

First Question Asker! Twice, when we've lost a rooster, one of the hens stepped up and began to make crowing sounds and acting like a rooster. Is this common and why does it happen?

Trinity Higgs

Do chickens actually make good pets? And do they love us? 🥺

Anna Thompson

What makes a chicken (or egg) cage free vs free range?

Emi Gregory

First time question! How did chickens happen?? Where did they come from? What is the most closely related wild bird?

Shai s Walker

How are chickens able to survive what seem like major wounds? I’ve had a few injuries in my flock that seem like they should be fatal from infection if nothing else. Also, why does the US insist we wash eggs for sale, while the UK forbids washing for sale?

Beth Weese

FTQA here! Can you explain how we ended up with such a wide variety of egg colors? I presume it was selective breeding, but I know you can mix different breeds to get more colors as well. I have chickens and love them -- very excited for this episode. 😊

Kelly Shaver

How large of a space do you need to safely (and ethically) keep chickens?

Jakin Yang

Hi Dadward, Jakin here. Just wanted to help you out and let you know when you said my name in a previous episode, you pronounced it beautifully and also in a way I've never heard it before. I like to say my name like "Jakin, like bacon, with a J", but I realise the spelling does not encourage that pronunciation. I would love to know how we have forced Chickens to change and have bred them to become the massive farm mutants they are today, and what is the prevalence and role of non-hyper-bred chickens are (heirloom chickens, like heirloom corn if you will) in the world today.

Anna Thompson

Also not a question but I listened to an audiobook on the history of the chicken during 2020 and it was very fascinating. Looking forward to the episode!

Frances Hurst Brubaker

What are the red waddles and things on chickens' heads for? Also where did chickens come from? Were they once roaming wild?

Frances Hurst Brubaker

Why do they still lay eggs even when they are not fertilized? Wouldn't it be more advantageous to reabsorb the nutrients?

Joel Henderson

What are slang names for chickens around the world? Ozzy Man says “chook” which is news to me.

Potato Puffer

First time question asker! How big of a concern is lead contamination in backyard chicken eggs? I saw a study from Australia that showed backyard chicken’s egg’s had high lead levels.

Feather Evans

FTQA here☺️ I absolutely LOVE chickens, but i must know-Why are they so cuddly? I have seen chickens snuggle with their owners and it make my heart melt😭

Colin Maydahl

Why are some chicken breasts rubbery (I'm a thigh guy myself)? And when is the psychedelic medicine ep coming out? First time question asker, PS you are the best!

Kimberly Peck

I’ve only recall clucking so do chickens have a “song” or something other than clucks? is that just songbirds that sing?

Chad Neu

Ask the ologist about trancing a chicken, please and thank ya.

Emily Staw-fur

What is the purpose of the comb and the thing that dangles from their neck?

Rachel Yukimura

I used to have chickens in an urban backyard and when i’d sit out there and read all the chickens would come over and sit next to me and on my legs. It was very cute imo. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Lorenzo Cormier

First question ever to the pod: What is the current state of research regarding reverse genetically engineering chickens to be more like non-avian dinosaurs (e.g. teeth, tails, etc.)?

Cate Muenker

Chicken breasts seem to have gotten much bigger at the grocery store. How many pounds do the chickens with massive breasts weigh? Are they a specific strain/breed that’s just huge?

Ketta

Are there any wild chickens?

anastasia.kemper

My friend Lena and I would like to know - why are roosters such assholes? 😂

Ashley Oki

Do you think that prehistoric dinosaurs would have tasted like chicken? Why does every meat taste like chicken to people? Is that an exposure thing or is chicken just a generic taste….?

Greg Walloch

I raised some chickens when I was young. Despite me really loving and taking care of them, when they grew into mature adulthood they were pretty ferocious and wild, especially the rooster. Was he just feeling macho and protecting the hens?

Emmalee Jones

Are hens born with their whole life’s supply of egg cells already inside them (like humans) or do they make each egg anew? Also how does the egg actually form? Also what are chicken penises like? Are they weird? I bet they’re weird.

Kimberly Peck

How do they grow the chickens used in Costco rotisserie so big compared to other store rotisserie chickens?

gg

Do snakes (probably rattlesnakes) taste like chicken when cooked. As a follow up, do roosters taste like chicken? How long do chickens live headless? A friend in Philly had pet hens. In the winter they weren't laying many eggs. I at first told her to whip those 'guys' into shape. Ah, perhaps that's the problem; you should use females instead.

Miko

Hmm so I’ve seen these videos where ppl strap a camera on the head of a chicken and the videos come out incredibly stable. How do chickens do that? On a related note, can we just put chickens on all of our cameras (?)

Pearl Ramone

Is it possible for the wild chickens from the Plains to make a comeback?

Ashley Oki

The egg shortage…. What’s the tldr version and what should people be doing about it? Any thoughts on how the avian flu outbreaks are being handled?

Emily Staw-fur

How humane is the de-beaking of chickens? I know it helps prevent from pecking each other. But is there a better way to prevent this?

Samantha Axtman

FTQA: how does the egg within an egg happen? Can an egg within an egg be successfully fertilized?

EC Salsbury

First time question asker! Why do grocery store chicken eggs have to be refrigerated while farm fresh/backyard eggs can be kept on the counter for days? I heard it has something to do with a natural substance that covers the egg when it's laid, and factory farms wash that off, but why???

Ale Guerrero

Omg omg omg chickenssss! So I heard that if you leave chickens alone at some point they will just murder each other until only one survives. Is this true?! Need to know!

Boreal Becca

My smologite wants to know who was the first chicken and what’s the rarest breed of chickens

Lizard Queen

Why all the red dangly and/or fleshy bits on their face and head?

Potato Puffer

How can we protect the vulnerable genetics of the Wild Red JungleFowl. I heard they were quickly becoming mixed with domestic chickens.

Ashley Oki

I have never gotten a weird chicken egg in my life, but in a week in January I got two different double yolks and one bloody egg white… what??? Are these eggs safe to eat? Have standards been lowered due to the egg shortage? And most importantly, does this mean that I will be extra lucky this year???

Allegra Favila

New to the Patreon! We all know there are different grades of chicken that we (omnivores) eat—free range, heritage, organic, etc. What are the practical differences between these types of chickens in how they are raised/bred? Also, what is the weirdest chicken fact most of have never heard??

Caroline Clancy

How can I enrich the lives of my backyard chickens? I want to know that they’re happy!!

Amelia Frank

What are the pros/cons to owning your own chickens if you live in a suburban environment? Like: worth it or no?

Doug Koekkoek

Possibly first time question asker. Depends on if you used my question for the train spill show. Why do roasters crow at day break? And, why do some roosters crow at other times?

Ashley Oki

WHY ARE BRAHMA’S CHICKENS THE SIZE OF YOUNG CHILDREN?!!????!!??

Emily Staw-fur

Can you talk about the color difference of a fresh egg yolk and and older egg yolk? I used to sell fresh eggs as a kid and I can't tell you how many times people said the eggs were bad because the yolk was orange and not yellow

Amanda

How did people figure out they could eat chicken eggs (as opposed to just eating the chicken)? Is there a wild version of the chicken? And do they lay eggs as often as they do now?

Pinot Noir

Why do we relate the word "Chicken" with being afraid? Chickens seem kind of fearless to me.

Antonia Clark

Can you please ask about "hypnotizing chickens?" What is really going on there and what (if any) are the long term affects on a chicken after it has been through that experience? Is that at all relevant to industrialized chicken farming? Like, do most farmed chickens go through some form of experience like that maybe?

Leah Anderson

I was going to ask a similar question, because someone I knew who had chickens in a fairly large pen on his land said that if they smelled blood, or one seemed week they would peck it to death...

Autumn Mitchell

First time question asker! How can they keep their heads so stable during movement? Are they basically go-pro's? Also why are chickens so absolutely thick these days, or have they always been plump?

Ashley Oki

I heard in a European country (I forget which), they gave everyone who wanted them like three backyard chickens and substantially cut down on food waste. Is this true and could this be implemented on a larger scale?

Brian hiatt

What is the BEST food/supplement for chickens to lay the most (delicious) eggs?

Jennifer Piacente

First time question asker! I don’t know if this is a chicken question or dinosaur question. So I know that chickens are the closest relatives to dinosaurs, but what traits do chickens actually share with dinosaurs?

Chandler Witherington

What’s up with lash eggs and eggs laid without the shell? We have backyard chickens and get the occasional weird egg but they seem healthy!

Brian hiatt

How can we protect domestic chickens from bird flu?

Abby

How much pain can chickens feel, especially the baby male chicjs that are killed pretty early?

Hannah Smith

First time asker! Why can't chickens taste spicy?

Ashley Oki

When did the traditional of calling someone a chicken emerge? What about the game chicken? What are your thoughts on chicken little? Or the evil chicken from hop? What’s up with the wild chickens in florida? Are they invasive?

Brita Goldstein

First time question asker! Why do my chickens choose the bitter coldest part of the year to molt??

Beth Weese

Second this! How dangerous is it to have a bird feeder in your yard for wild birds if you also have chickens?

Brian hiatt

Is there a (organic) food/supplement I can give my chickens to reduce their salmonella content?

Rob Hover

Why DID the chicken cross the road?

diaOdea

FTQA 🙋🏽‍♀️: My friend has chicken drama that is perfect for a BoqBoq Expert. This friend has 6-7 hens. The hens used to lay dozens of clucking eggs. Too many for her family and my family to get through. This winter, they went on strike. Stuck their middle feather up and said ‘no more laying.” She added extra warmers. Extra hay. Added more space for them to scritch n’ scratch. Added some extra protein to their diet. They all look healthy and happy but, zero eggs. Chicken Strike in full force. What are we missing? (All yolks aside, thank you for being you.) - Shandea {pronounced Shawn-dia}

Seán Thomas Kane

Have there been experiments sending chickens into Space? How do they do in zero gravity?

Brian hiatt

Was is the chicken or the egg, first?

Tony Benvenuti

Why do chickens lay unfertilized eggs? Isn't that a waste of time and energy ?

Ashley Oki

Is eating chicken and/or eggs immoral? I know this isn’t a science question and they are treated pretty horribly, but how much should the average consumer be concerned? Have standards been raised recently or is it still abhorrent? Are the sponsored videos from PETA about chickens just packed into a warehouse with 0 room real/true????

Amber McIntyre

I don’t eat eggs, but I can’t help but hear people complaining about the price of eggs right now. What’s the cause? What’s the solution?

Leah Anderson

When a hen eats yummy, healthy, natural foods, the yolks of her eggs are bright orange and taste so delicious, and factory farm egg yolks are yellow and less tasty. Why?

XtremeBee

Why do chickens lay eggs even when they aren’t fertilised and what do they do with an unfertilised egg if it’s not removed by people?

Emily Staw-fur

Is there any benefit to keeping a rooster in with laying hens if you only want eggs?

Ashley Oki

Why are chickens so particularly vulnerable, even to things like raccoons? Have they been bred out of their defense mechanisms or….?

Doctor (almost!) Elder

Do you know what a sad chicken sounds like? Bawk baaaawwwwk. No seriously, do chickens have emotions and do they express them?

Ayshia Yaeger

How did chickens come to be flightless? Was that a trait that we bred for, or did chickens evolve naturally to be that way? "Asia" they/them!

Ashley Oki

What is the best egg laying chicken for a backyard? Do chickens need friends or can you keep just one? Are they social animals?

EMILY666

What is the fluffiest chicken?

Erin Mecchi

First time question asker! I feel like I'm always hearing stories about peoples' domestic chickens getting munched up by foxes and hawks-- what's the best way to prevent that while they're out and roaming if there is one?

Celena Hsiung

How far can a chicken fly? Also why do they bob their heads when they walk? Advice for raising your own chickens for eggs? How about chickens as pets?

Ashley Oki

Is the thing about people cracking open eggs to eat and a chick falling out a real thing or is that just an urban legend?

Kristen Fuller

Why can they survive so long with their heads cut off?

Meghan McLean

If a Rooster’s comb gets frostbite and then falls off- does that hurt?

Ashley Oki

Do baby chicks really imprint on humans? Do chickens feel emotional bonds with their caregivers? Sorry I didn’t know I had so many chicken questions until right now

Andrew Piechocki

FTQA- (1) If a hen starts slowing down on egg laying, what humane use could they still provide? And (2) My partner and I are planning on getting backyard chickens, he wants to know what the cuddliest chicken is for the OK climate?

