Dorothy L. Sayers introduced me to Buff Orpington chickens. In Busman’s Honeymoon, a character named Miss Twitterton was forever obsessing about her flock.

Decades later, that breed name was still with me when I wrote “Real Likable Birds” a fiction piece. Here’s a quote:

“But I’ve thought it over, and the majority of my flock is going to be Buff Orpingtons. … They lay the prettiest brown eggs you’d ever hope to see. … The Buff Orpingtons are good, heavy chickens. They lay really well and they stay put behind a fence. They got more feathers than most, so I won’t have to worry about how they’d take a long cold snap. They’re gentle as anything. And the supplier says that come warm weather, it’s a good bet they’ll set. He said he’d put ’em up against most breeds for broodiness, mothering, and foster-mothering. My Buff Orpingtons are just going to be real likable birds.”

from “Real Likable Birds” by Vivian Lawry

My personal experience with chickens is pretty minimal. My paternal grandparents had a hard-scrabble farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Granny kept a flock of chickens, primarily for eggs for the table, but when old hens stopped laying well, there was chicken for dinner, too. One of my most vivid early childhood memories is from a time when Granny killed one of those old hens. She held it by the legs and put its head on her chopping block—a big old tree stump in the back yard—and cut its head off with an axe.

When it stopped flopping around on the grass, spraying blood everywhere, she again held it by the legs and dipped the carcass into a big cauldron of boiling water, also there in the back yard. The boiling water loosened the feathers for plucking. I helped with that, and the smell was awful—a combination of ammonia and poop. We put the feathers aside to wash later. They would be made into a feather tick for a warm bed in winter.

She singed the pinfeathers off the carcass over the wood burning stove in the kitchen and slit it open in the dry sink. Then she showed me a row of little yellow spheres like graduated pearls, the biggest about the size of my fingertip. She said those would have been eggs. Decades later, I learned that a hen is born with all the eggs she will ever lay.

Everyone Loves Chickens

It is estimated that there are more than 33 billion chickens worldwide! Outnumbering the human population, chickens are one of the most common farm animals.

For no particular reason, I decided to learn more about this bird that is so common and yet so unfamiliar today beyond the clichés in common parlance:

• Flopping around like a chicken with its head cut off
• Fly the coop
• Pecking order
• Scarce as hen’s teeth
• Stuck in my craw
• Put all your eggs in one basket
• Walk on eggshells
• Mother hen
• No spring chicken
• Rule the roost

So What’s to Know, Anyway? Just Read On!

Chickens are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs! Science has documented the shared common ancestry between chickens and the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Chickens were domesticated about 8000 years ago, and evolved from the Red or Gray junglefowl, which are tropical birds. These wild birds fly to escape predators and to roost high up in trees. Today’s domestic chickens still have the ability to fly, although not as effectively. Chickens can fly for short distances – enough to clear obstacles or reach a perch, say about 15′ of the ground.

Chickens are faster than you might think. They can run up to 9 mph in short bursts, but their real power is they can turn on a dime. This speed and agility helps keep them safe from predators.

Some research suggests that chickens are just as clever as human toddlers. Hens have exhibited mathematical reasoning, object permanence, self-control, and even structural engineering. Chickens also demonstrate empathy and a number of emotional responses! Chickens can learn to do tricks twice as quickly as a dog.

Sleepy Chickens

Research has shown that chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) while sleeping, which indicates dreaming in humans.

They also have a sleep phase that humans don’t experience called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, where one half of the brain is asleep and the other is awake. This means that chickens can sleep with one eye open, which is especially useful for looking out for predators.

The “alpha” hen sleeps in the middle while roosting and the others that are lower in the hierarchy sleep on the outside with the outer eye open to watch for predators. These chickens on the outsides switch sides throughout the night so they can rest the other eye.

