Essay -- Chickens are the Best <3
Sep. 10th, 2010 02:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pacificpikachuWell, okay, Kristin is crazy about chickens. You all know this. Chickens are a fairly unusual obsession to have, and despite the fact that there are considerably more chickens than people in the world, and despite the fact that they impact the daily lives of nearly every one of us, it's amazing how little most people know about chickens.
Of course I am biased when it comes to chickens. I think they are pure, unadulterated AWESOME no matter what, but even from an objective perspective I think they're pretty interesting. They're a diverse creature, and a lot more complex and varied than most people would ever begin to guess.
So, I decided to do a little photo-essay of sorts about chickens and why they are so great. :D This is highly skewed towards the pet side of things, of course, as that is what I specialize in, but I hope you learn something and take away a new appreciation for these birds. I'm trying to keep this light, fun, and informative, not heavy, technical, or thorough. As another note, I chose not to use photos of my own birds for the sake of variety and objectivity. Also, I am not going to cite sources because it's a pain in the butt, but please trust me when I say any of the information I post I've gotten from either my own experience or reliable sources (ie, scientific studies, published books, magazines, etc.).
--
There are plenty of animals out there to love. And after all, aren't chickens just those weird white birds that lay eggs and are tasty? Aren't they just smelly, dumb, ugly animals?
The truth is, chickens are a remarkable species. Chickens have been domesticated longer than any domesticated animal aside from dogs. Longer than cats, horses, cattle, sheep, ducks, and pigs, chickens have been with humanity. They were originally bred from the gorgeous and very chicken-like red jungle fowl, but since being domesticated around 10,000 years ago, these birds have been bred (much like dogs) into nearly every type, size, and purpose imaginable. As a result, they are incredibly diverse animals.
The truth is, it is nearly impossible to stereotype chickens into one category. All chickens are social animals with a complex hierarchy, they share a language of over thirty different calls that have been recognized so far by scientists (there are many more, doubtless), and because they are all one species, no matter how different two birds are, they can still interbreed. Most of the time, many different breeds of chickens are fine sharing one space despite their differences, and two or more chickens of completely different sizes, shapes, and colors can form bonds.
Chickens come in two main size categories: Standard and bantam. Within each category exists many breeds.
Standard chickens are the chickens most people think of when they picture "chickens." They are average-sized chickens, usually weighing about 5-10 lbs. There are many exceptions, but for the most part standards are kept for production purposes--for meat or for eggs.
Bantams are miniature chickens, usually weighing from 10 oz to maybe 3 lbs at the most. Some bantam breeds are the same as standard breeds but bred down to a smaller size. Some breeds of bantams do not exist in a larger size. Bantams are usually kept as pets, for ornamental purposes, or for showing.
Here is a comparison of a Light Brahma in standard size versus a Light Brahma in bantam size. Note they are both full-grown adult birds:
The physical variety of chickens is astounding. Most people picture a leghorn hen or a cornish cross--both generic production breeds, the first for eggs and the second for meat--when they picture a chicken, but the truth is there are varieties of chickens to fit just about every desire.
There is everything from the massive Jersey Giant, which tops out sometimes at over 13 lbs...
...to the teeny-tiny serama, which can rarely be as small as 7 oz full grown:
There are chickens that are long and lanky, like the Modern Game...
And there are chickens that are round puffballs, like the Cochin:
There are chickens with all kinds of unique attributes. There is the Silkie, a docile and friendly breed that is as soft as can be and very cuddly. It's almost like a poodle in bird form:
There is the tall, muscular, dinosaur-like Shamo:
There are chickens with large head crests, like the Polish:
There are partially bald chickens, like the Transylvanian Naked Neck:
(There is also, amusingly enough, a cross between a naked neck and a silkie called a showgirl. Check this funky bird out!)
There are chickens with no tails ("rumpless") like the Araucana:
And chickens with the most splendid tails imaginable, like the Onagadori:
There are even chickens with frizzled feathers!
