One of the more regular calls we receive at Hen Central relates to issues with the crop. For those among you that are more novice hen keepers the crop is the hen’s shopping basket. It sits on the front of the hen’s chest and is more prominent as it fills. Through the day she will collect tasty morsels of food and her crop can grow to the size of a small orange.
In one end and out the other! It is as important to know what you are putting in your hens, as it is to understand what is coming out the other end…
Selecting the best feed for your flock is very important when it comes to hens’ diets! You should always take time to top up their feeders with nutritious but delicious treats. Don’t overindulge them though!
From first glance, you may think that hens can’t have ears. But like us, and many birds, they have two, one ear located on each side of their head. And much like our own, they have eardrums, an inner, middle and outer ear and they hear just as well as we do!
Different breeds of hen have different shaped combs: Rose or Buttercup, Walnut or Strawberry, Pea or V shaped. Most ex-bats have a typical single comb with 5 or 6 points. A single comb is the most common type.
The term bird brain is often used as a derogatory term referring to someone not very bright. Yet chickens actually have very complex brains and use the information they process in a very particular way.
Chickens have a specialised system for getting oxygen into their body and removing carbon dioxide. They use an efficient combination of two methods to obtain oxygen, allowing
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