Natalie J

Ooo good question I’ve also been curious about this

TJ Mckenna

Sometimes if i sneak up directly behind our chickens and lightly startle them, they will crouch down and just stay there. It’s almost like a knee-jerk reaction, like fainting goats. It makes it easy to pick them up, but they don’t like when we do it, why do they all do this?

Nicole S

How many species of wild chicken are there? Why are roosters so fricken angry at everything?

Rob Hover

Is it safer to store chicken eggs clean in the refrigerator or with the membrane left on at room temperature? Which is tastier?

Chris Brewer

Do people still try to give baby chicks on Easter?

Hannah Nuest

How closely related are prairie chickens vs domestic chickens?

tangygnat

Same question. Why all the eggs. So energetically costly

Mary Concannnon

First time question asker here! 1. Why does chicken poop make such good fertilizer? Is it their diet or just chicky magic?

Chris Brewer

Are chickens modern dinosaurs?

Chris Brewer

Has there been a decrease in cockfighting?

Yuka Oiwa

What's going on when a chicken lays an egg inside another egg (a.k.a. the turducken of gallus reproduction)?

Daniel Douglas

FTQA -- What the heck is up with a Chicken's gut? How are they able to eat pretty much anything?? Side note -- it seems brutal that we feed them egg shell, do they eat their own unfertilized eggs in the wild?

tangygnat

Did we breed chickens to lay eggs all the time or did they evolve that way? Why are there so few animals that lay eggs so often and so regularly?

Mary Concannnon

2. I’ve heard that chickens are a more sustainable meat option than cows and pork bc they require less food, water, and space. Is that true or is that the big chicken industry greenwashing??

Natalie J

First time question asker! What’s the deal with chicken feed lately? I’ve heard stories of a lot of people’s chickens not laying but when they switch their food to something else then BOOM! Eggs. Also can you explain why free range still isn’t great and what’s the most ethical way to raise chickens for both meat and eggs? What can we do to improve the industry?

Benedict Pagac

Caponized chickens. Any thoughts? Ben Pagac (pronounced "Pay-Jack")

Jennifer Anderson

What's your favorite breed of chicken? Are people creating new breeds in chickens like they do with dogs?

curly fry

First Time Question Asker: Why do roosters crow at the crack of dawn?

Rachel von Morrigan

Everybody knows pigs will eat anything, but no one ever talks about how chickens eat anything. Why in the why?

Trevor Hagedorn

Is there a way to farm chickens in an ethical and environmentally friendly way, but still meet consumer demand? What can a consumer do to help push these changes?

Katie Hultman

First time question asker. Chickens!! Is there anything chicken owners can do to help prevent them from getting egg bound? Any symptoms to watch out for in particular if it does happen? Also, please tell us about your favorite individual chicken.

Greg Walloch

Should we be eating chickens and eggs?What do they think about cell-based cultivated meat made in bioreactors?

curly fry

Do chickens have personalities? Cause I feel like my best friend's DEFINENTLY do!

Citizen OfXee

Why are there feral chickens all over Hawaii?

Rockyt

Do the chickens have large talons?

Jenna Congdon

I love chickens! We have a flock in our backyard. I have several thoughts and questions: first, why on earth are they so mean to newbies? When you try to put chickens together who haven't met, whew, it's WW3. Why so territorial? Second, what's up with hens sometimes growing spurs and crowing when there isn't a rooster around? Lastly, how smart are chickens? Mine actually come when I call (usually!). I suspect they're smarter thanyone gives them credit for. One more thing: can you talk about the responsibilities that come with chicken-owning? It's becoming more and more popular, and I sometimes see backyard flocks stuck in tiny, poorly made coops and forgotten about. Ours are treated like princesses, but can you go over the basics for keeping chickens happy and healthy in a backyard setting and the realistic pros and cons of keeping them?

Adam Foote

What qualities did ancient chicken ancestors have that made them better for domestication than other birds (like pheasants or pigeons)?

Alison Farmer

Is it cruel to take eggs away from a Hen that has just laid them? Not to mention the stress she will go through to continually reproduce. I guess my question is more about the cruelty of the poultry industry and can we convert chicken coops, to chicken rescue homes, please? With love, Alison <3

Danae DeJournett

First of all, have you seen Carlos the Chicken on TikTok? He never fails to put a smile on my face. And that kind of leads me into my question which is, does every breed of chicken have different personalities like dogs? Are they any smarter than turkeys? Do they actually pile together and suffocate each other sometimes? Can chickens fly? Are there any undomesticated chickens running around and when were they domesticated and ALSO what is their closest wild relative? Are they good pets? I have all the questions, apparently. I love chickens, man. Fried or alive, they’re pretty fun!

Evan Davis

How much have chickens changed over the years due to breeding certain traits for human consumption?

Skylar P.

Ahh! My students just raised some chickens from eggs, and it was the wildest experience for this city dude. Most of ours turned out to be roosters, and they seem to crow at totally random times. Is the whole “crowing at dawn” thing a myth, or what?

Doug Paice

In the past week they're was a post in Ologites Who Cook with a picture of an egg with a wrinkly shell. Opinions were between "it means the chickens are stressed/badly treated" or "sometimes it just happens, it doesn't mean anything", so, what's the deal with that or other anomalies, like double yolks or no yolks, aka fairy eggs?

Sara Edgar

I once saw that if 3 in 10 families/house holds had chickens we wouldn't need an egg industry is this true?

Kari Henke

First time question asker here! Why don’t they fly more/better?

Grandma Theresa

What about the Avian flu. It is really affecting chickens in WA state. Can it be stopped. I have heard they kill all the chickens in places it is found.

Zoë Slaughter

How likely is it you’ll get salmonella from touching an egg? What about touching and handling a live chicken?

Jessie Pearce

How has our cooking/food prep of eggs and of chicken changed over history?

Dorian Gray

I heard rumors that in certain situations a hen will behave like a rooster and even take on some male physical characteristics. Is this true or phony baloney? Thanks

Jamie Aycock

Mike The Headless Chicken - True? How?

AJ Gray

I read somewhere that chickens aren’t affected by spicy food/capsaicin so we gave my in-laws chickens some flamin hot Cheetos and it was like an instant coop disco party. They went wild for them, but I worried that they were burning their little beaks off without knowing it? What exactly is going on with chickens and spicy things?

Doug Paice

How legit are things like "came free", "free range", or "pasture raised"? I tend to look for stocking density of 1500 per hectare, but what does that mean to the chicken's well being?

Jessi B

this might be gross but when we butcher chickens on our farm, the smell stays in my nose for a solid month. Others have claimed this too… what causes this??

Jessica Kleist

Why are roosters terrifying? Also is it film flam that their earlobes are the color of their eggs?

Eric Johnson

The fictional version of chickens in the Zelda games, Cuccos, can’t fly, but they CAN float for a while — supporting Link’s weight — if he jumps off a cliff with one. What’s the heaviest load one of our regular chickens could carry in the air, if only for a few seconds?

Jenna Congdon

They're "squatting". They would do this if a rooster came up behind them too, like "hey, fella, wanna hop on??". Hens only do it when they're currently laying, not if they're too young/old/not laying for a period of time (such as winter).

Eric Johnson

Also: Is it true that chickens prefer beautiful humans?

Between Dumplings

Love chickens. They do have personalities. Please cover the horrendous factory farms (both the farmers and the chickens are exploited) and the heritage breeds are beautiful! Take a look at Will Harris at White Oak Farms https://www.greenamerica.org/story/will-harris - met him at a sustainable AG conference. Inspiring!

Ryan Homer

Why do chickens boqboq?

ben_and_his_beard

Did dinosaurs also poop in their drinking water or is that a uniquely chicken trait?

Doug Paice

We bred them for it. Also, it's like humans ovulating. The egg needs to exist to get fertilised, then, if it doesn't it's too late and the process is started. As a (slightly gross) asside, I have a friend who refuses to eat eggs because "they are a chicken's period"

Matt Thompson

What breeds are the easiest to raise for first time owners?

Trevor Doty

Wait? Chickens have earlobes? I thought they just had holes in their little chicken noggins. Sounds like hear say.

Kelsy Simpson

Is it true that domestic chickens have a higher chance of getting reproductive cancer?

Alia Myers

Whats up w the running around w their heads cut off?

Lizzy Martinez

Hey Dadward! My question is - what is the connection between chickens and dinosaurs? Would love to know a not widely known fact about chickens, too!

Emily P

First time question asker! How smart are chickens exactly? Mine take up a particular position (facing away from me, squatting down with wings out a bit) to request to be picked up. One did it and then they all somehow learned it? Could they learn other things?

Alia Myers

How common is salmonella really?

Alia Myers

Convince me to like chickens - i find them so so freaky

Trevor Doty

So what’s the connection between chicken pox and chickens?

Jessica Kleist

My agriculture teacher always included this tid bit every year and first page google agrees but I’m curious what an expert has to say

Wandering Wyatt

I didn’t think much about chickens until I saw all the weird, wonderful and beautiful varieties - furry feet, fun patterns, iridescent feathers! Does their appearance have any impact on what their eggs look like?

Mara Rosenbloom

Is it true that the color of a chicken’s ears indicate the color of the eggs she will lay?

David Villafranco

How do they keep their heads so level, and can I replace my Camera stabalizer with a chicken

Julie Dupre

Is it the breed that sets the temperament of the chicken or is it just the chickens personality? I’ve had chickens that were supposed to be mean that were sweet as pie and vice versa.

Trevor Doty

How many different kinds of chickens are there?

David Villafranco

Also how can I keep chickens from digging up the lawn

Esohn

How many breeds of domesticated chickens are there and do their eggs taste differently?

Anna Eeeee

what’s up with the variation in leg length between different species and why do some have feather covered legs?

Sarah Mabel

Which chickens are best for gardens? Do chickens eat ticks? What is the best way to protect chickens from predators? Can you tell I live in the woods?

Emily P

I have more questions! Its my first time but this topic really got me wondering. Why do my chickens like being picked up?? Wait, do they like it? Or are they just kind of conditioned to it over time?

Mira Simantov

Yay Chickens!! I’ve seen that different species of chicken (or is it breeds?) lay different colored eggs! How do they do it??

Gina Maday

How can you tell if you have a “rotten egg” prior to cracking?? we accidentally cracked a rotten egg when we had guests over for a large brunch event and literally had to evacuate the ENTIRE house. We did not win the best brunch award. 🤢

Dianna Patreon

Why is egg bloom so magic and is it uniques to chickens?

Shereen

Why do some hens become rooster-like (sorta crows, chases people from the other hens, etc.) when there is no rooster in a flock?

Julie Dupre

Is it healthy if they eat their own eggs? Mine love eating theirs x

Emily P

Is it true that "pecking order" actually comes from chickens? They are so brutal when we introduce new friends to the flock!! Why are they like this??

Anna Eeeee

would it work in the US to give chickens to families that wanted it so that they can feed their food waste to them like they did in that one town in Belgium?

Joe Porfido

Why must they shit where they sleep? But why?

Trevor Doty

Why do we only see one size egg in the store?Is there like a super chicken that lays eggs the size of, say, a beer can? And what about a chicken that lays little tiny eggs? Is there one of those too?

Sarah Rhodes

I have heard that chickens are ticklish. Please tell me they are ticklish.

Avery Rogers

I ate a bunch of raw chicken, and didn't die. Is salmonella fake???????

Avery Rogers

what came first the chicken or the egg

Kelly Pal

Which breed of chicken is the smartest, which is the least intelligent?

Sarah Chamberlain

I know the answer to this! That's the posture they take when a rooster is going to mate with them. My chickens all did it to me. It's flattering... Not learned behavior though.

Alex Morales

I’ve recently heard about two very unrelated examples of a chicken poking a person’s eye out, is this a common occurrence? Also, do they do this to each other like during a fight or anything like that?

Sarah Garcia

What's your favorite chicken behavior?

Sydonie S.

How did chickens as opposed to ducks or other game birds become the go to meat and egg source in the United States?

Alaina Cruson

How many kinds of chickens are there?

Alaina Cruson

What gives eggs their different colors?

Deacon Raid

What’s up with their eyes? Are they magical? Quantum eyes? Tell us more.

Sarah Chamberlain

What is the ologist's all-time favorite chicken name?? I named mine after the Golden Girls, but then we got a fifth so she was named Stan-leigh Zbornak.

Alyssa Elliott

Why are my chickens’ eggs blue?! <<i>> </i>

Alyssa Elliott

My chickens love zucchini and squash but REFUSE to eat any sort of the peel/rind. Why? They’re also picky jerks and don’t eat table scraps.

Annmarie Everhart

First time question asker: Does everything really taste like chicken or does chicken taste like all things?

