Chickens

Chicken (hen, cock and chicks)

Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a huge population. An adult male is a called a 'cock' or 'rooster'  and an adult female is called a 'hen. Roosters can usually be differentiated from hens by their striking plumage of long flowing tails and shiny, pointed feathers on their necks  and backs ,which are typically of brighter, bolder colours  than those of females of the same breed.

Domestic chickens

 Domestic chickens are not capable of long-distance flight, although lighter chickens are generally capable of flying for short distances, such as over fences or into trees.  An adult female bird is called a hen and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. A pullet is a young hen who is less than one year of age. A rooster is a male chicken and a hen is a female chicken. A cockerel is a young rooster who is less than one year of age. (An immature male chicken is called a cockerel and an immature female chicken a pullet.) Both are generally chickens, but the names indicate their gender and that they are adults. 

Male chicken

A chicken is a bird. One of the features that differentiate it from most other birds is that it has a comb and two wattles. The comb is the red appendage on the top of the head, and the wattles are the two appendages under the chin. These are secondary sexual characteristics and are more prominent in the male. Males are a bit ‘meatier’ in their breasts, their legs and feet are thicker and their combs and wattles.

Female chicken

A mature female chicken is called a hen. A chick is a newly hatched chicken. Healthy female chickens, known as hens, are able to lay eggs.  Healthy hens are able to lay an egg about once a day, but may occasionally skip a day. Hens are required to lay the eggs that are sold for human consumption. 

Life span

Chickens have comparatively short life spans. Some live to be 10 to 15 years old, but they are the exception, not the rule. In commercial egg production, birds are about 18 months old when they are replaced by new, young stock. It takes close to six months for a female chicken to mature sexually and start laying eggs. Then, they are kept for 12 to 14 months of egg production.

Gorgeous birds

Chickens are gregarious birds and live together in flocks. They have a communal approach to the incubation of eggs and raising of young. Individual chickens in a flock. Both male and female chickens are used to produce chicken meat.  Unlike the case for the egg industry, where only hens are required to lay the eggs that are sold for human consumption, both male and female meat chickens can be and are grown for meat and are equally valued by the chicken meat industry.

Not pet

chickens were not raised as pets. They were raised for eggs and  for meat, too. Very little attention was given to a chicken’s life expectancy, health, or other genetic traits. A chicken was merely a chicken.

The meat of the chicken, is also called "chicken." Chicken is a type of poultry. Because of its relatively low cost among meats, chicken is one of the most used meats in the world. Nearly all parts of the bird can be used for food, and the meat is cooked in many different ways around the world.

Popular chicken dishes

 Popular chicken dishes include fried chicken, chicken soup, marinated chicken wings, tandoori chicken, butter chicken, and chicken rice. Chicken is also a staple of fast food restaurants. 

 Gender and life

 As is true in the human world, the guys just don’t live as long as the ladies. This is dependent on a lot of other factors, of course, but statistically speaking, roosters don’t live as long as hens

Female chickens can lay two kinds of eggs: infertile and fertile. Only the fertile eggs will hatch and become baby chicks.

Tiny chicks

When a female chicken lays a clutch of fertile eggs, it takes approximately 21 days before the little chicks will start to emerge. Tiny newborn chicks are completely dependent on their mom for help navigating their new world. They need to be shown how to eat and drink. Tiny chicks grow incredibly fast. They can double in size in the first month of life alone.

By the age of six to eight weeks depending on the breed you are raising (around 60 days for most), the young chicks have entered the adolescent stage of life. 

Different breeds

We eat a lot of chickens and a lot of chicken eggs. And we should  know that there are different breeds of chickens that can look quite different on the outside even though they are basically the same on the inside.

Egg production and age period

Hens may live in backyard flocks for 6-8 years, and most flocks will produce eggs for 3-4 years. The level of egg  production, egg size, and  shell quality decrease each year. Most commercial layers are kept for 2-3 years as their egg production decreases after this time. Eventually the hen will lay too late in a day for ovulation to be signaled. She will then skip a day or more before laying another egg. 

In most cases, a chicken can live between five and ten years. That being said, different breeds often have dramatically different lifespans. There are plenty of factors that impact how long a chicken lives, including the threat of predation and varying flock dynamics, diseases, breed, and more.

Breeding

Sometimes a hen will stop laying and instead will focus on the incubation of eggs, This state   is called   going broody. A broody chicken will sit fast on the nest, and protest  in defense if disturbed or removed, and will rarely leave the nest to eat, drink, or dust bathe. While broody, the hen keeps the eggs at a constant temperature and humidity, as well as turning the eggs regularly.

At the end of the incubation period, which is an average of 21 days, the eggs  will hatch, and the broody hen will take care of her young. All eggs do not  hatch at exactly the same time (the chicken can only lay one egg in 25 hours), the hen will usually stay on the nest for about two days after the first egg hatches. During this time, the newly-hatched chicks live off the egg yolk they absorb just before hatching. The hen can hear the chicks peeping inside the eggs, and will gently cluck to encourage them to break out of their shells. If the eggs are not fertilized and do not hatch, the hen will eventually grow tired of being broody and leave the nest.