A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens (4 page)

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Authors: Anne Perdeaux

BOOK: A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens

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. . . and they make ideal pets

Nothing New About Keeping Pet Chickens

In the American Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had a hen called Nellie who laid an egg under his bunk every morning. She went missing after the Battle of Gettysburg, and the retreat was delayed while everyone searched for her. Only when she was found nesting happily in an ambulance wagon could the defeated soldiers pack up and go.

In the same war, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment had a pet rooster called Jake. During the Battle of Fort Donelson, the rooster encouraged the troops by screeching defiance at the enemy and accompanied them into prison when the fort was captured. Seven months later the regiment returned to Tennessee, where Jake received a hero’s welcome. He died soon afterwards and was given a military funeral. A portrait of him has now been restored and includes a brass plaque summarizing his military career.

There was also a chicken who learned to parachute – we’ll come to her later . . .

Key Points

•
Check there are no restrictions on keeping chickens at your home

•
Registration with DEFRA is voluntary unless you keep more than fifty birds

•
Hens don’t need a cockerel to lay eggs

•
Infertile eggs can’t hatch and fertile eggs only develop if incubated

•
Good management will prevent smells and other problems

•
Feeding kitchen waste to chickens is now illegal

•
Chickens are omnivores

•
Make sure you have time to look after chickens – you will be legally responsible for their welfare

•
Consider what will happen when you are away from home

•
Keeping chickens is fun – but they are unlikely to pay for themselves in eggs

•
Find out as much as possible before buying any equipment or chickens

•
Chickens make good pets and are fairly independent

Quiz

How much have you found out about chickens already? Test yourself!

Question One

What do chickens eat?

(a)
Nothing but meat

(b)
Only vegetables

(c)
Both meat and vegetable products

Question Two

Which of these statements is
true
?

(a)
You don’t need to keep a cockerel for hens to lay eggs

(b)
Chicken eggs are only brown or white

(c)
All eggs have a baby chick inside

Question Three

How easy is it to keep chickens?

(a)
They can be left to look after themselves

(b)
Chickens need daily care

(c)
Only farmers know how to keep chickens

Question Four

You’ve decided you want to keep chickens – what should you do first?

(a)
Go out and buy some chickens

(b)
Order a chicken house

(c)
Find out as much as you can before buying anything

Question Five

Do chickens make good pets?

(a)
No, they are very fierce

(b)
Yes, they are usually friendly birds

(c)
They aren’t safe around children

Answers

One (c); Two (a); Three (b); Four (c); Five (b)

Did you get all the right answers? Well done if you did!

Have another look at Chapter One if you’re not sure about anything.

Chicken Chat

How many times do we talk about chickens without even realizing it? What about: ‘He’s a real chicken!’? This is often used to describe someone cowardly because chickens tend to run away from danger. It’s rather unfair though, as some chickens can be very brave. In this chapter you read about Jake, the heroic rooster who fought in the American Civil War, and in
Chapter 8
there’s the story of Myrtle, the skydiving chicken. Both chickens – but neither of them was ‘chicken’!