Alicia Henning

When I was in Ecuador, I thought the rural chickens had diseases... a lot of them had naked legs and huge foot feathers. A taxi driver explained that it was the breed of chicken, but I've never figured out what breed. Please explain.

Melissa Kane

FTQA: Do chickens care / notice that we take their eggs? Have chicken eggs always contained all 20 amino acids?

Charléne du Toit

What causes a hen to essentially transition to a rooster? Is this a permanent change, or will she change back to a hen (i.e. lay eggs again and stop growing) if a rooster is introduced? (Happened to one of our neighbours' hens and I said if you ever do an episode on chickens I'll ask!)

Melanie Lee

What bird did we domesticate to end up with the modern day chicken? What does this evolution look like? Thank you!

Courtney Carey

What’s the deal with Silkies? What makes them so fluffy? They’re like little clouds of joy.

Amy Narimatsu

I have so many, pls I'm bEGGing you: 1. What's your scariest encounter with a rooster? 2. What's a flock's social hierarchy like? 3. What's your best advice for raising happy chickens? 4. How many chickens could you realistically fight at one time before they overtake you? Be honest 5. What's the chillest/nicest breed of chicken? The meanest?

Amanda McClendon

what's the deal with broodiness in hens, especially when they're sitting on unfertilized eggs?

E-Veh-Lease Sanchez

How are chicken eggs preserved and WHY? I know people who raise chickens and you can just grab some eggs from the coop when you want eggs for breakfast. No refrigeration or anything!

Jules Kingsland

Why are chickens pooping food!? I need answers

KATHERINE M CARTER

I have seen jumpers knitted for chickens. Do they really need extra clothing to stay warm or is it just a new fashion trend?

Jon Provance

And WHY is their flesh black?!

J

There has been a huge influx in raising urban chickens. To the point that some cities have placed a limit on how many chickens each land owner is allowed. What are your thoughts on raising your own chickens in a city? For example, does the noise, light and/or air pollution affect them?

Derek Peloquin

My wife Meghan wants to know about what different languages/countries think chickens say (like bock bock).

Beth Van Eman

I have a couple of questions (and this comes with me having 60-some chickens): this is probably dumb, but are hens born with some microscopic version of all of their eggs, and in any case, how is that egg formed, anyway? Is it really just one cell? Oh, and is there some way I can tell which of my hens have gotten old enough to no longer be laying eggs? Ok, it was more than two questions..... sorry. Looking forward to the episode!!

Rachel Weisz

1)Have you ever seen the spoof video where they debut the chicken as a steady cam alternative and it wears the little goggles? 2)Also- can you do anything about seemingly unkind (aggressive) flock dynamics toward one chicken? 3) are chickens really dino adjacent- I.e. more then other birds?

Becks Woodruff

Are chickens the only birds whose head stays in place if you hold them and move their body around? Is that a real thing? If so, how do?

Ashley E

Why do farm eggs last on the counter but grocery store eggs have to be refrigerated?

Ashley E

Once did a rudimentary autopsy on a farm chicken that passed to find out why. She was sadly egg bound - why does egg bound happen?

Kai Kishimoto

My partner wants to know: “Why can’t chickens burp like in the Jimmy Neutron movie?”

Becks Woodruff

Can they run around with their head cut off? Flimflam?

Shoshana Belle

Why are eggs from different breeds of chickens different colors? Is there an evolutionary advantage to that trait?

Dara

What are the odds that dinosaurs sounded even remotely like chickens??

Mackenzie Kelly

First time question asker! Are chickens really just masquerading as dinosaurs? Seriously, do they show pain?? One of the doc's at my vet clinic had to dig around in a chicken foot with no pain meds or sedatives and the chicken didn't make a peep! (pun absolutely intended)

Laura Springer

What's your favorite breed of chicken?

Felix Lasselle

Are chickens just modern velociraptors?

Kat Walton

First time question asker and I AM SO EXCITED! I have lived in houses with chickens before and we basically used them like compost - we saved so much food waste this way! Why can chickens eat weird things? What is up with their digestive systems, do they have multiple stomachs? What can they not eat and why?

Jessie Dragon

Can you really kill/break a chicken’s brain by doing the finger trick?

Jess Loeffler

it feels like more and more people are becoming interested in "homesteading" or more DIY living. Especially with the avian flu out and about, what's some advice for potential first time chicken owners, and/or urban chicken owners?

Kari Duame

Why did my parent's chickens pluck all the feathers off each other's backs? So gross and tragic! They seemingly had a species appropriate lifestyle. Also... why are they so much like tiny velociraptors?? And what is the most cold weather appropriate chicken breed? How do you keep bears from eating them? So many questions sorry!

Christine Hecker

Why do so many other things taste like chicken?

Pavka34

So many questions! Why do free-range chickens taste so much better? Why do roosters crow in the morning? Who were the first sick bastards to strap razors to roosters and have them fight?

Pavka34

I read an article years ago about devoluting a chicken back to a dinosaur, possibly? Wise?

Riley

First time question asker and someone who recommends ologies to literally anyone who will listen; Do they have feelings? Do they know their humans and form emotional bonds? Will my future chickens love me back?

Pavka34

Why is it nearly every culture seems to have chickens? Where were chickens first domesticated?

Will

Can non-domesticated chickens fly better than domesticated chickens? Is there any difference between white eggs and other color eggs, or are we just being egg racist?

Sara Nicole Jones

Why do I see people’s chickens roaming freely in their yards, but I never see chickens in the road are dead on the shoulder?

Stephanie Coombes

Connor- age 9, what’s the biggest chicken ever. Thomas - age 7: why are chickens claws yellow? Me- age 37- I want chickens, but gets so cold in the yukon. Is it mean to have them in -20 to -35 in the winter? Everyone does it but it seems brutal.

Pacheecha

I've heard chickens have personalities. Is that true? And what makes that delicious yellow orange yolk? Is it when the chickens get to be outside and eat insects or am i making that up? Oh, and when i lived in Japan i was taken to a fancy chicken restaurant where i was served chicken which was seared outside and rare inside, like tuna. I was laughed at because i ate sashimi, but was scared of this. And yes, i ate it and didn't die or get sick. Why all the fuss about salmonella? Are Japanese chickens special?

Lani Bouwer

Is it true that temperature can determine the sex of the chickens? For instance, when we brooded our chickens, 6/7 were males.

Mushroom Morgan

Do the eggs from different types of chickens look/taste any different? Why are brown eggs seen as organic? Does the chicken size correlate to egg size? Is lime preservation of eggs safe?

Anna Frazier

why do chickens do that weird head thing where you can put a camera on their head and it’ll be smooth filming

Erin Gunderson

What is with people feeding chickens meat?!? I mean, piles of steaks and whatnot? Weirdest thing I saw on TikTok last week was a guy giving his chickens steaks from emptying out a freezer.

Dawn and Eric Easton

Why do we describe so many other meats as tasting like chicken?

Emily R

When did chickens become such a ubiquitous farm animal? Or I guess a better question: how early on in human agricultural history did we domesticate the chicken?

Chris Curious

Why do they stop laying eggs in the winter?

The Blighted

OK not strictly a question, but as a delivery driver who gets surrounded by them constantly, I am of the opinion that they are birds of prey and merely waiting for their chance to topple us as the apex predator. What should we do to prepare?

Dionne Needham

New Zealand, the entire country of 5 million people, are presently experiencing an egg shortage. Eggs are rationed in supermarkets and prices have sky rocketed. Not a question more a statement of fact. Ps Nothing wrong with our flocks or disease it was brought about largely by new regulations, land regulations holding up expanding chicken farms and supermarkets demanding farmers produce in a certain way which requires even more land to house chickens.

Melissa Hart

First-time question asker! My chickens are eating their eggs. Is there any way to train them out of this habit, at least while a dozen eggs cost one million dollars?

Vanessa Marshak

Why can some chickens fly over the fence and some cannot? Is it just a zest for life? Or are there differences in breed, age, etc...?

Jimmy Jones

How did the Rooster become synonymous with phallic gentials? 🍆 = 🐓 ?

Al Hamm

Is it true you can predict the color of achicken's eggs by their ear color?

Johanna Burr

Approximately how similar are chickens to their dinosaur ancestors? Are they like basically the same but they just eat corn and tiny insects? Also, do you know if anyone has ever tried to make a horror-comedy about a giant velociraptor chicken? Because I would see it.

Bronwin

How ruthless are chickens really? Do they partake in cannibalism or is that a myth?

Amos Lomayestewa

First time question asker, do chickens have a hierarchy? Are mother hens a thing?

Rachel and Ali

Hi Dadward, first time askers here. Why do unfertilized eggs keep growing into the eggs we eat, isn’t that a waste of energy for the hen? Do chickens go through menopause? ❤️ -Rachel and Ali (pronounced like Mohammad Ali)

Lynn the Dibgoat

When did humans start keeping chickens as livestock, and what were they like before they were domesticated?

Lauren Cooper

Have you seen the videos of the chickens wearing pants? WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE

Casper Buchanan

First time question asker, I owned chickens for 5 years and when my first flock was shipped to us we got an additional silver-laced polish rooster as a bonus. He was the worst rooster ever and never defended his ladies. I'm assuming this is because of his "Doc Martin from Back to the Future" hairstyle. What do you think? Is the polish breed just full of skittish chickens?

Tina Hoang

First time question asker: Do chickens ever molt from the ass-up? (One of my chickens, her name is Pudding, gets a bald butt once a year, just outsided of regular-chicken molting season) I don't like looking at her butt, BUT 😝 she is my favourite chicken and follows me around the backyard.

Camille Eckel

Is using chickens as a pest control in gardens a good way to sustainably farm?

Camille Eckel

I’ve heard the reason in the US we have to refrigerate our eggs is cause we wash them before selling them. But isn’t the cost of refrigeration kinda ridiculous in exchange for clean eggs? It doesn’t seem like many other countries do it, so why do we? It seems wasteful.

Teesha Coot

First time question asker, why do rooster yell as an alarm clock? How do the know the time?!

Camille Eckel

How come roosters are so dang loud in the morning? Like, why can’t those noisy jerks let the rest of us sleep in?

Fiorelily

Why do some hens become "broody"? Follow up question, what IS broody? I obviously am only chicken farm adjacent.

Specs Owl

When you put a chicken's head under its wing, why and how does it go to sleep/torpor? How does that work?

Specs Owl

Can chicken and/or egg production ever be environmentally sustainable?

Isabel Vaz

Why is raw chicken so likely to give us food poisoning (why do I have to cook it forever)? - first time question asker

Megan Thompson

First time asker, asking for my sister: do chickens love us back?

Anna Vilnīte

Regarding the heavy duty egg laying that factory farmed chickens are created to do, what are the best ways to reduce the negative health effects if a hen gets rescued and gets to live their full life in a sanctuary? Same question about the so called broiler chickens that are bread to grow absurdly large extremely fast. How do we provide the best possible life to the few lucky ones?

Garvey’s

What is your favourite type of chicken?

Samantha Czarnecki

Why do chickens (roosters) always want to throw hands?

Racheal Davis

What’s the correlation between dinosaurs and chickens? In what ways are they maybe alike? First time question asker Rae :)

Rebekah Hatherly

Questions from myself and my friend Emma Donovon! Is there chicken cannibalism? Are there wild chickies still today? Why are chickens everywhere? Were they actually on every continent or where if not where did they start?

Kata Zarándy

Stupid question about egg production: You need a rooster for eggs, right? But there are unfertilised eggs. So how does it work? To which point can you eat a fertilised egg?

Laura R

Cage free, free range, etc, What do the classifications of eggs really mean for chickens' quality of life? Thanks!

Debs Gardner

Just a heads-up, not a question, that the TINY, artsy town of Edison, WA hosts an annual chicken parade and it's happening on February 26 this year at noon. It lasts maybe 10-15 minutes of ridiculousness and is worth the trip.

Alexandre Catulle

How come chickens evolved to not fly? Where they forest bird hiding from prey in bushes, like turkeys? What are his closest wild cousins?

Abby Grieb

Why did we pick chickens to domesticate as our egg layers and not some other bird species?

Heidi Johnstone

Why are baby chickens so CUTE and FLUFFY compared to most other baby birds?

Jerry Hoffmeister

Talk about lights and backyard chickens. We have a flock here in Seattle that currently numbers 10 and I've gone back and forth with artificially extending daylight to get them to lay in the winter. Currently I'm adding light... Oh and first time questioner!

Kelsey lore

Why are roosters so mean??

