Chickens Every Day
Dedicated to helping backyard chicken owners keep the happiest and healthiest flocks we can.
Chickens Every Day
Head to Toe Chickens
Are we ready, pawpaw? Hello friends and welcome to Chicken. Every Day, a podcast for you, the backyard chicken enthusiast, and mine. Your host is my Pawpaw, gary, Gary Valerie of Senla Backyard Chickens. Here we have fun while sharing ideas and learning how to care for our foul-feathered friends. Check out our videos at Senla that's C-E-N-L-A Backyard Chickens on YouTube, tiktok and Facebook. So, without further ado, let's start today's show. How was that?
Speaker 2:Hey guys, gary with CENLA, backyard Chickens and the Chickens Everyday Podcast, thank y'all for tuning in. You know, the other day I was out sitting out in the backyard and just watching the chickens and it just occurred to me what a fascinating animal these little things are and how they must have evolved and changed over the centuries to become the bird that we know today. So I decided to do some internet investigating to see just how these birds react and act, with all the sensory organs that they have their brain, their wings, their waddles, different things like that. So that's what I want to talk about them today. Hope you'll find it interesting, as I found it was very fascinating just to look these things up, some of which you guys probably already know. Maybe there's a few things that you don't, but chickens have been domesticated for anywhere between 5,000 and 8,000 years, depending on whose research that you're accessing. Domestic chickens descended from the red jungle fowl. It's called Gallus gallus, now more referred to as Gallus domesticus. Because they're domesticated animals and while the exact timeline and location are still being researched, archaeological and genetic evidence points to domestication occurring first in Southeast Asia, potentially in a couple of multiple locations, and spreading east and west from there. From Southeast Asia, domesticated chickens spread to other parts of the world, likely following trade routes, reaching Europe around 800 BCE and becoming more widely consumed after the Roman era. While the precise start date remains debated, evidence points to the chicken domestication originating in said southeast ages, sometime between 3,500 to 8,000 years Again, depending on what research that you're looking at, with the process being influenced by human agricultural practices and the bird's adaptability to living near people, and, as we all know, they are highly adapted to living near people. So we're going to start at the top.
Speaker 2:The combs and waddles. Talk about these chickens. Chickens' combs and waddles are the fleshly organs on the bird's head. They come in several different shapes and sizes depending on the breed of chicken and sex. A chicken's health can often be gauged just from looking at the comb or waddle. If you notice that your chicken's waddle normally is blood red standing straight up, and now it's got a deeper, darker, maybe even a purplish color laying flopped over, chances are that your chicken is not feeling well and is having some health issues. Even maybe even stress from heat can cause some of this as well. Now, within the wattle and combs, their cells are several blood vessels, and these are close to the surface and they work like miniature radiators to help dissipate heat and cool the bird. If you've ever seen an elephant, especially the African elephant with these big giant ears, they work the same way. Their ears have blood vessels close to the surface. They flap their ears, get air going around them and that helps to dissipate heat, keep the animals cooler. A chicken can actually restrict the blood flow to their comb to help keep them warm during the winter. Isn't that cool? To their comb to help keep them warm during the winter, isn't that cool? So it stands for reason that a chicken with a large comb would do better in the heat than a chicken with a small one.
Speaker 2:Obviously, and right now we recognize nine different types of combs. The single comb, which is the most common, that's the upright comb. Coming off the top of the head you can find that leg horns. The pea comb, which is small, rounded, lots of wrinkles. The Americana chicken is an example of a pea comb. The buttercup, which is quite rare, is two rows of points on either side of the base of the comb. The Sicilian buttercup chicken is that example.
Speaker 2:Strawberry comb that's a large comb sitting forward on the head and resembling, hopefully, what they think is a strawberry, the Yokohama chicken, walnut comb, large with several deep wrinkles that also sits forward on the bird's head. A silky is an example of that. A rose comb, which is small, fairly flat, with a nubby appearance. You go outside and look at my wine dots. They have a rose comb, a cushion comb, which is a smaller version of a strawberry comb, and the chance to appear is a chicken with a cushion comb, a carnation which is not at all very common, but it's similar to a single comb, but with extra points on the blade and, if I can pronounce this right, I'm looking at the word right now a penedesenca P-E-N-E-D-E-S-E-N-C-A for those of you which probably most of you who can pronounce words a lot better than I can. And finally, the V-comb, and that's a two-pointed comb in the shape of a V and the Salton Chicken has that Lowering on the chicken's head.
Speaker 2:We get to the beak of the chicken and, as in all birds, it's a complex sensory organ with numerous nerve endings on it. I did not realize that the beak not only serves to grasp and manipulate food items, but it's also used to manipulate non-food objects in nesting and exploration, drinking and training, and it's also used as a weapon in defense in aggressive encounters. You've probably seen your chickens using their beak in all of these. Not to mention, they will take their beak and they will groom it. They'll rub it on the ground, they'll rub it against wood, they'll rub it against different things, all to keep their beak in good shape. This is something that's important for them to do, the chicken's hearing.
