So, You Think I'm A Chicken?

When someone calls you a chicken, say "Thank You". I have chickens, a lady I work for have chickens. Chickens are smart, they know when to come in, and mine survived record low temperatures this past winter. They huddle together when it is cold.

Chickens are wonderful pets, and the hens also provide food for your family. You can sell the eggs, give the eggs away, or just eat the eggs. Chickens know who to trust and who not to trust. Some breeds are very friendly to humans.

Chickens require little care, but they do require care. Even if you free-range your chickens, you should build them a henhouse that is essentially airtight (with screened windows). Your henhouse should be tight enough to prevent predators such as hawks, owls, and snakes from getting in. I recently lost two baby chickens to what was probably the Texas Rat Snake. That is usually a good snake; they eat the rats and mice and probably won't harm humans. It somehow got into my henhouse.

But chickens can fly if you do not clip their wings. This helps them with non-flying predators, like snakes.

Chickens also eat just about anything. For a list of things they cannot have, such as chocolate and morning glory seeds, see the Raising Chickens for Dummies by Kimberly Willis with Rob Ludlow. One thing chickens are is somewhat cannibalistic. Living chickens need to get use to each other. However, they will eat your fried, barbequed or baked chicken.

Hens (the female chicken) do not need a rooster to lay eggs. They do, however, need a rooster to fertilize the eggs if you want the eggs to hatch and have baby chickens. And I have discovered that the Mama hens know better how to raise their babies better than I do. Roosters do crow in loudly early in the morning, and many cities across the United States do not allow roosters. However, many cities in the U.S. allow you to have 2 or 3 or so backyard hens. Although hens make some noise, they are generally quite quiet and will lay your breakfast for you. Of course you will have to cook you're fresh eggs.

But if you think I'm just a big chicken. Well, Thank you for calling smart, handsome (beautiful) and wonderful.