Lydia Lambe

How does artificial light affect chickens and their egg production? I live in Alaska and our egg production is very low to zero in the darker winter months, but I feel like adding artificial light in the winter would mess up their natural circadian rhythm. Is that true?

Lydia Lambe

Do you have any opinion on naming chickens? If you have one, what’s your favorite name for a chicken? We currently have 7 hens named Rhonda, Yasmine, Chad, Karen, Janice, Glynis and Gladys

Kristina Kunze

First time question asker 🙌 Why are a lot of the local farms eggs I get have dark yellow yolks, and other eggs that are more “mass produced” have lighter yolks? What do the classifications of eggs mean when we’re trying to decide what’s most ethical to buy

Lydia Lambe

Can chickens be affectionate? If so, how do they show it? One of my chickens, Yasmine, likes to lightly peck my legs when I go in the coop and I can’t tell if she’s being friendly or trying to pick a fight

Tim Pfarr

Is it more ethical to eat chicken (and other poultry) than other types of meat, due to their relative intelligence? Or am I still a dick for eating meat?

Char Harrison

First time question asker here; How did chickens evolve not to fly? Was it due to the progression of agriculture? Or was it something similar to how many New Zealand native birds evolved not to fly (lack of ground based predators)?

Julia Chirka

This question is brought to you by a personal experience. I was babysitting a couple of backyard chickens when an unexpected heat wave arrived, one chicken looked like she was about to meet her maker and wouldn’t drink or eat anything EXCEPT… her own eggs. But the eggs were casually being dropped out of her butt around the coop (not in her laying zone) and were without shells, so either super runny yolks or an egg with that filmy stuff as it’s outer layer. Both chickens would devour these if I didn’t scoop them out in time. What was happening there with the not-so-formed egg just falling out uncontrollably and also with their sheer delight in snacking on them??? Ps the chicken was ok. Cured by the advice from a friend to hard boil an egg and crush it up into an unrecognizable mush for them to eat, shell and all and it worked! After that she (the chicken) ate her worms and drank water and was back to normal. I was told to be careful though because if they get a taste for their own eggs and it clicks they can have 24/7 access they will eat them before you can collect them. Ew?? Why? Very very sorry about the TMI!!

Earl of Greymalkin

1) Are chickens really the closest living relative of the T-Rex?? Would T-Rex have tasted like chicken? 2) How ethical or not is the current food system for chicken meat products? Is lab grown meat feasible? 3) Where were chickens first domesticated and how were they introduced around the world? Are there wild chickens running around anywhere? 4) Someone in my neighborhood has these snazzy looking chickens with extra long feathers on their heads so they look like their faces are pom poms- who is breeding these wild chicken breeds? Are there competitions? 5) How true is it that chickens stick around close to home? Occasionally neighborhood chickens will escape the coop, but they always seem to be nearby. Are they lazy? Are their legs too short to go too far? Do they just not want to leave their friends? 6) How can some hens make so many eggs?? It seems like such a waste of energy. How do chicken reproductive cycles work? 7) Are chickens actually cowardly? How smart are they?

Brittany Shafis

I went to a family farm that had an intelligent chicken that would play tick tac toe with you by pecking light up squares. She was really good.

Scarlet P

Can chickens form emotional bonds with humans? Can they be trained to follow commands?

BatRachy

Why are they seen by a lot of society as not-very-clever? I have pals with chooks and they know their names and whilst being skittish (natural for prey animals) they are inquisitive and seem keen to be involved in daily life. ALSO, why and how are they such damn cute floofers?

Marie

Would a chicken like its beak booped? Meaning would they be relaxed by affection by humans. And Are there any wild chickens that Are not farmed?

theWhollyGhost

What's up with chickens being able to continue living after being decapitated? Is this something specific to chickens or some kind of general bird superpower?

Nicole L

My mom has had chickens for years, and she likes to give them "enrichment," like a cabbage hanging on a string, or a literal swing for them to perch on and sway around. How important is this for a chicken's well-being? Also can you tell the ologist that chickens are awesome and I love that they exist? I haven't asked a question before! Exciting!!!

theWhollyGhost

My parents in law have a nice backyard chicken coop that I love to check out when I'm visiting. There's one black rooster -who they aptly named Lucifer- with huge spurs who always tries to attack me when I come over. Thankfully, he is very small. But what is up with roosters having these massive spurs? Is this a trait their wild ancestors already possessed or is it something we selected for?

Matt Ceccato

Is free range the best way to raise chickens?

Saskia Dunn

First time question asker :) Are there any wild chickens? And do we know anything about how chickens were introduced into different parts of the world/where they originated/how they were traded? (My friend is currently writing his MA thesis on the introduction and trade of chickens in South America (shout out Mat XD), but I'm interested in the worldwide story!)

mickakov

What is with their level-headedness? Is it a useful feature for their survival that their heads always remain stable?

Sikwani Dana

Chicken owner here! What about intersex chickens? From my limited perspective it seems like there are more intersex chickens, than other species have. Is that true? Is there a reason?

Evan Villavicencio

Do you know about Mike the Headless chicken? Colorado legend

jkpendolino@hotmail.com

What makes some chicken eggs taste better and are healthier than other chicken eggs.

Sam Bringman

(Basically first time question asker) How many years of domestication have gone into chickens? I have a friend who is working on a PhD in poultry genetics, but I’m interested in who the original chicken scientists were.

Chris West

Of all the birds that could have been picked to domesticate to farm their eggs, why were chickens picked, I mean when you think of roosters etc they’re loud and there are other very beautiful birds (may or may not be calling chickens a little fuggly), were chicken eggs the tastiest, or maybe their limits of flight offered an easier domestication?

Asha Dermer

Hi 😊 What’s actually happening when a chook runs around headless? And is there any other animal that does this?

Eleonoora

When my grandparents had chickens, sometimes the hens would lay soft-shelled eggs. Why does that happen?

Donna Lee Parker

First time question asker. Love your podcasts, I am a way more knowledgeable person since starting to listen to your show 💕

Donna Lee Parker

oops. I didn’t ask the question yet. I’m a backyard chicken keeper, I have 8 chickens….one is a Silkie rooster who does not rule the roost. I love my chickens and besides the tasty eggs, they are a delight to observe with their habits and interactions. My largest concern is predators here in rural Cape Breton. Can you ever keep your flock completely safe? Donna Lee Parker

Brie Stewart

Is it true chickens can sleep with one half of their brain and have the other half awake? How???

Lucas waterbody

What's the deal with chickens and dinosaurs being related? And chickens basically being dinosaurs?

Ross Banerjee

Or did we selectively breed for that trait?

Jesse Hurlburt

How far down the evolutionary chain are chickens from dinosaurs? And do we know what dinosaur they are evolved from?

Jesse Hurlburt

Do chickens fly? I've seen them jump pretty high but never truly fly. What would the evolutionary benefit of that be?

Super_Sara

Could we use human selection to breed a dinosaur-like creature from chickens?

Katie Seeger

Why do they actually lay eggs? Most animals essentially break down/reabsorb their unused eggs internally. Why do chickens give away something that requires so much energy to create? Also, do they know which eggs are fertilized, and therefore which ones to sit on?

Claire Netto

Is it true that chickens eat rocks on purpose?

Katherine Wood

How does the chickens body make such Hard egg shells

Meg Swanson

How true is it that chickens are modern descendants of a t-rex? I loved hearing that story when i was little but I’ve never known how true it is.

Clara Ellen

Why are chickens everywhere? Were they always the eating bird of choice?

Donia Conn

What is it that makes different species of chickens lay different colored eggs - particularly those pastel green and pink ones you can get at the farmer's markets?

Katie Stalder

Hi, I’m a new patron and first time question asker. Hi Dad!! I’ve had a flock of various breeds of chickens for a few years. Every rooster we end up with (hand raised or purchased, pure bred or crossed, single or multiple roosters) is aggressively amorous with the hens and anti-humans. If the cloacal kiss fertilization is so easy for them, why they so mean?

tamalamb

do chickens actually make good pets? Joey and Chandler seemed pretty fine with it.... and if they lay eggs, maybe they contribute to the household?! I feel like they are the new teacup pig, and unfortunately I'm way too supportive.....

Katlyn Gagnier

1st time question asker! What’s the deal with Mike the headless chicken? How did he live so long?

Wells Howe

What came first? The chicken or the egg?

Jade Flack

can a chicken really run around without a head? (first timer over here!)

David Dwin

can you really hypnotize a chicken by picking it up and moving it in a big circle? also, why?

David Dwin

isn’t there a more humane way to “mass produce” chickens for consumption without killing all the male chicks?

Ashley Clasper

First time question asker - What's the deal with chicken 'hypnosis'? How was this discovered, what is happening in the brain to cause it, and what, if any, are the impacts long term?

Megan Duffy

Do chickens love their caretakers like dogs and cats do? Also, how many chickens is to many for one person?

Lydia Mattson

Thoughts on vertical headless chicken farming? Could it possibly be more humane than current practices in the egg industry or is it just more proof of our hellish dystopian existence

Courtney Jones

What is something random about chickens that you wish people knew?

Janna Wisniewski

In what part of the world did chickens originate? Are there still wild chickens somewhere?

Keri Overall

Black-skinned chickens--Silkies and Ayam Cimanis--why do they have black skin? Is their skin color related to their origins in Asian countries and if so, how? Thanks!

Cassafrass

Yay chickies! 🐥 does their skin color really have anything to do with their egg color?

Cassafrass

Also could their fluffy butts be any cuter?

MN_09

Hi Pod Dad! I was always curious: what is it with that head shaking? I mean, when they look around they shake their heads in a funny way; it's like when they direct their head towards something, the movement has follow-up vibration movements, like the head never stops moving until they sleep... Has anyone else noticed this? Or maybe I saw some chickens with brain damage?

Anne-Sophie

First time question asker and aspiring chicken keeper (the dream!): 1. Are there benefits to smallholders focussing on rarer / heritage breeds? And 2. Do different breeds of chicken always recognise each other as also being chickens? Would a rooster of one breed try to get it on with a hen of another breed?

Vianey Morales

Hello!! I have a question about my favorite animal/food: why do chickens’ head stay still when you move them around like a stabilizing camera? I know they did a video where they strapped a camera on a chicken on a boat and it came out so smooth and steady, but why did they evolve to do that? Also, why do they move in jerky movements? And last question: how can I become a chickenologist too? Thank you! Love the show!! (PS, Just in case, my name rhymes with DNA)

Veronica Stevenson

It's my first time (asking questions), so please be gentle! Is it true you can hypnotize a chicken? How would one go about doing so (asking for a friend 🤣) Also, I've heard that chickens bred for meat are the most genetically manipulated species on the planet. Is that true? I know how breeding works for mammalian livestock, but not sure how they do this for les chickens. And how can a chicken live after it's head is chopped off, I remember a story about a dude who had a headless chicken live for over a year!!!! Is that flim flam???? And if you need a dirty dad joke about chickens, here's one for ya. A man was walking down the road, carrying an armful of chickens who were all trying to escape. A nice passerby offered to help, and he gladly accepted, saying, "I'd be so glad if you could hold onto my cock and pullet!" ...I'll see myself out....bur-bye

Geetanjali Pendyala

*First time question asker* Can you shed some light on how chickens are being abused in the egg/meat industry? What does "cage free" mean exactly? What are they fed? What can a normal person do to reduce this kind of abuse?

Savannah Glenn

First time question asker- HOW CAN THEY STILL RUN AROUND WITHOUT A HEAD???

BENJAMIN

1. Have chickens ever been able to fly distances? 2. Are there any extinct chicken varieties that would’ve been cool to see?

Bob Keeney

Are chickens really the ancestors of dinosaurs?

Rob Brennan

Can you explain why chickens seem to become hypnotised when an invisible line is drawn in front of them?

Rosa Weinberg

This is a comment! But I just worked with Sasha Prasad at Farm Sanctuary on a chicken project with my students. She is INCREDIBLY knowledgeable about chicken behavior and has a really interesting perspective on them from her work with former-farm chickens. She's also really cool!

Claire Norrell

What's the best argument to finally convince my wife to let me have chickens? In case she cracks, what kind of chickens should a complete newb start with? (First time question asker)

Vanessa Ruano

Ahhh first time question! 🫀can chickens only see facing sideways? 🤔

Amanda

What about chicken eggs and salmonella? Is there a way to prevent it?

Suzie Newby

Why do some of them have feathers on their feet? Don’t they get gross from the ground?