Speaker 2:They can detect both low and high frequency sound at a variety of pressure levels. Their adeptness with low frequency sound may include the capacity to detect sound that humans cannot hear. That would be interesting. Chicken eyes this is kind of neat.
Speaker 2:Chickens have exceptional eyesight, with a wider field of vision and superior color perception compared to humans. Their eyes, located on the sides of their head, provide them nearly 300 degrees of vision, allowing them to detect predators effectively. Humans, conversely, have about 120 degrees of vision. Chickens also have a unique ability to focus on both near and far objects simultaneously due to their eyes having different focal lengths. That's kind of cool. They can not only see red, green and blue, like us, but also ultraviolet light, giving them a broader range of colors and shapes. Compared to us, they have a higher portion of cone cells in their eyes, which are responsible for color vision in bright light and are essentially adapted for perceiving movement.
Speaker 2:Chickens also have a third eyelid, and it's called the neticulating membrane, which slides horizontally to protect and moisten the eye. And while they have excellent day vision, they have really relatively poor night vision. If you've ever been out in your chicken coop at night, you'll notice that the chickens who normally would run away from you. They just sit there. You can reach up, grab them, do things with them, put them back up there. They're going to probably gripe and complain, but they're not going anywhere because their vision is that restricted at night.
Speaker 2:Next we get to the chicken brain. Chickens are very social animals and they always prefer to live in groups. They have a dominant and subordinate individuals and can become depressed when taken away from their flock. They often exhibit deceptive behavior, suggesting a good working memory and cognitive flexibility. Who figured that? Chickens can learn and remember and have over 30 different vocalizations to communicate a variety of messages, including warnings about predators, emotions, announcements such as finding a food source? They can recognize over 100 different faces and respond differently depending upon who they see. Chickens experience REM sleep, r-e-m, which is associated with dreaming in us humans and that leads to speculation that maybe chickens dream as well.
Speaker 2:Who would wonder what they would dream of. Next we get to their feathers. Chicken feathers are made of keratin, just like our fingernails. Several multiple purpose. They serve I'm sorry multiple purposes beyond just flight, including insulation, camouflage and attracting mates. They vary in shape and placement on the bird's body, with outer feathers like flight feathers and tail feathers, providing protection from the elements and aiding in maneuverability. Not all parts of a chicken's body are covered with feathers only about 91% on average. They account for between 4 and 9% of the chicken's body weight.
Speaker 2:All chickens undergo an annual mow, losing and regrowing of feathers, typically in the fall where old feathers of shed and new ones grow in. It's worth noting that not all feathers are replaced each year. This depends highly on the breed and the extent of feathers that are damaged. While some breeds are better than others, chickens over the years have been bred to be bigger and heavier and are capable now of only short bursts of flight, designed primarily for escaping predators. Some of the heavier breeds can only use their feathers for hopping in very short glides. Legs and feet consist of bones, skins, cartilage and tendons.
Speaker 2:Chicken feet consist of bones, skins, cartilage and tendons. The legs, which include the shank and cock, which is the ankle, are covered in scales made of keratin. Chicken feet have three toes forward and one toe back, but fall. Some breeds we know have an extra toe and these are adapted for gripping perches. So some breeds, like I said, have five.
Speaker 2:Chicken feet are sources of collagen and protein, while sometimes deep fried, they are also used in bone broth. My daughter, madeline, will buy chicken feet. She makes bone broth for her spoiled puppies and she even sells it, actually, if you want to find out something about that and apparently the dogs really dig it. So, and I'm sure you might know, chickens can experience various leg and foot problems, including scaly leg mites, spratal leg injuries and infections, and you may have seen bumblefoot before on your birds as well. The skeletal system Chicken skeletons are uniquely adapted for both flight and efficient movement on the ground. They have light, hollow bones, referred to as pneumatic bones. They are integrated in with their respiratory system, as well as specialized bones like the keel bone, which is front of the chest, which supports powerful flight muscles. The skeleton also plays a role in calcium storage, particularly in hens that are currently producing eggs.
Speaker 2:The lungs as mentioned before, the chicken's skeletal system is integrated with their respiratory system. Their lungs are rigid and fairly small. The lungs do not expand and contract. They rely, however, on a network of nine air sacs throughout the chicken's body to circulate this air and facilitate gas exchange. Facilitate gas exchange the expansion and contraction of the ribs, wings and other actions allow for the continuous flow of fresh air through the lungs. The efficiency of chicken breathing allows them to absorb oxygen while both inhaling and exhaling. So that is pretty cool that both the inhale and exhale your chickens are oxygenated blood to them. Also, with the fact that chickens lungs do not move and they depend on these air sacs which are distributed in various areas of the body.
