1. Oh my goodness, what debeaking or blunting? That sounds so awful. What does that mean and do you do that? Alright, so I forgot to tell you about this kind of chicken care before. Debeaking is also called beak trimming. It's the permanent shortening of a chickens beak. We don't do that but sometimes their beaks do get a bit too long. I just use nail clippers and trim the tip.* Blunting is the same as debeaking. Another thing we do is trim their nails and spurs.* I use nail clippers again and a nail file. Blunting and debeaking do sound pretty bad. I actually did a little research to double check before posting. There's a picture of a chick being debeaked on Wikipedia and it looks so sad.
2. Is the research correct that a chicken does not forage
enough on its own to meet their requirements for protein and energy? Does this effect egg production? How do you fill the gap of their needs and
requirements and what can they do for themselves to have them produce the most
optimal for your family? I'm not really sure what research you're talking about. Our chickens recieve all of their nutrients in their feed(which is corn and other grains) and kitchen scraps. In the scraps they get all kinds of stuff that we would normally throw out, cereal, stale bread or crackers, rotten or peels from fruits and veggies, eggs shells, etc. Chickens also need forage or greens. A lot of ours get out of the pen and graze. Also, we give our goats hay right next to the chickens so they eat that too. So, a chicken does forage on it's own; they love all plants and grasses. Lack of nutrients does effect production. They'll lay less, lay undeveloped eggs, or get sick. Keeping them happy, with lots of treats and food, room to run, and sunshine really helps!
Hope that covered your questions.
Hope that covered your questions.
**I will take pictures of these and post them on "Chick-a-doodle" to demonstrate this stuff since they're hard to explain.
Love you,
P.S. I will be waiting to hear about the eggs. I really want to know.
have an awesome day
ww
Here's what I found on why they lay different color eggs...
Q: Why do chickens lay different colored eggs?
A: Well, we can tell you HOW the different colors are made, but there really isn't a good answer as to WHY the different colors are produced. (To read about how the egg shell colors are made, please view the "related questions" below.)
As to why, no one really knows. There are a few guesses. It's intuitive to think that the colors and patterns of bird eggs should help provide camouflage for the eggs while they're in the nest. However, it's been problematic to show a relationship. For instance, one scientist, Gotmark, painted eggs different colors (brown, white, blue, spotted) and placed them in nests with varying degrees of cover, then kept track of which eggs suffered predation. The color didn't seem to have any relation to the predation suffered, at least not in coniferous forests with chiefly avian predators. Similar experiments testing the effectiveness of egg crypsis have been repeated a few times with similar results
Still, there is a relationship between egg color and nest type in wild birds that suggests the difference has (or once had) to do with camouflage. White eggs are chiefly laid by cavity nesters, where the eggs will be more concealed. Grey and brown eggs are more often laid by ground nesting birds. Speckled eggs or blue eggs are often laid in open nests. There are a few exceptions, though. For instance, hummingbirds lay white eggs in an open nest, but they actually start incubating on the first day they lay an egg. (Most birds, including chickens, wait to gather a clutch, first.)
So, why do chickens lay different color eggs? The best we can tell you for sure is that they just do.
From MyPetChickenHatchery
That was the best answer I found. Love you!
kk
Here's what I found on why they lay different color eggs...
Q: Why do chickens lay different colored eggs?
As to why, no one really knows. There are a few guesses. It's intuitive to think that the colors and patterns of bird eggs should help provide camouflage for the eggs while they're in the nest. However, it's been problematic to show a relationship. For instance, one scientist, Gotmark, painted eggs different colors (brown, white, blue, spotted) and placed them in nests with varying degrees of cover, then kept track of which eggs suffered predation. The color didn't seem to have any relation to the predation suffered, at least not in coniferous forests with chiefly avian predators. Similar experiments testing the effectiveness of egg crypsis have been repeated a few times with similar results
Still, there is a relationship between egg color and nest type in wild birds that suggests the difference has (or once had) to do with camouflage. White eggs are chiefly laid by cavity nesters, where the eggs will be more concealed. Grey and brown eggs are more often laid by ground nesting birds. Speckled eggs or blue eggs are often laid in open nests. There are a few exceptions, though. For instance, hummingbirds lay white eggs in an open nest, but they actually start incubating on the first day they lay an egg. (Most birds, including chickens, wait to gather a clutch, first.)
So, why do chickens lay different color eggs? The best we can tell you for sure is that they just do.
From MyPetChickenHatchery
That was the best answer I found. Love you!
kk
Ha, love it, they just do!!! Thank you for the information.
ReplyDeleteI am learning so much through this blog.
so fun
love you
ww