And the exotic-looking, iridescent-all-over Sumatra:
Chickens also come in more color combinations than can even be documented. The serama alone is said to come in 2000+ colors! Here are some particularly lovely colored birds, though this is quite a limited little gallery:
Crele
Silver Penciled
Mille Fleur
Porcelain (Mille fleur with a dilution gene.)
Tolbunt
Blue laced red
Silver Spangled
Silver Laced
Just a few examples! There are so many thousands of colors, and there are constantly new ones popping up with different cross-breeding.
--
Okay, so now you see chickens are very cool to look at! But what about the birds themselves? What are they like? Aren't they just "bird brains"?
Actually, while intelligence varies from breed-to-breed and individual-to-individual, chickens have been shown to be pretty sharp. The more scientists study them, the more they are astounded. Here are a few facts about chicken intelligence:
* Even a day-old chick can distinguish individuals of both their species and other species. They form positive and negative associations with individuals. While there are studies showing this, I can also say that my flock knows the difference between my dogs and other dogs in the neighborhood. When my dogs are around they continue peacefully going about their business, but if a dog they don't recognize is around, they will start making alarm calls and watch the strange dog's every move. They also treat people differently. If I go in the coop, birds will often fly on to my shoulder. If my mom or brother goes in the coop, the chickens will keep their distance because these people do not feed them and associate with them as often.
* Chickens have a "pecking order" that is determined by the bird's newness to the flock (birds who have been around longer have higher status than newer birds), as well as their associations they form. Higher ranking birds may pick on lower ranking birds if they go out of line, and higher ranking birds eat first, get preferential treatment by the rooster, choose first where they perch, and so on. Chickens are always looking to increase their rank, and lower ranking birds will bully flock newcomers to prove they are higher in rank than them. Chickens who are similar in rank will often spar to determine who has higher rank.
* Chickens have more than 30 different recognizable calls with specific meanings. Many of these calls are surprising in just how specific they are--for instance, the noise for "air predator" (like a hawk) is different than the noise for "ground predator" (like a dog). Chickens make different calls when they are content, angry, scared, motherly, territorial, find a nice treat to share with the flock or their babies, sleepy, and so on.
* Chickens form lasting bonds with people, chickens, and members of other species. Chickens gain a sense of comradeship from sharing activities with one another and often once two chickens have bonded, they become inseparable.
* Mother hens teach their chicks what is acceptable to eat and what is not, as well as other valuable life skills. Chickens who have not been raised by their mothers are often somewhat socially stunted, though they usually catch up once they are given time with a flock that they can learn from.
* Chickens can learn tricks and learn to navigate mazes at about the same speed as dogs. Chickens can also learn even complex tasks by observing other chickens, learn their own individual names, and they quickly adjust and adapt to new settings and surroundings. Chickens are quite adept at learning tricks with proper patience and communication:
---
Some other notes about chickens, and keeping them as pets, learning more about them, and other topics:
* Chickens usually live between five and fifteen years. Birds bred for production (meat or eggs) are often crippled by genetic issues and don't live as long as breeds that are closer to their wild ancestors.
* Chickens have widely varying personalities and are highly individual. Some chickens are more social than others, more flighty, more docile, noisier, more aggressive, funnier, smarter, more food-oriented, and so on. Raising them has some effect on what sort of bird they grow into, but in general they have enduring personalities that are even evident when they are very young. Even young chicks form pecking orders and a dominant or submissive chick when it's young will likely remain dominant or submissive when it grows up.
* Some breeds of chickens do very well in confinement and thus make good indoor pets. These breeds include seramas and silkies, small numbers of which can easily live in a large rabbit cage. As long as their cage is changed regularly, they are not very smelly, and as long as they get some exercise during the day they thrive. Chickens can be trained not to mind wearing specially-designed chicken diapers that prevent them from pooping all over the house. Many chickens become very good and friendly housepets and become friends with indoor dogs and cats and enjoy time with their humans.
