Here at Maranatha farm we keep a small flock of free ranging chickens. That means that they are free to go around the farm yard and are not kept inside a hen house or cages. Our chickens are a hodge-podge collection of breeds and crosses. They are kept for eggs, bug control, and fun. Our ducks are just pets but they help keep the bugs down too in the farm yard. Every day is kind of like an Easter egg hunt as we look for the many places the hens hide their nests.
Mother Chickens:
Mother chickens are called hens. They are smaller and have smaller combs and whattles than father chickens or roosters. Hens can lay white or brown eggs. There is even one breed of chickens that lays green, blue, or pinkish colored eggs. You can tell what color eggs a hen will lay by the color of the skin around her ears. Hens with white skin around their ears lay white eggs and those with red skin lay brown eggs. Chickens like to eat bugs, weed seeds, grain, and fruit and vegatable scraps.
Father Chickens:
Father chickens are called roosters or cocks. They are bigger than hens and have large combs and wattles. Roosters also have bigger and longer tails than hens. They have sharp spurs on their legs that they use to fight other roosters with. Roosters can be mean and will sometime chase after people. Roosters crow in the morning to tell other roosters that they are king of the roost.
Baby Chickens:
Baby chickens are called chicks. A girl chick is called a pullet and a boy a cockerel. It takes 21 days after a hen starts to set on her nest for her eggs to hatch. Baby chicks are hatched with special feathers called downy feathers. They make the chicks soft and fluffy. Rather quickly new regular feathers will grow out and replace the soft down. Little chicks are able to run about and follow their mothers shortly after hatching. The mother is very protective of her brood (group of chicks) and will chase after anyone or other animal that gets too close. She is fearless when it comes to her babies. The hen will show the babies what is good to eat and clucks softly to them to get them to follow her every where she goes.