Roosters and hens have some similarities and some differences. This is an introduction to the differences between male and female chickens. We will talk about that more later. This rooster, which we named Snowy, has 'blonde' feathers on his neck. These are called hackles, and on roosters, they're long and pointed. When roosters fight, these stand up all around their heads. They're always a different color than the rest of the body. This is a female chicken. Her hackles are not pointed nor long. They're dull and the same color as her body. Roosters have larger combs and waddles than hens. A comb is the bit of skin on top of the chicken's head. Waddles are the skin underneath their beak. The combs usually stand up and the waddles are floppy. Hugh is still a baby, and the kind of chicken he is doesn't grow big waddles or combs. There are different kinds of combs. They come in different shapes and sizes, but the rooster always has a bigger one. The hen's comb and waddle is smaller than the rooster's. Saddle feathers are the feathers near the tail. On roosters, these are long, pointed, and droop down. On hens, there really aren't saddle feathers. They're just as long as all the other feathers and they don't hang down.
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Big Mama keeps all the roosters in line. She is a Barred Rock. She is very bossy and she has a little attitude. Whenever we collect eggs, she always yells at us. Bitey is not known for being friendly. Ameraucanas are usually known for being very sweet, but Bitey is not. She pecks us when we try to touch her, but she's okay when we hold her. Like all Ameraucanas, she has ear tufts, or 'puffy cheeks', and a beard (a little fluff under her beak). This is one of our Golden-Laced Wyandotte. We're not sure if it's a hen or rooster. It has features of both genders. We will talk about these features in another entry. Say 'hi' to Henny Penny! She is our Production Red hen. She's not the sweetest, but she's not mean either. This big boy is Hugh. He is our biggest rooster. Despite his size, he's a big baby. He's a Black Austrolorp, or Australian Orpington. Orpingtons are known for being very quiet and sweet. Those tufts of feathers under Lucy are her feet! Lucy is a Cochin Bantam. Bantams are small in size. She is not a "true bantam", meaning there are bigger versions of Cochins. She can be a little goofy sometimes. But, she is our sweetest chicken. She is really easy to catch. Most of Lucy's size is feathers. She is very fluffy. This beautiful lady is one of our Silver-Laced Wyandottes. She and her sisters don't have any names yet. The Silver-Laced and Golden-Laced are the same kind of chicken, but in different colors. Their attitudes are similar. They're not known for being nice. They can be bullies to smaller chickens. Trouble has earned his name. He is an Antwerp Belgian Bantam, or Barbu d'Anver. They are "true bantams", meaning there are no larger versions. They only come in this small size. The roosters are not very friendly toward people, but they're so small that their aggressiveness is kind of cute. The hens are very sweet and friendly. These are just a few of the chickens we have. We have other breeds that we haven't posted yet, but we will one day.
We have to apologize for the time between the first post and this one. We have had lots of rain storms and it has made it hard to get eggs and pictures. These are just a few different eggs that we have. There are thousands of different kinds of chickens around the world! Their eggs tend to be similar to one another, but there are some that lay unique colors, shapes, or sizes. This is a Barred Rock egg. It's kind of brownish, but not very dark. These look a lot like the brown eggs you can find in grocery stores. This is a Bantam Cochin egg. "Bantam" is chicken for "miniature". So, a bantam cochin is a miniature cochin! Since the chicken is smaller, so is the egg. A cochin egg looks kind of like the barred rock egg. They're about the same shade of brown, but a little bit lighter. These eggs have a blue tint to them. It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but they are blueish! Americanas and Ameraucanas are pretty much the same kind of chicken. Easter Eggers are chickens that are mixed--part Americana/Ameraucana and part something else. Easter Eggers may lay eggs that are blue, green, pink, or even olive green! This egg belongs to a Golden-Laced Wyandotte. It's a little more brown than a barred rock, but very oval shaped. Sometimes we can't tell the top from the bottom! This belongs to a Silver-Laced Wyandotte. It looks almost identical to the golden-laced wyandotte egg, but it's not quite as brown. These are usually very oval shaped, too, just like the golden-laced wyandotte eggs. These eggs are the same shade of brown as the barred rock eggs. These eggs belong to a Rhode Island Red and a Production Red hen. They are identical in every way. The only difference is, as you can see, the shape and size. But, that's only because each hen lays a size and shape unique to her, like a fingerprint. Production Reds are big-farm versions of Rhode Island Reds and were bred to lay lots of pretty, brown eggs. The brown eggs you find in grocery stores come from these hens! Just like any other egg, each egg that a Leghorn lays is unique to the hen that lays it. But, they're all solid white. All of the white eggs you find in grocery stores come from Leghorns! They're very reliable egg layers. These little eggs don't come from a chicken. They come from quail! We have Coturnix Quail. The brown spots on them is not dirt. Each egg is a little different. Unlike chickens, quail do not have an egg style unique to each hen. These two eggs came from the same hen. The brown spots help camouflage the eggs and help protect the eggs from the sun! It's their own version of sunblock! These eggs are so small, it takes 5 of them to equal one chicken egg. Another unique thing about these is that, many people who are allergic to chicken eggs can usually eat quail eggs. And, quail eggs don't have salmonella, a bacteria that can be found in chicken eggs that can make you very sick! Here you can see all of the eggs together. Can you see the different sizes and shapes? How about the different colors? Can you find the quail eggs? Despite how the shells look, all of the eggs look the same on the inside. The only difference is that the quail egg is smaller. Eggs from blue, green, white, and brown shells are all the same on the inside. They have the same nutrients. The nutrients in chicken eggs comes from what they eat. Chickens that get more variety in their diets will have more nutrients in their eggs.
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Just two brothers
Nanners & Mashers are brothers who just want to share their birds with the world. Archives
April 2016
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