* Some breeds of chickens are predisposed to sitting on and hatching eggs and mothering chicks (silkies, seramas, cochins, old english game bantams, and buff orpingtons, among others), while other breeds have literally had the instinct to mother bred out of them for the sake of consistent egg laying. While a hen is sitting on eggs she does not continue to lay them, and stops laying eggs while she is raising her chicks as well.
* Chickens keep their feathers clean by preening, and while chickens' feet are not always the cleanest, usually they keep their feathers immaculate. They use oil from an oil gland (the preen gland) near their tail to keep their feathers in proper condition. Chickens preen often. Chickens remove bugs from their feathers by taking frequent dust baths. Chickens enjoy dust baths so much that in experiments chickens have sometimes chosen dust baths over food.
* There are chickens called long crowers where the roosters are...well...they do have long crows!
* In closing, I highly recommend you check out chickens and learn to appreciate them! They are fascinating, and very fun to keep if you have enough space for them. If there is a poultry show nearby, it's worth going just to see the amazing variety of birds that will show up. If you are looking for more information on chickens, I recommend the following sites, books, and articles:
* http://www.backyardchickens.com/ -- One of the most comprehensive chicken sites out there. The best part of it is the forums, where 50,000+ poultry lovers gather to talk about one of our favorite subjects. You can find answers to almost any question in the forum, and if you can't find it yet, you can ask!
* http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html -- A wonderful page with a huge chicken encyclopedia of just about every chicken breed in existence! Includes even a lot of the obscure, foreign, and rare breeds. Very fun to just look through all the breeds and see what you find!
* http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=410238 -- A beautifully written article on chickens, humanity, and the philosophy shared between both. One of my favorite articles I've ever read, really a worthwhile read even for those who are not very interested in chickens.
* Extraordinary Chickens and Extra-Extraordinary Chickens by Stephen Green-Armytage -- Amazing books on chickens with gorgeous photographs. Stunning, accessible, and fascinating.
* Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds -- My favorite of the poultry breed books. Has wonderful photographs and it is reasonably thorough (though I doubt anywhere is as thorough as FeatherSite's encyclopedia). Easy to read and very nice on the eyes!
* PBS Documentary: The Natural History of the Chicken -- Confusingly enough this documentary is not actually about the natural history of the chicken, but it's a very entertaining and even somewhat moving documentary.
I will close with a favorite photo of mine, of a dutch bantam rooster. Is this guy gorgeous or what?
I hope you enjoyed my chicken essay and learned something of value/interest to you. :D Please let me know if you think I missed something important or if you have any questions at all! I would love replies to let me know if you liked it, I worked for a few hours on this. ♥ :)
Of course I am biased when it comes to chickens. I think they are pure, unadulterated AWESOME no matter what, but even from an objective perspective I think they're pretty interesting. They're a diverse creature, and a lot more complex and varied than most people would ever begin to guess.
So, I decided to do a little photo-essay of sorts about chickens and why they are so great. :D This is highly skewed towards the pet side of things, of course, as that is what I specialize in, but I hope you learn something and take away a new appreciation for these birds. I'm trying to keep this light, fun, and informative, not heavy, technical, or thorough. As another note, I chose not to use photos of my own birds for the sake of variety and objectivity. Also, I am not going to cite sources because it's a pain in the butt, but please trust me when I say any of the information I post I've gotten from either my own experience or reliable sources (ie, scientific studies, published books, magazines, etc.).
--
Why Love Chickens?
There are plenty of animals out there to love. And after all, aren't chickens just those weird white birds that lay eggs and are tasty? Aren't they just smelly, dumb, ugly animals?
The truth is, chickens are a remarkable species. Chickens have been domesticated longer than any domesticated animal aside from dogs. Longer than cats, horses, cattle, sheep, ducks, and pigs, chickens have been with humanity. They were originally bred from the gorgeous and very chicken-like red jungle fowl, but since being domesticated around 10,000 years ago, these birds have been bred (much like dogs) into nearly every type, size, and purpose imaginable. As a result, they are incredibly diverse animals.