Chicken Anatomy

Like humans, chickens have color vision, and are able to see red, green, and blue light. However, unlike humans, chickens are also able to see ultraviolet light, which are the colors we see when using a black light!

A chicken’s left eye is far-sighted, and their right eye is near-sighted. This has to do with the position of the embryo in the egg, and is very adaptive for finding food up close and spotting predators at a distance.

The position of a chicken’s eyes allow it to see in a 300 degree field. (Humans can only see 180 degrees.)

While this may seem contradictory, chickens (like some other birds) bathe in dirt. They have an oil gland on their back that spreads oil over their feathers to make them waterproof. Over time, the oil goes stale, and chickens need to wash the old oil off through dust bathing.

Dust bathing is when chickens crouch on the ground and spread dirt or another dusty material over their body. The stale oil sticks onto the particles of dirt and falls off when the chicken shakes off the dirt. Chickens can then spread fresh oil onto their feathers.

Chickens don’t pee, they have a cloaca (just like dinosaurs) and their waste is a combination of poo and pee. That’s why their manure is considered “hot” and needs to break down before it is safe for plants: it’s full of concentrated chicken pee paste!

Chickens use their combs and wattles to help cool off in the summer. It’s kind of like mammals having big ears in desert environments. Blood cools off in the extremities and helps keep an animal from overheating.

Some claim that on a hot day, feeding chickens frozen veggies and fruits, which sit in their crop/craw, will cool chickens from the inside.

Chicken Feed

Some people think that chickens eat only plants and grains, but they actually eat (and enjoy) a much wider variety of foods, including bits of dairy or meat. Many owners use kitchen scraps to supplement their flock’s feed, which makes for an environmentally-friendly way to handle leftover food waste.

Chickens also like to peck around in the dirt and find bugs to eat, for example, beetles, larvae, slugs, grasshoppers, and even poisonous snakes.

In short, they’ll eat pretty much anything, but often have favorites—as reported by one chicken owner: “Mine LOVE papaya.” FYI, they can’t taste spice.

A chicken doesn’t have teeth but instead eats pebbles and store the grit in a pouch, known as its craw or crop, to crush food.

Chicken Behavior

Chickens live in groups called flocks. The social structure of these flocks depends on a hierarchy called a pecking order, i.e., an order of dominance. Each chicken knows its place in this order, which helps to maintain a stable, cohesive group.

Chickens are predators to anything smaller than themselves. They’ll pick on or even kill other chickens they think won’t make it.

Chickens have over 30 unique vocalizations that they use to communicate a wide variety of messages to other chickens, including mating calls, stress signals, warnings of danger, how they are feeling, and food discovery.

The noise a chicken makes when it sees a particular person is its name for that person.

To keep roosters from fighting and keep hens from being stressed, flocks need hens to outnumber roosters. Depending on the breed, recommended ratios range from 1:5 to 1:12. Too many roosters can cause fighting over hens that aren’t “their own.”

With more than one rooster, each rooster should have its own territory—again, to minimize fights over territory, hens, and resources. Hens can lose neck and tail feathers from being mounted too often. A hen can mate with a rooster and then change her mind at the last minute and reject his sperm if she deems another rooster to be superior—also not conducive to peace.

Roosters crow many hours of the day, not just at dawn. When a rooster in a flock dies, a dominant hen may develop male features such as spurs, long wattles, and combs, and attempt to crow and mate.

A chicken can be extremely aggressive at times, willing to beef up with things larger than herself. One mama hen named Lily chased an oblivious squirrel across the yard for existing. She also attacked a 100 lb Pitbull for getting close to her only chick.

Studies have shown that chickens are self-aware and can distinguish themselves from others. Chickens can also demonstrate complex problem-solving skills.

“Eggcellent!”

Hens can lay eggs all on their own- no rooster needed!!! Indeed, some flocks are hens only.

One hen may lay as many as 300 eggs per year! As hens age, the number (and quality) of eggs laid tends to decrease.