Shannon Feltus

Hi!!!!!! You know I’m eggcited for this. I really love the different colored eggs we get and I would love to know why some chickens have fully colored eggshells and why some have that extra paint job organ that colors the top layer of calcium! #chickennerd

Alanna Richman

Why do chickens bully weak or injured chickens in their flock? One of my chickens was sick and a few other members of the flock were biting her comb.

Shannon Feltus

Also why are silkies the cutest in the universe?

Wendy Lockhart

Why do roosters crow? And what the heck is a cloaca? How many and how often are eggs laid by one hen?

kaitsometimes

Are chickens really related to dinosaurs? And if so, where do you think chickens formed their little feathered chicken disco pants like on the Booted Bantam?

Calla Turnbull

Is it true that the colour of a chicken's ears are the same colour as the eggs they will lay?!

Calla Turnbull

We've had three chicken-on-chicken murders in our flock! Our theory was that the coop was too small for the number of birds we had (they came with our new house). I'd love to hear if there is something we can do to help them get along!

Nicole Kleinman

How many different kinds of chickens are there?

Megan L

Like HOW with the cloaca?? I do not understand how eggs and poop come from the same place?

Piper Warnick

First time question asker! Are there wild chickens somewhere still? And when did they become domesticated?

Krista Jones

Oh cluck yeah. I have a little flock of chickens, many of which are broody even though there's no rooster around (which they really should have noticed by now). I was wondering, after a chick is born, how involved is the mother and for how long? What is the rearing process like? Or are they just like "you're on your own, kid"?

James Nance

1. How do I get my chicken to stop eating her eggs???? 2. Can I introduce new chickens and/or chicks to my current brood of two chickens? Will they girls fight each other like a chicken-run remake of mean girls?

Taylor Clinton

I have a few questions this time! :) I’ve recently seen a social media account say that owning backyard chickens and getting eggs from them is a terrible thing to do, but I’m not sure why they say that? Is this true? I always wanted to have a few backyard chickens and fresh eggs, but I don’t know much about it yet. My partner’s parents have a bunch of chickens and their eggs are the BEST. Also, is it true you can give chickens birth control to make them lay less eggs?

Gina H

My sister's chicken Petrie has a nice lil natural feathered bowlcut that blocks her vision, resulting in comical but drastic head maneuvers just to look around. Are there blood vessels in the feathers & can it cause pain to trim them?

Jacob Lawrence

First time question asker and former chicken haver…. I grew up on a small farm and as a child I use to carry a stick to the barn to feed the animals because he had a couple roosters that would chase us. Why do they get so aggressive and what tips do you have to mitigate this?

Hannah Eugster

First time question asker! Whats up with the chicken feed? Is this a real issue or just a conspiracy theory?

Robin Stumbo

When I was a kid I saw a chicken chase after and swallow a mouse whole and I've never been the same, and I've heard they're also really into bugs. Are there any estimates of how much of a chicken's diet animals make up?

Julia Smith

First time question asker! 1) Is "The Natural History of the Chicken" documentary (PBS) the best documentary ever? 2) What causes chickens to become egg bound? 3) Are there wild chickens?

Stacey Sevelowitz

Ok, two questions: can chickens really run around with their heads cut off? HOW?? And also, is it possible to house train a chicken? Asking for a friend.

Mary Simpson

First time question. How many ladies per rooster?

Savannah Frost

Is getting backyard chickens worth it? Are their eggs really healthier for you? Also, what process do grocery store eggs go through before they end up in a carton at the end of the aisle?

Dan Willman

New listener, first time questioner: If my partner and I were going to get into keeping chickens, what are some good resources? Is it worth it? Do I need a babysitter for my theoretical future feathered family members?

Ashlee Dent

Due to a series of unfortunate events (aka raccoons) our entire flock got got last year except 1 lone 4 year old hen, Rhonda. She stopped laying for a while but now she’s started laying again and on a very cold -10 degree day in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (Yes she has a warm coop space) I know chickens typically stop laying during cold months but why would she start laying now?

Frenck Hendrix

Do chickens see colour? And if yes, which ones? Bwak, bwak Frenck

Ami DuCre (Amy doo-kray)

Why do chickens make alarm cackles after laying an egg? It doesn’t make evolutionary sense to attract the attention of potential predators with their bird calls announcing they just pooped out an egg.

Milas Robertson

First time questioner. I have friends who INSIST that brown eggs are healthier than white, and that it means the chicken was raised naturally; I say the color depends on the breed of chicken. Who's right?!

Katie Nickles

First time question asker -Why are chickens such bullies!? What is "the pecking order" and why do my chickens sometimes decide to try to kill each other?

Courtney Kudera

Technically my second question, but anyhow, Why don't chickens move when you wrap them in a towel? I used to show chickens at the county fair and if you wrap them in a towel they just hang out and don't move. So cute, little chicken in a blanket, but why tho?

Kristina Friedrich

Chickens as pets, how safe are they to handle disease wise? How easily can they pass on

FrankD

How have chickens changed or evolved since they were first domesticated? Is their parent species still around?

Plural Z Alpha

How many eggs would a chicken normally lay every day/week/month if it weren't for domestication and selective breeding?

The Table

Are chickens actually easy to hypnotize? Please tell me Werner Herzog isn't wrong

Whitney T.

I have several questions! 1) I saw a study from Australia showing that eggs from backyard coops had way more lead, due to the presence of heavy metals in the soil. This seems to have been in areas where neighborhoods were built atop old industrial zones. Should testing our eggs be more commonplace, or only if we think there is past environmental exposure? 2) Someone once swore to me that a chicken in his all-hen flock "became" a rooster: it grew in size, became aggressive, and began mounting the other chickens. He swears the chicken changed sex. Is this a thing?? 3) My all-hen flock of eight ladies seem to think I am their rooster. When I walk into their coop in the morning there is a flurry of stamping feet as they all squat and spread their wings, waiting for pets. We joke that "mounting the chickens" is part of our daily chores. I like to think they appreciate it and it's good for our bonding. Can you confirm this isn't weird? 4) Not a question, but I like to refer to my chicken coop as Buckingham Palace. That is all.

Ms. Nowak

First time questioner and long time listener! What is the most intelligent thing you've ever seen a chicken do? What about the least intelligent?

Ms. Nowak

I'm a middle school math/ science teacher and my last name is pronounced no-wack! (I tell the kids I won't wack you lol)

Eleanor Stephenson

Do chickens mother their chicks, like keep them around for a while, show them the ways of the chicken world, or are they pretty excited to kick them out of the nest asap?

Umair Khakoo (OO-mayor kha-KOO)

Two questions: 1. What's up with the chickens that are black, down to the bone? 2. Has anyone studied the genetic drift of feral chickens on islands like Hawaii, Vieques (in Puerto Rico) etc?

Laura Jordens-Harris

I want to know if theres ever been a powerful or ruling chicken? Please :)

Ellie Cutright

PLEASE talk about hypnotizing a chicken/making it sleep! I learned the head tucked in swinging method, but I know there are others.

Kiki’s Delivery Service

How "bird-brained" are chickens, really? I feel like they get an unjust bad rep, but then again, I've heard of the lil cluckers doing some pretty stupid things.

Anton Kleynscheldt

Does "cock" come from cocks? And if so, wtf? They're nothing alike

Shelby Mills

Does a diet rich in meat protien increase a chicken egg production or size?

Shelby Mills

What is thebpurpose of the chickens red floppy skin?

Shelby Mills

Can I chicken lay twins--two eggs at once?

shizzamX

First time question asker - can chickens really drown in the rain? I used to hear people say that chickens were so stupid that they'd drown while looking up in the rain

Matt Rippon

First time question asker (yay I'm so happy to he here finally) Where did we domesticate chickens from and how different are they now to when they were "wild"?

Nicole Stucky

How do we keep our dinos boq-boqing for as long as possible?! Do they need regular vaccinations? Supplements? Sound therapy?? Is there a definitive list of produce they can and CANNOT have? Thanks DadWard! 🐔🥰🐣

Anna Thompson

Do chickens bully each other? Is there an alpha chicken in the hen house?

Carissa Carter

Can chickens do any sort of gender bending? We have six girls and one of them seems to have started crowing more and acting way more aggressive. She's the oldest and has a couple years of laying under her belt, but acts more like a rooster these days. Is this just their own version of chicken menopause? Is it because there are no dudes around?

Alexandria Pinney

What can small-scale and “backyard” farms do to reduce the risk of their chickens contracting avian flu?

Kleargle

What is your favourite piece of chicken art/media/paraphernalia? (if chicken run doesn't get a mention I will be shocked and bamboozled)

Kleargle

how long have people had chickens? did we take them with us on journeys across the world? who introduced them where?

Nora Woodworth

How do you train your free ranging back yard flock to NOT 💩 all over the driveway and garage??

Casey

As an aspiring keeper of backyard chickens, how worried should I be about the current avian flu outbreak? (First-time question asker!)

Isabella

First time question asker! Are chickens really the closest living relative to the T-rex?

Jess Swann

Can chickens be kept as indoor pets? Not like a parrot but more like a cat, I'm thinking.

Lillian Wangler

I took some children on a field trip to an urban farm and one of the staff members told us that she was reading recent research about the language of chickens. I believe she was saying that chickens have a variety of calls with distinct meanings, similar to prairie dogs. She also shared that she was learning to speak chicken and tried to teach us a greeting call for when we approached them later. 1) How much research on this is there, really? 2) Any info on whether different flocks have different languages/dialects? 3) Could humans learn to speak chicken?

Orrin Stanforth

My smilogite wants to know, "Have they found any prehistoric chicken like creatures?"

Carissa Wise

What’s the deal with the all black chickens?! Is it true that even their organs and muscles are black? What ISN’T black?

Cynthia Z

First time question asker and of course it has to be a bird episode! I have a few: 1) What are chicken social structures like? The term "pecking order" is often used to describe hierarchies - how are chicken societies formed and maintained? 2) How and why do chickens have such incredible head stabilization abilities????? Lots of birds do this (my pet pigeon also has this ability to some extent), but chickens are even better at it than pigeons. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gy55o76SZc 3) Why do we use "chicken" as an insult meaning "coward" when chickens are actually slightly terrifying? 4) If I want to keep backyard chickens, which breed(s) are the most suited for life in a nice lofty coop? Are there any breeds that are the chicken equivalent of inbred pugs to avoid?

Nathan Marion

First question asker! Ahhhhh so excited! Why do so many things taste like chicken? And where did the saying "tastes like chicken" come from? Also, why are chickens natural gimbals?

EdNoGG

I hope I’m not too late, I heard some chickens are born or rather hatched with teeth… is this true!? 😱

Emma Giles

Gave the topic to a group of students at a Boy’s & Girl’s Club. Here are their questions: ""Why can a chicken live without its head?" -Elias What pulls their fingers" -Matteo "Why do their feet look like ninja feet" -mark "Why are their beaks colored, why not rainbow?" -Simone "What is the biggest/smallest chicken" -Jayden "Why do chickens cross roads" -all of the kids "Can they fly?" - Persia "Are chickens cannibals?" -Persia "Are ostrich's and chickens related?" -Jacob "Where are nuggets on chicken" -Garrison "Why do they lay eggs and not live babies" -Dalton "How do chickens poop" - Saige

Ellie Cooper

My friend Laura would like to know if chickens can swim and if they can taste their food!

The Fang

FTQA: I’ve heard chickens mourn when one in the flock dies. For ppl with backyard chickens, how do we help with this? (Last name SIGH-muns)

Rozelyn Hesby

We had chickens growing up & we always fed them chopped up clamshells to make their eggshells harder - truth or flim flam?

Asia Matthews

First time question asker. When I was little I has this fun game where I would swirl a chicken’s body around but it’s head would stay PERFECTLY STILL in one place. HOW DO THEY DO THAT? (Why can’t I?)

Imogen Lovell

Are there any wild chickens or do they only exist as domesticated animals? How would a wild chicken be different from a domesticated chicken?

Medora Kea

Can you eat the eggs from your chickens if you have roosters? How do you tell the difference between a fertilized egg that will hatch vs one you can eat? (asking for myself bc I'm currently staying at a farm where I'm in charge of 10 chickens, two roosters, a turkey, and huge guard dog and eggs are SOOOOO expensive) also they / them pronouns

Shea Murphy

Hi, Chicken dad here. They are the Best. Pets. Ever. My question is what in the world are their throats made out of? I understand how their gizzards work but the stuff I've seen them swallow without a problem is crazy. Giant pebbles, dirt, and most recently, broken mussel shells from my pond. They were gobbling up those glass-like shards like it was popcorn. How do they not lacerate their throats??

