What would we do without the Internet?  I did a little reseach the last couple of days and found some interesting “myths versus facts” discussion as they relate to backyard chickens!  Enjoy this as you wrap up another busy week!

See if you can decide TRUE or FALSE for the common chicken myths listed below!

MYTH 1:  Hens need roosters to make eggs.

FALSE:  You need roosters to get fertilized eggs (to make baby chickens).  However hens lay their eggs regularly, fertilized or not.  The whole “hen – rooster mating” process is somewhat fascinating, and can make for an interesting table discussion at dinner outings or time with your kids.  You can always curtail the details on the specifics to G-rated or PG-13, depending on the audience!  I’ll save that for another blog on another day.

MYTH 2:  Hens are noisy.

FALSE:  Roosters are very noisy.  Hens are generally quiet but will cluck every now and then, especially when boasting about having just laid an egg in their nesting box.  Our hens sing a chorus of clucking especially in the mornings when they’re ready to come down from the hen-house.  Arguably, dogs are much noisier pets than chickens!

MYTH 3:  Backyard eggs are healthier than store-bought eggs.

TRUE:  Backed by science, the following is true for backyard eggs:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

MYTH 4:  You get an egg a day from a hen.

FALSE:  Generally speaking, a good egg-laying hen will produce two eggs every three days.  Some breeds lay an egg every 25 hours and can skip a day periodically, mostly because hens will more than likely never lay an egg at night.  Egg yield varies by chicken, by season, and sometimes even by weather events.  If your hen goes “broody”, then she’ll stop producing eggs for an extended amount of time.  More on how to cure a broody hen another day.

MYTH 5:  Chicken coops smell.

IT DEPENDS:  In my case, we only have 5 hens and they are relatively “clean”, all things considered.  The smell factor certainly depends on the number of chickens and the care you provide.  I spend about 5 minutes each morning and clean out the inside of the hen-house.  It doesn’t take that long, and I don’t notice any foul smell.  We also have a composter set up beside the coop a few steps away so whatever I clean up goes right into that container.

MYTH 6:  Chicken poop is great fertilizer.

TRUE:  Chicken poop is very rich in nitrogen and would burn your garden up if you dumped any right away into the soil.  As mentioned in Myth #5, setting up a composter is a great way to make use of the poop for a later date in your garden.

MYTH 7:  If you let your chickens free-range, then you’ll never need to mow or weed your lawn ever again.

ALMOST TRUE:  To maintain a beautiful yard, you’ll still want to mow on a regular schedule depending on where you live.  In Charlotte, we’ve seen the benefit our hens made in attacking the annual arrival of green cankerworms, which can wreak havoc especially on trees.  The hens loved being outdoors feasting on these worms!  The only downside I’ve noticed from our free-range chickens is that they tend to scrape up the pin straw beds when looking for worms and insects on the ground.  It’s become a daily chore at the end of the day to rake and sweep up the pine straw!

MYTH 8:  Chickens aren’t very intelligent animals.

FALSE:  Chickens vary in intelligence from those who are adventurous and inquisitive, to those who can’t find the door to the coop!  (And I’ve seen both cases with our current flock!)  They are very social animals and do self-regulate within their own community.  The concept of “pecking order” is a very real thing!  They have great memory and vision, as evidence by our hens knowing who is the primary care-taker, even running across the yard when “big daddy” comes home from work!

MYTH 9:  Chickens lay either white or brown eggs.

FALSE:  The color and size of the eggs is strictly a function of the individual hen’s breed.  There is great diversity in egg colors.  Our flock delivers brown, blue, and white eggs.  As far as size, our Americana and Rhode Island Red hens are producing standard sized eggs.  Our two Bantams are producing smaller eggs.

MYTH 10:  Chickens require a lot of work.

FALSE:  I guess this could be true or false, depending on what you’re willing to do.  For me, I’ve taken the approach to do a little bit each day….cleaning out the coop, feeding, water, inspecting the security of the chicken livable area, etc.  They are fairly self-governing too.  Much easier to put the hens to bed at night than our own kids!  If you consider gathering eggs each day some form of “work” then there could be an argument on that one.  But, to me, the gathering of eggs each day is like having a birthday gift or Christmas present every afternoon!

(Many of the ideas from this post were discovered on the website, www.chickenowners.com.)