What is the difference between brown and white eggs? The color of the shell depends on the breed of the hen, but it’s not feather color that tells you what color the egg shell will be. Chickens actually have earlobes, and generally, hens with red earlobes will lay brown eggs, and hens with white earlobes lay white eggs.

Although the color of the shell differs, the nutritional content and flavor do not. Nevertheless, brown eggs can cost 10-20% more than white eggs. The hen’s diet determines the color of the yolk.

A chicken will only lay one color egg in her lifetime.

Unwashed eggs will keep at room temperature for up to two weeks because they are laid with a protective coating. Washing away this coating (as is common in commercial US egg farms) means the eggs must be refrigerated. Refrigerated, they’ll last 5-6 weeks.

What Color?

Although most eggs are either brown or white, a surprising number of breeds lay other colored eggs:

• Blue – The Cream Legbar is the best layer of blue eggs. She is a cross between the Leghorn, Cambar, Barred Rock, and Araucana.
• Chocolate Brown – Many people like the dark (chocolate) eggs of the Black Copper Maran. Although those deep-colored eggs are beautiful to look at, they do come at a price. Buying good quality stock is expensive.
• Brown – Depending on the shade of brown you want, you have a vast selection of breeds. The Rhode Island Red is perfect if you are looking for a mid-brown egg.
• Green – The Isbar is your best chance to get green-colored eggs. The depth of green coloration will depend on the quality and genetics of the bird. While some lay a deep moss green, others can lay anywhere from a light green to a khaki-colored egg.
• Plum-Croad Langshans are the only breed known to lay plum-colored eggs on a relatively consistent basis (the quality of the color will depend upon the parentage).
• Pink – Pink eggs can be a matter of perception. To some folks, the egg may appear to be a light tint. To others, it will appear a pale pink. Orpingtons are your best bet for consistently pink-colored eggs.
  

Baby Chickens

In nature, a hen selects a nest site and lays a clutch of eggs (6-13), one egg per day. Once her clutch is complete, she sits on the eggs full time, leaving only to eat and drink.

Chickens tend to their eggs carefully. A hen turns her eggs approximately 50 times a day to keep the embryo from sticking to the side of the shell.

In a fertilized egg, the white (albumin) becomes the “chick” and the yolk is a food source for the growing baby. After hatching, a chick can go up to 72 hours without food because it’s still digesting that yolk.

When chickens lay eggs, the mother hens make noises that chicks still incubating inside of their eggs can hear and respond to. The chicks even make tiny “peeps” back from inside of their eggs!

Chicks as young as 2 days old recognize object permanence, a skill acquired by humans about 6 months of age. This means they know an object still exists even when taken away or hidden.

Chicks learn from their mothers and others in the flock, such as which foods are good to eat and where to find water.

A male chicken less than a year old is a cockerel; over a year old is a cock. A female chicken less than a year old is a pullet; over a year old is a hen.

Chicken Breeds

People exhibit (show) chickens much like dog shows. There is a standard of perfection for each breed of chicken recognized by the American Poultry Association. There’s also an American Bantam Association, which regulates smaller bantam-sized poultry breeds.

The smallest breed of chicken, weighing only 8-15 ounces, is the Serama.

Silkie chickens have dark skin and bones as well as walnut-shaped combs for the males instead of your typical comb.

Ayam Cemani chickens, from Indonesia, have black feathers, faces, skin, and even organs. They lay pale pink eggs.

An American breed of chicken called the Buckeye was developed by Nettie Metcalf of Warren, Ohio, in the late 19th century. She bred a Buff Cochin male with Barred Plymouth Rock females, and named the new breed for Ohio, the Buckeye State. It is still the only American chicken breed developed by a woman. (The American Poultry Association recognizes 53 large chicken breeds, plus additional bantam chicken breeds.)

Bottom Line: Chickens are smart, complex, and all around interesting. They’re real likable birds!