Linder Peacock

In this vein, when adding cayenne pepper to birds food to deter mammals - I’ve read that birds can’t taste it, but does it be affect other parts of their bodies like eyes and digestive systems? In my life, hot foods can do damage past the point of ingestion :0

Ana

Can a chicken really run around after it’s head is cut off? Hoping this is flim flam because decapitated chickens deserve some peace after what they’ve just been through!

Hi_X_Im_dad

Why do they roost/why don't other domesticated bird go in at night? Our chickens just bop back into their coop so reliably, while ducks and geese wander about outside their enclosure until dusk and then get predated so aggressively if we don't do the circus act of chasing them into somewhere safe.

Sadie Rapp

I have a little flock of sweeties and would love to know more about how to assist their healthy grooming! They love taking dust baths in the dry garden beds, and they preen themselves, but I'd love to know if there's other habits I'm missing. I'm considering a new watering system that would be more like a water bottle a hamster has, but I don't want to do that if they need their bowl of water to clean beaks or something! (first time question-asker)

Michelle Fox

First time question asker and try-to-be-conscious consumer. Free Range. Cage Free. Organic. Certified Humane. What the heck? I just want to buy eggs from happy chickens. Help.

Sadie Rapp

What do we know about their different vocalizations? They make such a variety of noises and are so expressive! I can't help but "bwaak" back at them sometimes. Is there a noise I can make to help them relax? To tell them I love them?? (first time question-asker)

BolognaShoes

dinosaurs -> time -> chickens? tell me everything. Is this a lie? what do I tell my dinosaur obsessed 3 year old (...when is there going to be a dinosaur episode???)

Dawn Smolczyk (pronounced small-check)

Do chickens have to be injected with hormones in order to produce eggs in agriculture? Had there ever been research on the effect of this on the chicken's health?

Rob S

1st time question asker :) If you caponize young roosters, can they live together without killing each other?

Mark Hewlette

My neighbor has chickens - they absolutely love them like we love our dog. They do seem like little feathered sweeties. I know different chicken breeds create different looking eggs but do they taste different? Does their diet create the taste of their eggs? Are there any chicken eggs that do taste distinctly different from your average store bought egg? Organic vs non organic? Free range? Are they really running around feely as suggested?

Lucian Stern

Ftqa: are chickens as dumb as we think they are? What are some of the more surprising results from testing chicken cognition?

Raisin

**1st time questioning (I go by Ray (they/them))I have a vivid memory as a child being chased by a chicken but no recollection of how it started. So, what are reasons chickens chase children, and how can 5 year old defend themselves?

kaitsometimes

Why did chickens get the reputation of being chickens? Are they scared? What are they scared of?

Sacrificial

What was the LCA of chickens and their closest living relatives?

Brenna Quirk

Are chickens the living descendants of dinosaurs?

Gemma

Have we ruined chickens through artificial selection? Is the lack of genetic diversity a issue? Can they walk properly? Are they feeling ok constantly popping eggs out? If not, how can we fix it - same way we got here?

Katy Crihfield

1st question ever! :) How bad, for reals, is commercially farmed chicken meat from the grocery store? (For the chickens, the environment, etc)

Katy Crihfield

Oh, and do they really throw male baby chicks in a grinder because they don't lay eggs?

Sophie

first time question asker :)! We had a flock of chickens taken out by both an owl and a bear, what is the best way to prevent predators like those from getting in?

Gregory Kirchhofer

first time question asker: I have five birds. I average 4-5 eggs a day. sometimes I get a double yolk egg. Is this like twins? if it were fertilized would there be two chicks? And is there a way for me to encourage double yolk laying. It only happens two or three times a year.

Justin Saucedo

Not first time question asker hopefully first time name pronounced correctly-er. (SAW-say-doe) Does it feel good when a chicken lays an egg? Like when we humans unload extra cargo? When chickens lay an egg does it make the popping sound we all just imagined it makes? How can we cook chicken breast so it doesn't come out dry?

Lily Meyer

Would love to know your thoughts on Mike the Headless Chicken!

Keely Greiner

Why do we call someone a “chicken” if they’re being a wimp? Why do we call ladies “chicks”? 🐣

Vero Tavares

Omg yes, chickens! How smart are chickens, truly? Why are they considered a flightless bird if they can fly at least a little? How common is egg binding in chickens? And how can we reduce their meat consumption on a larger scale? My partner and I are planning on rescuing chickens from meat/ egg farms. Poor birds deserve better!

Michael Heiker

1st question: Do you hear when a rooster is unhappy doing his morning call ? 😉

Dorothy Hoover

Oh I love chickens! ( Watching them and eating, sorry vegans) I don't know if the Ologists is going to talk about eggs , but if they are: Why do eggs taste so different in other country? Actually, really I want to know why eggs in Japan are so much more tasty than the ones here in California. Thanks Dad Ward

Vicky Fong

1st time question asker :) What do the different labels at the grocery store really mean? What are the regulations around "free range" and do those chickens actually have a better quality of life? How do organic vs non-organic farming practices impact chickens and the environment?

Chris Hepner

Please ask about "tidbitting." It's the most endearing chicken behavior! Mothers tidbit for their chicks and roos tidbit for the ladies. I would assume the mom is showing the chicks what's good to eat, but why do roos do it when they've already won these ladies over?

Ursula Wood

I’d love to hear about chickens doing tricks!

Patricia Evans

Really looking forward to this episode. I grew up on a chicken farm and I am of the opinion that chickens are amongst the stupidest birds that exist. Has any one ever done any research about chicken intelligence (or lack thereof?)

Sid

What’s going on with all the people that have chickens and their chickens not laying eggs all of a sudden? They’ll switch the feed to homemade or locally made and the chickens start to lay again??

Erin Stringer

Is anything being done to promote diversity among chicken varieties to help address avian flu and other poultry borne diseases (other than mass vaccinations)? I'm under the impression (right or wrong) that in America, we have one kind of chicken, and we all know how unsustainable monocrops are. And how can we protect non-poultry birds from chicken/poultry borne diseases?

Myra Poundstone

What is this ologist's recommendation to deal with an impacted crop in a chook? How come they sometimes die from an impacted crop, and sometimes they just keep on going for ages despite the issue? How common is it for the females to start crowing and showing male behaviours in the absence of males?

Heather Matzen

Hi, I own chickens and am always afraid the chickens will die easily. FROM anything!!! Are they tougher than they seem?

Michael Davis

Is it true females will lay eggs without a rooster around how did that evolve? Seems like a waste of energy for them.

Some Random Frog

how have chickens change as industrialisation changed farming?

Megan McDermott

What’s the function of the jiggly sometimes red soon thing on their beaks/heads? Are their eyelids different from other birds/creatures? What are the evolutionary benefits? How “intelligent” are chickens? What kinds of things can they learn?

Nikki Chasey

first time question asker ! exactly how closely related are chickens and dinosaurs? also how fucked up is it that we eat chicken in the shape of their ancestors breaded and deep fried?

Erin Bridges

I remember hearing that baby chick sexing was a very difficult job and takes a lot of skill to accurately determine the sex of bb chooks- is this true? Also why did we decide eating chicken periods was ok

Nancy Boyle

Cage free eggs. How does that work? Do people run around with baskets picking up eggs off the grass? Is it really more humane than other methods of collecting large quantities of eggs?

Adam Dunn

Protein conversion? Do the grains chickens eat convert protein into a better form for humans? If humans just ate the same amount as chickens would we get the same result, or do we need chickens to turn it into…chicken? Protein diet little birds?

Audrey

First time question asker :) there was a mention in a This American Life episode of a chicken beating humans at tic-tac-toe. Is that possible? What can you teach chickens? Are they smarter than my 18-month old? 😅

Bella Jacobson

Why are they so easy to hypnotise? My brothers and I would have our 40 odd chooks laying on their backs all over the yard just by putting them there then rubbing their bellies.

Marianne Thomas

Despite being a vet, and having tried to look it up, I have no idea how long they live! Trusted resources have wildly varying figures. I guess because "lifespan" in production hens is only counted as productive lifespan? British Hen Rescue swear they see them get to 20! But how old was the oldest chicken? Idk what to believe 🤣

Marianne Thomas

Incase you don't get an answer, I know some of the answer to this one, but not the science behind it! Different breeds lay different eggs. Personally I love a Marians egg, but they don't lay so prolifically so wouldn't be a good choice for industrial production. Diet is another factor. Not sure if it's protein content or what, but if you're discerning you can taste a difference when a hen is eating different things. Might be imagining it but I always thought my chickens lay tastier eggs when they have some grass & earthworms to go at

Marianne Thomas

I love this! Had no idea roosters did it until I saw it. I assumed he's showing off being a good provider "ladies, behold my wares! Ladies!" But would love to hear more about it 🙂

Marianne Thomas

That's a really interesting question! I hadn't even considered genetic vigour as a possible way of mitigating bird flu!

Marianne Thomas

Omg I love that mental image! I have a small group of hens, & they have nest boxes. Generally, if you give them a small dark place to lay, they'll choose that. Although my younger hens do sometimes lay on the floor. They seem to do it when I go in to give them a treat. I think they just get excited & forget where they are 😂

Marianne Thomas

They fully do. It's called a macerator. Don't look it up 😟 it's meant to be "humane" by causing instant death, I'd assume someone's researched what percentage don't die as they go through it? That would be interesting to know, right?

Marianne Thomas

I know not the point but I am lowkey jealous of your wildlife situation. Only thing that's killed any of my chickens (besides me) was a duck

Marianne Thomas

Quick tip from a vet- egg production hens are bred to lay at least 300 days a year. This hugely increases the risk of something going wrong- mainly egg peritonitis. Egg binding is fairly rare as long as they have enough dietary calcium (so no treats before midday while the shell is forming, layers pellets to eat + oyster shell). Egg peritonitis is hard to prevent unless you use a hormonal implant to stop them laying. Hope you enjoy your new hens! They're great fun

Marianne Thomas

Nope. They're just selectively bred to lay a lot & not have winter breaks. Use of artificial light in indoor facilities also means they don't know what season it is anyway. They're culled at about 18mo as the eggs get bigger over time, making the shells thinner (same amount of shell but more egg to cover), so more breakages in transit to the shops. The constant egg laying would be a problem if they were allowed to live longer, & we see a lot of egg peritonitis in chickens rehomed from industrial farms

Marianne Thomas

Asking the important questions! Brilliant! 😃

Marianne Thomas

Truth! Modern layers pellets should have enough calcium, but some chooks need a little extra, especially as they age. Byproducts from other industries fit the bill neatly. Here in the UK it's usually oyster shell 🐚 (vet with chicken interest)

Marianne Thomas

Please go to YouTube & search "rotate your owl for science". You will thank me!

Marianne Thomas

We domesticated them from jungle fowl! They're smaller & prettier 😁

Marianne Thomas

Try the turkey eggs if you see them! They're the richest, most delicious eggs I've ever eaten. Better than goose even. And yes you can. And you know that little white dot on the yolk? When the egg's been fertilised that turns into a bullseye 🎯 white-yellow-white

Emily Yoshida

Yay my first question! I grew up on a farm with some chickens and they are so much fun. One thing we learned was to be very careful with giving the chickens anything with “caine” in the name (lidocaine, benzocaine, etc). My mom even saw once putting orajel on their wattles could be used as a way to help them cross the rainbow bridge if need be. Are they just extra sensitive to these anesthetics or what is up with that?

Andrew Piechocki

follow up: I wonder about the variance in lifespan between types of chickens.

Montana

Tips and tricks for backyard chicken keepers?

Victoria Oetting

My friends mom said alligators and snakes and all reptiles taste the same. I said OMG is that why people say they taste like chicken, because chickens/birds are dinosaurs and some dinosaurs are considered to be reptiles?

Victoria Oetting

Did chickens ever fly? But now they can’t because modern farmers just selected for larger breasted birds which makes it difficult for them to fly nowadays?

bee

TIL (thanks to belonging to the Were You Raised By Wolves? Patreon) that there is a breed of chicken called the White Dorking (fun fact: this chicken has a fifth toe!). Now I am curious to know what other crazy names might there be for breeds of chickens??? Brooklyn hipster bands aren’t going to name themselves…

The Joyful Spitfire

1st Time Question Asker: What the **cluck** is up with Roosters? I have a scar on my shin from a rooster attack when I was little. Fella came after me out of nowhere and Jackie Chan style attacked my legs. Also how could something so vicious be a staple 1990’s kitchen decor??

Steve Gardner

A friend who grew up on a chicken ranch in Hereford, Texas told me that her brothers would hypnotize chickens by grabbing them by the neck and waggling a finger in front of the chicken's eyes. It'd go limp for a while. Their mother would always get pissed because hypnotized hens didn't lay for a few days.

