Give me all your Chicken Knowledge

[Firestar97]

I might finally get a Job soon as Chicken Keeper
So please share all of your Chicken Knowledge with me. Especially if you're keeping Chickens yourself

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

The roosters can smell your fear.
Watch your back


Oh and congrats on the job!

 

[ElectricMonk]

Chickens need enrichment, just like animals in the game - mirrors are great!

 

[Firestar97]

The roosters can smell your fear.
Watch your back


Oh and congrats on the job!

Thanks a lot if this is meant seriously
Also didn't get the Job yet. I'll need to do a few Days of Test Work first.

Chickens need enrichment, just like animals in the game - mirrors are great!

Aren't Mirrors normally only for Birds when their Social Group is too small? From the Amount of Eggs I've seen, I assume there are lots of Chickens

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Actualy yes, roosters are often territorial and aggressive.
Its Not uncommon for them to react with agression towards new things and they are smart.
Its Not uncommon for experienced older roosters to fight of if Not even kill raptors that try to prey on their flock.
Theres a reason why fighting is a thing, and its Not because these guys arnt absolutly brutal, the opposite in fact

 

[Firestar97]

Actualy yes, roosters are often territorial and aggressive.
Its Not uncommon for them to react with agression towards new things and they are smart.
Its Not uncommon for experienced older roosters to fight of if Not even kill raptors that try to prey on their flock.
Theres a reason why fighting is a thing, and its Not because these guys arnt absolutly brutal, the opposite in fact

Then I'll better make sure that my Legs are properly protected
Hope my Pants are thick enough and that I don't need to feel the Beak or the Claws. I think I've heard once about a Rooster that has killed a Bird of Prey and ate it

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Then I'll better make sure that my Legs are properly protected
Hope my Pants are thick enough and that I don't need to feel the Beak or the Claws. I think I've heard once about a Rooster that has killed a Bird of Prey and ate it

Yep thouse little beasts are freacking metall if you let them.
A thick work pants will hopefully Do the trick

 

[ElectricMonk]

Actualy yes, roosters are often territorial and aggressive.
Its Not uncommon for them to react with agression towards new things and they are smart.
Its Not uncommon for experienced older roosters to fight of if Not even kill raptors that try to prey on their flock.
Theres a reason why fighting is a thing, and its Not because these guys arnt absolutly brutal, the opposite in fact

If they’re for eggs will there be roosters present?…

also, I had a friend who’s pet chicken killed a cat that got into its coop - they can be pretty vicious.

 

[Firestar97]

If they’re for eggs will there be roosters present?…

also, I had a friend who’s pet chicken killed a cat that got into its coop - they can be pretty vicious.

I assume almost every Chicken Farm has at least one Rooster (most likely in a separate Enclosure). They must get new Chickens somehow and I assume this would be a better Solution than always buying new Chickens or fertilized Eggs

 

[ElectricMonk]

True, but one rooster isn’t all that scary, and you wouldn’t keep it with the hens who’s eggs you’re wanting to sell.

 

[NZFanatic]

If they’re for eggs will there be roosters present?…

Commercial chicken farms often have roosters to maintain order in the flock, as I understand it. I think with smaller flocks you don't need roosters because a hen pecking order is established, but with a male present it becomes instantly less complicated as to who's in charge.

 

[ElectricMonk]

Commercial chicken farms often have roosters to maintain order in the flock, as I understand it. I think with smaller flocks you don't need roosters because a hen pecking order is established, but with a male present it becomes instantly less complicated as to who's in charge.

Interesting… I don’t know much about chicken farming. How do they prevent them mating?

 

[DarthQuell]

Interesting… I don’t know much about chicken farming. How do they prevent them mating?

I don't know everything, but there are hens that were bred to constantly lay eggs (to collect), and then there are hens that can give birth. Maybe the hens that don't give birth are infertile?

 

[NZFanatic]

Interesting… I don’t know much about chicken farming. How do they prevent them mating?

I think they have techniques and machines to check for fertilised eggs which are either put into incubators or discarded.

 

[SanRazo618]

Hens laying eggs meant for consumption probably just don’t get mated with. (Don’t get access to the rooster)

 

[Firestar97]

Some Chicken Farms keep the Rooster together with the Hens which results in the rare Possibility that a Egg is fertilized and can be hatched in a Incubator. But as far as I know they are taken away so early that the only Way to notice if it is fertilized, is to try to let it hatch

 

[NZFanatic]

Some Chicken Farms keep the Rooster together with the Hens which results in the rare Possibility that a Egg is fertilized and can be hatched in a Incubator. But as far as I know they are taken away so early that the only Way to notice if it is fertilized, is to try to let it hatch

You can shine a high intensity light on an egg and see if there's an embryo developing inside, which is what most of these farms do.

 

[Firestar97]

You can shine a high intensity light on an egg and see if there's an embryo developing inside, which is what most of these farms do.

I know but I assume if a fertilized Egg makes its Way into a Shop, it is to early to see it that Way

 

[NZFanatic]

I know but I assume if a fertilized Egg makes its Way into a Shop, it is to early to see it that Way

I imagine in those cases it's just an egg that slipped through the cracks. Commercial chicken farms have to deal with thousands of eggs, after all. You can usually see pretty early if there's an embryo in the egg, usually as a small dark mark attached to the yolk.

 

[XT]

Roosters aren't kept with chickens used for egg laying - it's not cost effective to search every egg to see if it's been fertilized or not and most customers get pretty upset if the crack open their morning egg and end up with a partially developed chick fetus in the frying pan. Roosters also aren't necessary to a flock of chickens - they do help defend against (smallish) predators but in a human kept environment that's often not necessary. A farm that breeds its own chickens may have a rooster or two that is introduced to a hen every now and then (and that hen is kept separate from the egg laying hens until her chicks have hatched). And, many farmer do buy chicks commercially - because when you use the 'natural' method, you often end up with too many roosters in the clutch and roosters are useless unless you're going to slaughter and eat them. When you buy chicks, you can specify that you only want hens and the wholesale seller deals with the excess males (generally in a very gruesome way, I don't recommend googling this).