Raising Chickens: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Flock Behavior

Starting a backyard flock of chickens is exciting. There is a lot to learn about how to care for them and there will be a few fun facts you’ll pick up along the way. Here are five things you didn’t already know about backyard flock behavior.

We are five years in to owning our own chickens and, while I still feel like a backyard chicken novice, I have learned a few things as a chicken owner. My husband grew up with chickens and has a lot of experience with them, but starting our own flock has had its rewards and challenges. Chickens are surprisingly easy to take care of, but they have some behaviors that can come as a surprise. Here are five things I didn’t know when I first became a chicken owner.

1. Chickens Don’t Lay Every Day

Contrary to common assumptions, hens do not lay an egg every single day. Depending on which breed of hens you have in your flock, you could have chickens that lay less than 100 days in a year while some breeds can lay close to 360. For a breed such as the Silkie, you’ll get less than 100 eggs, which means most of the days in the year you won’t have an egg laid. Australorps, however, can lay up to 364 eggs in a year. Choosing your chicken breeds carefully will allow you to control how many eggs you’ll yield.

2. Chickens Eat Their Own Eggs

This one came as a shock to me! If your hens don’t have enough food and water, they will get their nutrients and hydration through eating their own eggs. It makes sense when you think of it as a form of survival. Malnourished chickens will also slow their egg production and eggs can be scare, causing hens to be feisty over the few that are laid. Other than eating eggs for nutrients, chickens may also develop bad habits if a broken egg is left in a laying box. Through curiosity, hens may taste broken eggs if they’ve cracked in the laying box due to insufficient cushioning or crowding of hens (stepping on eggs). Making sure there are enough laying boxes for your hens and that each box is cushioned well with straw, shavings, or even fabric will help you avoid this issue.

3. Chickens Will Eat Your Plants

We love to let our chickens free range around our yard. The more bugs and seeds they eat in the wild, the happier they are and the better their egg production. They are omnivores so a wide variety of plants and insects/protein is essential to a thriving flock. But chickens will eat everything in sight! They don’t discriminate between wild roughage and garden plants. The first year we owned chickens they ate through all of the hosta plants in our yard. We’ve since tried to contain them to the areas of our lot that are wooded so we can still enjoy our landscaping.

4. Chickens Maintain a Pecking Order

Within your flock, your chickens will establish a hierarchy, with the tougher hens actually pecking at the weaker ones (hence the name pecking order). It’s important to pay special attention to any hens who may have incurred an injury, either as a result of bullying or some other injury, since the rest of the hens will pick up on their weakness and assert dominance over the weaker hen. Occasionally, a weaker or injured hen will need to be separated from the rest of the flock to heal and regain strength. And if you have a rooster… he is the king of the flock.

5. Chickens Bathe in Dust

Dust bathing is when chickens dig a shallow ditch in the ground, cover themselves in dust, then shake the dust off along with dead skin cells and unwanted insects. Dust bathing is also a way hens relax, socialize, and keep themselves cool. Water bathing is unnecessary for chickens, unless there is a wound that needs to be addressed. In order to maintain happy, heathy hens, make sure they have an area where they can dig a ditch in the ground to bathe in.

Bonus Fact: Chickens Like to Eat Ticks!

If you live in a place with a larger tick population, you’ll love to hear that chickens eat any bugs they can find, including ticks. The more we let our hens free-range in the yard, the less ticks we have. Since our children play outside for most of the day in the summer, this helps keep the risk of lyme and other diseases in check.

Did any of these facts surprise you? What have you learned along your chicken keeping journey? Share with me below!