The truth is, it is nearly impossible to stereotype chickens into one category. All chickens are social animals with a complex hierarchy, they share a language of over thirty different calls that have been recognized so far by scientists (there are many more, doubtless), and because they are all one species, no matter how different two birds are, they can still interbreed. Most of the time, many different breeds of chickens are fine sharing one space despite their differences, and two or more chickens of completely different sizes, shapes, and colors can form bonds.
Chickens come in two main size categories: Standard and bantam. Within each category exists many breeds.
Standard chickens are the chickens most people think of when they picture "chickens." They are average-sized chickens, usually weighing about 5-10 lbs. There are many exceptions, but for the most part standards are kept for production purposes--for meat or for eggs.
Bantams are miniature chickens, usually weighing from 10 oz to maybe 3 lbs at the most. Some bantam breeds are the same as standard breeds but bred down to a smaller size. Some breeds of bantams do not exist in a larger size. Bantams are usually kept as pets, for ornamental purposes, or for showing.
Here is a comparison of a Light Brahma in standard size versus a Light Brahma in bantam size. Note they are both full-grown adult birds:
The physical variety of chickens is astounding. Most people picture a leghorn hen or a cornish cross--both generic production breeds, the first for eggs and the second for meat--when they picture a chicken, but the truth is there are varieties of chickens to fit just about every desire.
There is everything from the massive Jersey Giant, which tops out sometimes at over 13 lbs...
...to the teeny-tiny serama, which can rarely be as small as 7 oz full grown:
There are chickens that are long and lanky, like the Modern Game...
And there are chickens that are round puffballs, like the Cochin:
There are chickens with all kinds of unique attributes. There is the Silkie, a docile and friendly breed that is as soft as can be and very cuddly. It's almost like a poodle in bird form:
There is the tall, muscular, dinosaur-like Shamo:
There are chickens with large head crests, like the Polish:
There are partially bald chickens, like the Transylvanian Naked Neck:
(There is also, amusingly enough, a cross between a naked neck and a silkie called a showgirl. Check this funky bird out!)
There are chickens with no tails ("rumpless") like the Araucana:
And chickens with the most splendid tails imaginable, like the Onagadori:
There are even chickens with frizzled feathers!
And the exotic-looking, iridescent-all-over Sumatra:
Chickens also come in more color combinations than can even be documented. The serama alone is said to come in 2000+ colors! Here are some particularly lovely colored birds, though this is quite a limited little gallery:
Crele
Silver Penciled
Mille Fleur
Porcelain (Mille fleur with a dilution gene.)
Tolbunt
Blue laced red
Silver Spangled
Silver Laced
Just a few examples! There are so many thousands of colors, and there are constantly new ones popping up with different cross-breeding.
--
Okay, so now you see chickens are very cool to look at! But what about the birds themselves? What are they like? Aren't they just "bird brains"?
Actually, while intelligence varies from breed-to-breed and individual-to-individual, chickens have been shown to be pretty sharp. The more scientists study them, the more they are astounded. Here are a few facts about chicken intelligence:
* Even a day-old chick can distinguish individuals of both their species and other species. They form positive and negative associations with individuals. While there are studies showing this, I can also say that my flock knows the difference between my dogs and other dogs in the neighborhood. When my dogs are around they continue peacefully going about their business, but if a dog they don't recognize is around, they will start making alarm calls and watch the strange dog's every move. They also treat people differently. If I go in the coop, birds will often fly on to my shoulder. If my mom or brother goes in the coop, the chickens will keep their distance because these people do not feed them and associate with them as often.
* Chickens have a "pecking order" that is determined by the bird's newness to the flock (birds who have been around longer have higher status than newer birds), as well as their associations they form. Higher ranking birds may pick on lower ranking birds if they go out of line, and higher ranking birds eat first, get preferential treatment by the rooster, choose first where they perch, and so on. Chickens are always looking to increase their rank, and lower ranking birds will bully flock newcomers to prove they are higher in rank than them. Chickens who are similar in rank will often spar to determine who has higher rank.
