Chickens eat grass, insects, worms, grain, oats, and corn. Chickens also eat apples, grapes, lettuce, and even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They will eat crackers, ham and cheese sandwiches, and even pasta. Basically, a chicken will eat anything, including buffalo wings and eggs. The chickens at Red Barn Farm don't care for carrots, banana peels or cheese puffs, but grass is a favorite and the more they eat, the more bright the yolk of their eggs will be. A plus to having chickens on the farm is that they do eat weeds and pesky insects like grasshoppers and crickets.
Typically, a chicken lives 8-10 years. On rare occasions, a chicken can live to be 15 years or older. A chick matures around 6-7 weeks.
A hen will begin laying eggs when she is approximately 4-5 months old. She doesn't need a rooster around to lay eggs, she does this naturally. A rooster is needed to fertilize the eggs to ensure a clutch of chicks. A hen will lay a series of eggs, no more than one or two a day, until she has between 10-12 eggs. Then, she will stop laying and begin brooding, that is sitting on her nest incubating the eggs. It takes 21 days before the eggs begin to hatch. After hatching begins, the hen will remain in her nest for up to 48 hours, and then she will lead her chicks on their first walk. Any eggs not hatched by then will be left behind.
When a farmer collects the eggs, it interrupts the cycle and the hen continues to lay eggs believing she doesn't have enough to start brooding. A hen can lay between 200-300 eggs per year.
Farmers use chickens for meat and eggs. A chicken weighs between 4-7 pounds. Actual size depends on gender and breed. Roosters weigh more than hens and smaller breeds weigh as little as 1-2 pounds.
Eggs come in a variety of colors, not just white. Some hens lay dark brown eggs, some lay light brown eggs, and some even lay green or blue eggs. The color of the shell has no effect on the nutrients contained in the egg. A good rule of thumb is that the more orange the egg yolk, the more healthy and better-tasting the egg is. Eggs from hens who roam freely are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and lower in cholesterol than hens kept in cages. To determine what color egg a hen will lay, look at her ear feathers. A hen with white feathers will lay white eggs, but hens with red feathers can lay brown, blue or green eggs. Araucana hens (also known as an Easter Egg Chicken) lay eggs in varying shades of green and blue.
Red Barn Farm is home to many breeds of chickens. We usually have Rhode Island Reds, Araucanas, Polish (those are the ones with the crazy Elvis "hair"), Naked Neck Turkens, and Wyandottes.