Emma

1st time question asker: Have there been studies done to test if different genres of music played for chickens can impact egg production? Like do they lay more eggs listening to certain kinds of music?

Muckas

Is it true that Chickens cannot feel the capsaicin in chilies because chilies don't mind being eaten by chickens, and if they eat alot of chilies the eggs get really dark and rich in color and flavor?

FreshCutGrass

First Time Question Asker: Why do chickens lay different colored eggs?

FreshCutGrass

Why do chickens have favorite laying spots?

Owen Goff

I saw a picture once on the internet of a chicken walking past a KFC. Does something like this frequently happen?

Honeybee

First time question asker! Why and how do chickens become so stunned when they’re turned upside down?

Emmett M Wald

Do we have fossil evidence of chicken domestication? When and where did that happen? What were chickens like before we tamed and bred them?

Kai

Hai! First time Q asker (name: McBride) Can hens swap places from who is Mama Hen and who isn’t? Like can they take a break from being in charge? Seems like it would be great to be able to pass the hen hat for a wee holiday

Anna Eeeee

Does egg color correspond to feather colors of the hen it comes from? Like do brown chickens lay brown eggs?

Charlie

have they thought about the dark side of the joke why did the chicken cross the road? to get to the other side (the other side being the after life.....)

Katie Murray

You’ve never said my name. Does having chickens inevitably mean you will also attract rodents (rats)? How can this be avoided? Should it?

Ann Hanlin

HOW DO THEY DO THE THING WHERE THEIR HEAD STAYS IN THE SAME PLACE WHEN YOU MOVE THEIR BODY AROUND?? (Random video linked for demonstration https://youtu.be/yetr1YDZwz8 )

Alika711

First time question asker! Do chickens get lonely if their flock mates die and they are the only one left? How can you tell?

Aubrey Dunn

I have chickens and my rooster crows anytime I go outside. I can have my windows open and hear that he’s not crowing, but as soon as I shut the door behind me he’ll start crowing. Why does he do that? Is it a territorial thing and can chickens be territorial? (Sorry for the long question!)

Aubrey Dunn

Not a question but please mention how many colors they can see, it’s so cool

Gemma

HOW ARE HEADLESS CHICKENS RUNNING AROUND ???? DO THEY KNOW WHATS GOING ON ????

Cole Carley

Why can they just keep popping out eggs all willy nilly like?

Debi Potts

Why do chickens (and pigeons) always move their neck and head when they walk? And specifically to Allie, Have you ever done the "Chicken Dance" at a wedding, or is that a Pennsylvania thing (and where the hell did that start!)?

Stephanie Schmid-Falcon

First time question asker (not really but I forgot to put it in my first question). With the increasing spread of avian flu, is it advisable to get backyard chickens right now? If we do get backyard chickens, how do we keep them safe?

Misses Fishes

First time question asker :) can you get us the deets on fertilization for once and for all? Before or after that ovum is dropped? Gentle love making to Marvin Gaye or vicious, wild bird buggery?? Tell us everything!

Caroline Wight

Question for those of us that are omnivores: Which food companies should we support that are actually raising and selling chicken meat ethically and eco-friendly?

Hendrick T. Goller

First Time Question Asker - How much bigger are modern chickens to chickens say the time of Louis XIII. Porthos, the Musketeer, famously eats two to three chickens in a sitting, but I've always suspected that the chickens were much smaller and Porthos was not quite the glutton modern readers think he was in the Three Musketeers...

Zoe D

First time question asker here! I used to have Easter egg chickens and I am wondering why their eggs would be green, blue, or purple sometimes. Are they specifically bred for this? Also, are brown eggs healthier to eat?

Sophia Mumma

First time question asker! When chickens do the side eye, are they being shady or is it just how they see (monovision)?

Laura Jensen

FTQA Is there a good way to encourage these little backyard dinosaurs to eat the bugs in my garden without eating the tomatoes (etc) in my garden?

Sarah Sarah

FTQA Do chickens have colored ears? If so, what colors and does the ear color correspond to egg color? Why do roosters crow in the morning? Is it just because the sun is up so they can finally be annoying, or is there another reason? Some people say fresh eggs taste better than store-bought eggs, but I can't tell the difference. Is there any merit to their claims?

Paula M

New Patreon supporter and first time question: do chickens get bored? I have 3 free range hens in my urban backyard. When it's windy or snowy they spend the day in their small coop and they look miserable. I get worry for their mental health but I might be projecting. Love Ologies and I'm so happy to finally be a supporter!

Kelly Burris

First question, new Patron! (I love you so much, BTW) How can you tell when eggs have gone bad? Also, tips for peeling fresh boiled eggs? It’s super hard to do.

Colby Evans

FTQA: my wife wants to know why I won’t let her have backyard chickens. What’s up with that?

Eddie Scumball

Oh my Glob I'm so looking forward to this! Chickens are the cutest. Also, try to make a chicken jump, it's the best.

Manasvi Verma

What’s up with unfertilized eggs? Why do they lay them? Did humans breed this trait into chickens?

Kimberly Medicis

What do you think of the traditional Cajun Mardi Gras chicken chase? (Technically not a FTQA, but my questions haven't been mentioned yet.)

granitestateofmind

Can you please PLEASE ask about Mike the Headless Chicken? I am also Mike and am frequently running around as if my own chicken head is lost (see your ADHD ep. for more info or look in your journal) and this story just fascinates me.

Gale

First time question asker: What is up with the white chalky substance on eggs, does it protect the eggs from bacteria? If so, why do grocery stores wash them off?

MartyJo

First time question asker, and chicken Mom.....Can chickens get the hiccups? Sometimes my hens make this un-clucky noise that sounds like a hiccup, and they look super annoyed.

Gene Phillips

Second time question asker (first was not asked of the guest, but the topic got a brief mention in the main part of the episode on dreams). How closely related are domestic chickens to their nearest wild relatives?

Max

Best advice for how to prevent or stop brooding, or is this a natural behavior that should be allowed?

Max

Proper nutrition for backyard chickens? Scraps from the kitchen ok? My parents' chickens love bread but won't eat vegetable scraps...

Colton Finch

Some breeds of chicken will literally brood until they starve to death (they only get up ~once per day to eat/drink/dust bathe so they gradually lose weight while brooding). So if they're not going to get to raise chicks (to snap them out of it), you should break their broodiness. The best way is holding them in a wire-bottomed cage for a few days until their dragon mother behavior subsides and they stay off the nest when released.

Colton Finch

Chickens are mostly descended from red junglefowl, Gallus gallus. Chickens are therefore a subspecies of red junglefowl, Gallus gallus domesticus, which means they're extremely closely-related and will interbreed freely, kind of like how dogs are a domestic subspecies (Canis lupus familaris) of gray wolf (Canis lupus). This creates conservation concerns where free-range chickens mix with wild junglefowl in southeast Asia (their native range) because it doesn't bode well for junglefowl survival if they suddenly turn white like a leghorn, become too fat to fly like an orpington, or lose their ability to see like a Polish.

Colton Finch

The "bloom" on a chicken egg that seals the pores from bacteria and retains moisture is transparent (think of it like dried Elmer's glue). White deposits on chicken eggs are usually either random excess calcium deposits (common), or chicken "pee" (birds don't really pee, but they secrete waste through solid uric acid, which looks like white frosting on top of their poo that can also stick to eggshells because of that blessed universal opening, the cloaca).

Colton Finch

Mobile coops or chicken "tractors" are poultry houses with wheels/skids and handles that can be moved by hand or machine. Mobile coops allow chickens to have access to fresh grass as a feed supplement while sequentially fertilizing the lawn or pasture and escaping their own droppings and still being protected from predators and weather.

Colton Finch

Chicken ovulation is based on sexual maturity and day length. Just like people, they will ovulate whether they mated or not. Humans selectively bred chickens to increase their ovulation rate (up to hundreds of eggs per year), but whether the chickens had mated or not had nothing to do with whether they laid eggs or not (other than mating was obviously required to pass along the desired genes).

Colton Finch

Unless you have a restrictive HOA or city ordinances that don't allow it, what IS up with that?

Colton Finch

If you gently shake an egg and it sloshes a bit, it isn't fresh. When cracked, a fresh egg yolk is also perky and spherical and the albumen (white) is cohesive and circular (like a pancake), but both yolk and white will flatten and liquify as they age. There is very little air space in a fresh egg and everything is nicely compartmentalized by membranes and seatbelt proteins (called chalazae), which breaks down with time. Old eggs will also float for this same reason, but floating isn't a good indicator of WHEN an egg becomes old because they don't float until they're badly spoiled. If you have reason to suspect an egg isn't fresh, crack it individually into a bowl outside (not in with all the other eggs) so you can run away screaming and crying if it is rotten, which is the foulest substance in the universe.

Colton Finch

Chickens absolutely get bored, they even have a specific call that indicates boredom or dissatisfaction.

Colton Finch

Chickens have fleshy, colored ear LOBES (although they aren't true ear lobes the way mammals have functional ear lobes), but the actual ear is just a hole that is covered by a little circular pouf of tiny feathers above the lobe. For common commercial breeds, the lobes can be a good indicator of what color eggshell they will lay (white lobes for white eggs, red lobes for tinted eggshells, which can be shades of brown, green, pink, or even speckled), but it isn't a hard and fast rule and it breaks down with some rare breeds. Roosters actually often crow all the time (often even in the middle of the night). But morning is especially loud because chickens (like all birds) are just waking up and feeling good and re-establishing their territories and dominance hierarchies. Because "freshness" is a continuous gradient, the taste-test answer is "it depends". You can easily get store-bought eggs that are fresher than backyard eggs depending on how the backyard chicken tender rotates their eggs. Because of chicken evolution and human ingenuity and technology, store-bought eggs can retain their freshness for a surprisingly long time, so even an older store-bought egg could appear and taste fresher than a newer but improperly stored backyard egg. Obviously you would be able to tell the difference between an egg that is rotten and a fresh egg, but even if you couldn't taste anything the texture of an old egg is much runnier. However, if they are both the same age and have been properly stored, SOME backyard eggs can taste different/better because of the diet of the birds. Backyard chickens that have access to diverse sources of protein (bugs and invertebrates) and phytonutrients (like fresh grass, dandelion leaves, etc) convey those dietary ingredients into the egg. You can even get an egg that tastes like fish or onions if the chickens eat enough of those things! However, it is also very common for backyard chickens to live in a nice coop and run but not be allowed to free-range because of space or predation risk, so they still have a diet of pure commercial chicken feed, in which case their eggs will be indistinguishable from store-bought eggs.

Colton Finch

In my experience you have to take the good with the bad and just exclude them from what you don't want them to eat or destroy. You could also try growing extra tomatoes so you have enough to share (which is good for wildlife, too!). But that's just my opinion as a chicken tender that is new to Patreon (am I even supposed to be giving my opinions on these questions? I don't know. Surely some of them won't get answered on-air, so I figure it might be helpful).

Colton Finch

Chicken can see with binocular vision, but only about 30 degrees of their 300 degree field of view is binocular, and it is better used for depth perception (like jumping onto a perch). If they want to see something in great detail, they get close and give it the side-eye.

Colton Finch

Eggshell color has nothing to do with nutritional value (other than the fact that colored/tinted eggshells are often correlated with better animal husbandry, but correlation is not causation here). The two main intrinsic eggshell colors are white and brown. However, the Araucana breed from South America (and breeds developed from it like Ameraucana and hybrid chickens often called Easter Eggers) actually have a harmless retrovirus inserted into their genome that "paints" a second shade of blue or bluish-green on top of the base layer. So Araucana/Ameraucana eggs are white, but painted blue or bluish-green, and that trait has absolutely been selected for by breeders. A hybrid commonly known as "Olive Eggers" is derived from one dark brown-laying parent and one blue-laying parent, and therefore come out dark green! There are also some chicken breeds that lay reddish eggs, so when crossed with a blue-layer their eggs can come out purplish.

Colton Finch

I'm not sure what you mean by "dropped", but fertilization occurs in the infundibulum (the "catcher's mitt" at the beginning of the oviduct that receives the yolk with the unfertilized egg attached just after ovulation) while the egg is still inside the hen. It looks like a naked yolk at the point of fertilization because neither the albumen (white) or the shell have been added yet. Hens can actually store sperm for several weeks, so recent mating isn't even necessary to get fertile eggs (although fresher sperm are obviously more fertile). Mating styles are as variable as chicken personalities, with some roosters being much more gentle and courteous. Violence is much more common within certain breeds and in large or mixed flocks where there is more intense competition between males. It is not always consensual. I don't think buggery applies both because there is no penetration and because there is only one external opening, the multi-use cloaca.