* Chickens have more than 30 different recognizable calls with specific meanings. Many of these calls are surprising in just how specific they are--for instance, the noise for "air predator" (like a hawk) is different than the noise for "ground predator" (like a dog). Chickens make different calls when they are content, angry, scared, motherly, territorial, find a nice treat to share with the flock or their babies, sleepy, and so on.
* Chickens form lasting bonds with people, chickens, and members of other species. Chickens gain a sense of comradeship from sharing activities with one another and often once two chickens have bonded, they become inseparable.
* Mother hens teach their chicks what is acceptable to eat and what is not, as well as other valuable life skills. Chickens who have not been raised by their mothers are often somewhat socially stunted, though they usually catch up once they are given time with a flock that they can learn from.
* Chickens can learn tricks and learn to navigate mazes at about the same speed as dogs. Chickens can also learn even complex tasks by observing other chickens, learn their own individual names, and they quickly adjust and adapt to new settings and surroundings. Chickens are quite adept at learning tricks with proper patience and communication:
---
Some other notes about chickens, and keeping them as pets, learning more about them, and other topics:
* Chickens usually live between five and fifteen years. Birds bred for production (meat or eggs) are often crippled by genetic issues and don't live as long as breeds that are closer to their wild ancestors.
* Chickens have widely varying personalities and are highly individual. Some chickens are more social than others, more flighty, more docile, noisier, more aggressive, funnier, smarter, more food-oriented, and so on. Raising them has some effect on what sort of bird they grow into, but in general they have enduring personalities that are even evident when they are very young. Even young chicks form pecking orders and a dominant or submissive chick when it's young will likely remain dominant or submissive when it grows up.
* Some breeds of chickens do very well in confinement and thus make good indoor pets. These breeds include seramas and silkies, small numbers of which can easily live in a large rabbit cage. As long as their cage is changed regularly, they are not very smelly, and as long as they get some exercise during the day they thrive. Chickens can be trained not to mind wearing specially-designed chicken diapers that prevent them from pooping all over the house. Many chickens become very good and friendly housepets and become friends with indoor dogs and cats and enjoy time with their humans.
* Some breeds of chickens are predisposed to sitting on and hatching eggs and mothering chicks (silkies, seramas, cochins, old english game bantams, and buff orpingtons, among others), while other breeds have literally had the instinct to mother bred out of them for the sake of consistent egg laying. While a hen is sitting on eggs she does not continue to lay them, and stops laying eggs while she is raising her chicks as well.
* Chickens keep their feathers clean by preening, and while chickens' feet are not always the cleanest, usually they keep their feathers immaculate. They use oil from an oil gland (the preen gland) near their tail to keep their feathers in proper condition. Chickens preen often. Chickens remove bugs from their feathers by taking frequent dust baths. Chickens enjoy dust baths so much that in experiments chickens have sometimes chosen dust baths over food.
* There are chickens called long crowers where the roosters are...well...they do have long crows!
* In closing, I highly recommend you check out chickens and learn to appreciate them! They are fascinating, and very fun to keep if you have enough space for them. If there is a poultry show nearby, it's worth going just to see the amazing variety of birds that will show up. If you are looking for more information on chickens, I recommend the following sites, books, and articles:
* http://www.backyardchickens.com/ -- One of the most comprehensive chicken sites out there. The best part of it is the forums, where 50,000+ poultry lovers gather to talk about one of our favorite subjects. You can find answers to almost any question in the forum, and if you can't find it yet, you can ask!
* http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html -- A wonderful page with a huge chicken encyclopedia of just about every chicken breed in existence! Includes even a lot of the obscure, foreign, and rare breeds. Very fun to just look through all the breeds and see what you find!
* http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=410238 -- A beautifully written article on chickens, humanity, and the philosophy shared between both. One of my favorite articles I've ever read, really a worthwhile read even for those who are not very interested in chickens.
* Extraordinary Chickens and Extra-Extraordinary Chickens by Stephen Green-Armytage -- Amazing books on chickens with gorgeous photographs. Stunning, accessible, and fascinating.
* Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds -- My favorite of the poultry breed books. Has wonderful photographs and it is reasonably thorough (though I doubt anywhere is as thorough as FeatherSite's encyclopedia). Easy to read and very nice on the eyes!
* PBS Documentary: The Natural History of the Chicken -- Confusingly enough this documentary is not actually about the natural history of the chicken, but it's a very entertaining and even somewhat moving documentary.
I will close with a favorite photo of mine, of a dutch bantam rooster. Is this guy gorgeous or what?
I hope you enjoyed my chicken essay and learned something of value/interest to you. :D Please let me know if you think I missed something important or if you have any questions at all! I would love replies to let me know if you liked it, I worked for a few hours on this. ♥ :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 02:52 pm (UTC)Now I know what you mean when you say bantam. :D
The variety is amazing. And the colours! Though the black and white Silver Laced really caught my eye, the patterns on its body are so beautiful. I also can't stop staring at the photos of the Onagadori. How long does it take for their tails to reach those sorts of lengths?
Do they tangle themselves up while walking around?(J/k.) I feel inspired. *A*Hehe the Showgirl, so classy yet adorable. ;o;
I loved reading about their various behaviours and society. I don't catch a lot of documentaries on animals these days but I've always enjoyed learning about them very much.
I can't watch the Youtube videos atm because my connection's not doing very well, but I'll come back later for those and the pages you linked. Thanks again for writing this up and sharing your knowledge. <33
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:23 pm (UTC)Yes, chicken variety is incredible! There's pretty much a chicken out there for whatever a person wants, haha. And the onagadori take years to grow their tails out like that. The reason they can grow them so long is that they do not molt their tail feathers like most breeds do, and so it keeps continuously growing and growing. The tails like that require a lot of special care, though--the bird must mostly live on a perch, have the tail regularly washed, and be monitored a lot to make sure they don't break the feathers. The breed is also quite rare, it's debatable whether there are even any real genetic strains of onagadori outside of Japan.
Their behavior is surprisingly complex and fun to learn about! They do some really hilarious and amazing things. :D There have been multiple reports of mother hens dying in defense of their chicks, or roosters dying in defense of their flocks, and it's incredible the degree to which chickens have individual personalities. :)
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and come and watch the Youtube videos when you get a chance. Thanks for reading and commenting! ♥
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 05:37 pm (UTC)As for the Onagadori... how does that work, exactly? Do the tail feathers just grow at an accelerated rate?
Overall, very informative. I never realized that chickens were so intelligent. One of my friends has two ducks, but I don't think the ducks recognize their own names.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:27 pm (UTC)The tail feathers do not molt (like they do on most breeds) on onagadori, so their tail feathers just continue growing and growing over the years. To reach super long tails like those pictured, though, they require a lot of special care--living on a special perch, having their tail regularly washed to keep it in condition, and the birds have to be monitored whenever they exercise to make sure they don't break their tails. More work than I'm willing to devote, but they are splendid!
Yes, they are quite intelligent and learn well. :D Ducks I think can be fairly smart, too (maybe not as smart? I haven't read a lot about duck intelligence to be honest), but it depends how much time one devotes to training them most likely.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:07 pm (UTC)It was really great being educated on the variety of chickens out there. This is an awesome post. <3
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:34 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading and commenting!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:08 pm (UTC)And those Onagadori! My god what gorgeous tails! :o
no subject
Date: 2010-09-10 09:38 pm (UTC)They do make fantastic pets! They warm up to people quickly and don't require much to be happy as can be. Chickens are often banned in residential areas, but this is gradually beginning to change with the backyard chicken movement. Small numbers of chickens are really not disruptive and don't require a whole lot of space, so it's possible to look into whether they're legal in your area. (And even if they're not, a great many people keep small numbers of "illegal" chickens...)
Yes, onagadori are incredible! Unfortunately they're very work-intensive to get these tails and they're quite rare outside of Japan, but they are sure stunning.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-11 02:07 am (UTC)