~Chicken facts~

-On average, a hen lays 300 eggs per year.

-Nine egg yolks have been found in one chicken egg.

-A mother hen turns her egg approximately 50 times in a day. This is so the yolk does not stick to the shell.

-To produce a dozen eggs, a hen has to eat about four pounds of feed.

-The largest chicken egg ever laid weighed a pound and had a double yolk and shell.

-A chicken with red earlobes will produce brown eggs, and a chicken with white earlobes will produce white eggs.

-A chicken is 75% water.

-In the U.S., approximately 46% of the chicken that is eaten by people comes from restaurants or other food outlets.

-Hens will produce larger eggs as they grow older.

-A chicken loses its feathers when it becomes stressed.

-A chicken once had its head cut off and survived for over eighteen months, headless.

-A chickens' body temperature normally runs at 102-103 degrees F.

-A rooster takes 18-20 breaths a minute, a hen 30-35.

-There are over 150 varieties of domestic chickens.

-Chickens are not capable of sustained flight.

-It takes a hen 24-26 hours to lay an egg.

-The latin name for chicken is Gallus Domesticus.

-Chickens come in an infinite variety of colors and patterns.

-Chickens lay different colored eggs, from white, to brown, to green, to pink, to blue.

-A chicken can have 4 or 5 toes on each foot.

-A chick takes 21 days to hatch.

-Chickens were domesticated about 8000 years ago.

-Americans consume 8 billion chickens a year.

-All domestic chickens can be genetically traced to Gallus Gallus, The Red Jungle Fowl.

-It takes 4 lbs.+ of feed to make 1 dozen eggs.

-The chicken was once considered a sacred animal symbolizing the sun.

-Breeds were developed to provide plumage for ceremonial costumes.

-The first Poultry Exhibition was held in the United States on November 14, 1849.

-One trait, called Melanosis, causes chickens' bones, ligaments, skin and tendons to be colored BLACK.

-In 1925, hens laid an average of 100 eggs a year. In 1979, the World Record was set by a White Leghorn who laid 371 eggs in 364 days!!!

-A hen lives an average of 5-7 years, but can live up to 20 years. She'll lay eggs her entire life, with production decreasing every year from year one.

-An egg starts growing into a chick when it reaches a temperature of 86 degrees F.

-Alektorophobia is the name given to "The Fear of Chickens".

-suz-