Colton Finch

I'm just a nobody who has kept (and currently keeps) chickens, but I would say the answer is the classic biological "it depends". Bird flu is not ubiquitous, but is more problematic in certain parts of the country than others. The average chicken keeper with a small flock in a rural or suburban setting without a lot of mosquito activity or mixing with wild birds probably doesn't have much to worry about. But I don't have bird feeders in my yard right now just to be safe. If someone lived in a bird flu hot-spot and was considering starting a large, free-range flock including waterfowl that might regularly interact with wild birds or their droppings, it's probably best to wait.

Colton Finch

Because humans selectively bred them over thousands of year to turn their ovulation dial up to 11.

Colton Finch

If you mean one (mostly) headless chicken stumbled around for 18 months, it was because Lloyd Olsen didn't quite kill it. It did still have one ear, although without most of its brain I'm not sure if it was able to process any sensory information. It was more analogous to a human vegetative state, just not quite a vegetable.

Colton Finch

Chickens can absolutely be territorial, and roosters in particular know where they are on the pecking order. Chickens seem to think of people as giant, weird chickens (hens will even "ask" you to mate with them by crouching in front of you!), so your rooster probably thinks it is below you on the pecking order. It is therefore quiet and submissive when you're around because it doesn't want to pick a fight. But as soon as you leave, it's suddenly the top dog! But be careful though - roosters naturally want to pass along their genes, and are prone to experimentally testing the pecking order, so someday you might find your position at the top of the flock being challenged.

Colton Finch

To get clean. Not from dirt, they don't care about that. But to remove parasites, keratin feather sheaths, dander, etc. It also just looks like it feels good to them - even baby chicks will dust bathe before they even have any feathers or parasites.

Colton Finch

For breeds that have not had broodiness selectively bred out of them, they brood because their instinct drives them to reproduce. In nature, red junglefowl hens choose a nest site and then lay one egg every day or so until the nest gets "full". Then there is a hormonal switch that stops ovulation and prompts them to start brooding, eventually hatching eggs and brooding their young to ensure the survival of their genes. This instinct has been preserved in a number of chicken breeds (before commercial hatcheries were common, backyard chicken flocks had to maintain themselves). Each chicken (and chicken breed) has a different opinion about what constitutes a full nest. Some breeds are famously broody, like silkies, cochins, and orpingtons and will sit at the drop of a hat (or on a golf ball, a spheroid rock, or any number of silly things). Other breeds will almost never brood, like leghorns and Anconas, because broodiness reduces egg production and humans eliminated that trait through selective breeding. P.S. The ancient Egyptians had surprisingly sophisticated incubators (Egyptian egg ovens) heated by burning poop and the operators regulated the temperature by pressing eggs to their eyelids to see if it needed to be cooler or warmer.

Colton Finch

Yes, chickens are very social. A lonely chicken can become lethargic or listless, and it will often make a specific vocalization that basically means it's bored or discontented.

Colton Finch

They evolved to use their inner ear and neck muscles to compensate for the motion of their body (like a gimbal)- it's very common in birds, especially predators who need very precise vision to find their prey. You can intrinsically do a very similar thing just by moving your eyes (keep reading this answer while you turn your head from side to side and up and down). Chickens are literal dinosaurs who inherited hundreds of millions of years of evolution from their ancestors, so they're mostly just inherently fabulous.

Colton Finch

I'm obviously not Alie, I'm just some patreon rando, but in case she doesn't get to it - it's certainly not inevitable, but if you provide uncontrolled sources of food, water, and habitat, obviously rodents will be attracted to the area. Some chickens will actually eat mice! But mice often poop where they eat, so in my opinion rodent populations should be managed to keep from spoiling the chicken feed.

Colton Finch

Nope, not at all. White chickens can lay brown eggs, and vice versa. In fact, most chicken breeds have a wide array of colors (white, black, buff, partridge, barred, etc), even though they only lay one color of egg! The ear lobe color can sometimes be useful in predicting what color eggs a chicken will lay (white for white egg layers, and red for tinted egg layers), but it's not a hard and fast rule.

Colton Finch

If you are asking whether domestic hens will adopt the chicks of other hens, absolutely. Some hens are such eager brooders that will take care of anything, including other hens' chicks, ducklings, or even kittens. But once a mother hen decides to go broody, she usually stays in broody mode until the chicks become independent. The evolutionary pressure to not take a break from caring for your chicks would obviously have been very strong for them to survive as a species. If you are asking about being in charge as in the top of the pecking order, they would never want to do that intentionally, because that would mean they no longer have first access to the best treats, perches, dust baths, and nest boxes. Once a pecking order is disrupted, it's changed for good without a lot of additional bickering.

Colton Finch

Nerds' best guess for when chickens were domesticated was 7-10k years ago. The definition of a fossil is a preserved impression or remains at least 10k years old, so the chance of encountering a fossil chicken is extremely low. Even if you did, it would have been so early in the process of domestication that you certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference from red junglefowl (their primary ancestor). As for what they were like before domestication, red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) are still around! You can find YouTube videos of their behavior, which is understandably very chicken-like.

Colton Finch

Where feral chickens and KFCs overlap (like Florida, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico), this would happen as often as chickens walk past anything else because, as far as we know, they can't read.

Colton Finch

Evolutionary pressure would have driven the ancestors of domestic chickens to choose a secure place to hide their eggs and to return to that place in order to incubate, hatch, and raise their chicks. If you weren't faithful to a location, nobody was going to raise your chicks for you (although they do occasionally lay in someone else's nest just to hedge their bets).

Colton Finch

Yes - capsaicin evolved to deter mammalian predators, so no birds can taste it. And you can darken chicken yolks by feeding them chili powder (or any food with carotenoids, like green grass), but that is independent of capsaicin. You can also turn chicken yolks white by feeding them white corn!

Colton Finch

I doubt two things: (1) that anybody has studied this scientifically enough to give an definitive answer to that question, and (2) that there is any mechanism for a temporary trance impacting ovulation rate. Ovulation in chickens is a weeks-long process where a whole series (a clutch) of eggs is developing simultaneously, although slightly staggered. Their ovaries actually look like a bunch of yellow grapes where each developing yolk is slightly larger than the next one! When one egg is laid, the next egg has already ovulated, been fertilized, and is well along in the process of adding egg white or being enclosed with eggshell. Although I'm a nobody just answering questions here for fun, I can't think of any mechanism for ovulation to be turned on or off that rapidly.

Colton Finch

Millions of year of evolutionary pressure (and some artificial selection by people, depending on the breed) ensured that only roosters with a certain amount of territorial, pugnacious behavior reproduced.

Colton Finch

I'm just a rando who likes chickens, but think of "fancy" or ornamental chickens just like fancy dogs. A lot of the artificial selection happened because people COULD, not because they SHOULD. It often makes it much harder for them to eat, reproduce, or avoid predators. There are chickens who can't see (Polish), chickens with six-foot tail feathers that drag behind them on the ground (Phoenix), chickens with giant elephant/dragon feet (Dong Tao), and chickens who don't even have real feathers but have "hair" instead and can't fly or survive cold weather or stay dry in the rain (Silkies). It's not about nutrition or improvement, it's about decoration and demonstrating prowess in artificial selection.

Colton Finch

There are hundreds of chicken breeds and some of them have names that are just as ridiculous as the breeds themselves: The Hooded Houdan, Transylvanian Naked-necks, and Scots Dumpy, to name a few.

Colton Finch

That depends on the breed. Some chickens are still very athletic and can easily fly over a fence or up on a roof. Other chicken breeds can fly about as well as you can. But not even red junglefowl (chickens' primary ancestor) evolved for long-distance flight. They only fly short distances to evade predators, roost in trees for the night, etc. That ability has been inherited by a lot of light or sport breeds. Here is a clip of chickens flying when called: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idDtTGEbyGA (there is a loud whistle in the video, be forewarned).

Colton Finch

A good question, with some sad answers. Some chickens like Cornish Rock hybrids have been bred for such rapid meat production that even if they aren't butchered, their average life span is very short (around 18 months) because they frequently develop joint and organ problems or just spontaneously die (called "flip"). But other chickens can certainly live many years, up to decades in some breeds. According to Guinness, the current oldest chicken is a bantam hybrid named Peanut living in Michigan who will turn 21 this May.

Colton Finch

Although the chickens themselves don't live in cages, they still like to nest where they feel secure, so no - it's not an Easter egg hunt every day. Although truly free-range chickens (which is not the same as "cage free", unfortunately) do sometimes decide to hide their eggs elsewhere. Sometimes even the hen disappears for a while and surprises their owner when they show up three weeks later leading a whole brood of chicks!

Colton Finch

Sexing day-old chicks is a very SKILLED job, but not necessarily difficult. It is never 100% accurate (although sex link breeds have made it easier), so if that is your definition of difficult, then yes. Some breeds (e.g., bantam breeds) can't be externally sexed. Jokes aside, eggs are very nutritious and historically chickens could convert leftover scraps, feed waste, barnyard bugs, etc into protein that would otherwise have been wasted. We can obviously farm or synthesize these proteins in other ways now, but humans and chickens seem to have a mutually beneficial relationship so we get along. P.S. Since periods are an exclusively mammalian phenomenon where the uterine lining is shed because a fertilized egg wasn't implanted, birds can't have periods - they have no uterus! But yeah, we for sure eat bird ovulation. A lot.

Colton Finch

The scientific consensus seems to be that birds are literal dinosaurs, so this is like asking how closely related we are to apes. We ARE apes. Not all apes are people and not all dinosaurs are chickens, but apes are for sure raising dinosaurs and it is lit. And I would say that it is approximately only 14% fucked up because those chickens are dead so they don't really care, and even living chickens wouldn't hesitate to eat chicken nuggets themselves if you served them because again...they're literal dinosaurs.

Colton Finch

I'm just a rando chicken lover, but combs and wattles in members of the Pheasant family are used as fitness indicators and tools of sexual selection (e.g., turkey snoods). So, like most things in biology, it's to help them get it on. Like many birds (and lots of other critters), chickens have upper and lower eyelids as well as a semi-transparent inner eyelid that moves horizontally called the nictitating membrane. The latter allows birds to clear debris and moisten their eyes while still maintaining some vision since it is partially see-through. Chickens are proving to be more intelligent as quickly as we are able to devise meaningful tests of their intelligence, so it's unclear exactly how smart they are other than they are much more intelligent than previously thought.

FrankieDog

Here on the east coast (mainly Maryland and Pennsylvania) I have seen a lot of wild turkeys on my hikes and bike rides, but I have never seen a wild chicken. Are there wild chickens? (PS - my first question)

Gemma

what the FUCK

Blanche Teyssier

Chickens are not vegetarians, so what's up with vehetarian fed chickens? Oh I think this is my first question.

Katherine

We had these growing up, agree with above comment, ours were made with chicken wire and PVC framing, and you would pick up a side with a partner and shift the chickens to a new patch of grass to munch on!

John Bolland

How does the domestication of the chicken parallel with the domestication of dogs? With respect to impact on human civilization and cultures which has had a bigger impact or has been more important>?

Barchaeologist

first time question asker. Is chicken poop actually used in other animals feed? What are the health implications of this for both that animal and us?

Gregory Kirchhofer

Follow-up: (kinda) Hard boiling eggs; I have great process using a steamer to get the eggs just right. The issue is with what to do to ensure the shells peel easily. I've tried ice bath to cool them and making sure to use the older eggs, but I can't seem to get consistently easily peelable eggs. What's the secret?

Felicia Stelsel

How can chickens run when they’ve had their heads literally cut off?

Brooke Nowicki

First time question asker: where did the chickens on Kauai come from? Are they indigenous?

Brooke Nowicki

First time question asker: where did the chickens on Kauai come from? Are they indigenous?

Brooke Nowicki

First time question asker: where did the chickens on Kauai come from? Are they indigenous?

codolod

I can empathise with those chickens

Shannon Ruth

Backyard chickens have been proposed as a way to alleviate hunger in parts of the worst but propose a significant zoonotic risk- how do we reckon with these 2 competing priorities ?

Tristin Berg

What are the environmental risks to having a backyard chicken coop?

Katie King

Domesticated chicken lay unfertilized eggs (and I know other domesticated poultry do too, like ducks and geese), but do they do that in the wild and do any other birds do that? Also, how did that start?

Unity

My question…aren’t you supposed to be resting?!?