Speaker 2:If we hold a chicken too tight, we can actually suffocate the chicken, deprive them of oxygen. They need this movement of the ribs. And what have you to breathe? A lot of roosters. If they feel like they don't have quite enough oxygen before they crow, they're going to stand tall, try to get all these air sacs open and they're going to flap their wings and this flapping action helps pump up this air in their system and then they give this great, big, beautiful crow out Next we get to the digestive system.
Speaker 2:A chicken's digestive system features a beak instead of teeth, a crop for storage, a gizzard for grinding and a cloaca for waste elimination. Since chickens lack teeth, they swallow their food whole. The beak acts as a grasping tool and the esophagus, which is a muscular tube, transports the food to the crop. The crop, a pouch-like structure that serves as a storage area for ingested food. It moistens the food and allows for some initial softening before it moves on. The proventriculus, often called the true stomach, is where gastric juices, acids and enzymes are secreted to begin chemical digestion. Next comes the gizzard. The gizzard is a highly muscular organ that grinds food Chickens ingest grit and small stones that help grind the food, acting as teeth.
Speaker 2:The gizzard, being a powerful muscle, just works back and forth. Food is in there, the stones are in there, and they crush against the food and help ground them down. As the stones themselves wear down, they eventually become small enough to be passed through the digestive system and are then replaced when the chicken eats more. The small intestine is the primary site for digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Speaker 2:The large intestine absorbs water and electrolytes from the remaining digestive material. Cloca. This is the final chamber where both digestive and urinary waste are expelled. It's essentially the chicken's vent. It takes about 4 to 6 hours for food to travel through the chicken's vent. It takes about four to six hours for food to travel through the chicken's digestive system Waste. Because chickens lack a bladder, their urine and feces are excreted together through the cloaca. Their droppings are typically a combination of white urates and brown or black material. Chickens can experience a variety of digestive issues, some of which are common and easily addressed, while others may require veterinary attention. Common problems like include impacted crops, diarrhea and issues related to gut health and bacteria, their reproductive system and cycle A chicken reproductive system, both male and female is designed for internal fertilization and egg laying.
Speaker 2:The female reproductive system consists of an ovary and an oviduct only a single ovary by the way, where the yolk develops and the egg is formed respectively.
Speaker 2:The male reproductive system includes testes that produce sperm During mating the rooster transfers sperm to the hen's cloaca and fertilization occurs internally within the oviduct. The chicken reproductive system begins with a fertilized egg and progresses through embryonic development and hatching. It's worth noting that the clear or white of the egg is what the chicken develops from. The yellow oak is actually nutrition for the growing chick and it's kind of funny and maybe it's not that several vegans will eat the white part of the egg, thinking that that is not material. That's going to one day become a chick and discard the yolk and they're doing it actually backwards. By eating the white part of the egg they're actually eating what would have grown into a young chick. I've got a great video at my YouTube channel at Sinaloa Backyard Chickens, called how Chickens Make an Egg.
Speaker 2:Now 100% of the credit for that video goes to the Auburn University Department of Poultry Science and it is extremely informative and has some great animation. You guys really want to check that out. Now. I wanted to throw in there chickens, and you probably know this. They lay eggs anywhere from every 25 to 27 hours. Meaning a chicken that lays an egg at 8 o'clock this morning will probably lay an egg 10, 11 o'clock the next morning, the morning after that maybe noon, 1 o'clock, something like that.
Speaker 2:So, that leads some people to wonder why. Well then, eventually my chickens are going to start laying eggs at midnight, 2 am, 4 am, stuff like that. It doesn't work that way because a hen's ovulation cycle is directly related to daylight hours and the sun. By the time it gets to be 3, 4, 5, and maybe at the most 5 o'clock in the evening, but usually around three or four, the chicken cycle gets reset. They're going to skip a day or two and then they're going to start laying early in the morning again. They will work up to laying again up until three o'clock or four o'clock in the evening. They will reset again, skip a couple of days. That's how it works and that's why no chickens are going to lay absolutely every day because of this resetting of their cycle.
Speaker 2:Lastly, chickens and science. Chickens are valuable tools in scientific research, particularly in fields like immunology, embryology and virology. They are being increasingly utilized in biotechnology and technological advancements I'm pretty good at these big words by the time we get to the end including gene editing and the development of producing pharmaceuticals. Chickens are used to study the immune system due to their production of large amounts of antibodies, making them an invaluable model for understanding immune responses and developing vaccines. Many vaccines are developed inside chicken eggs and they're used to do this for various human diseases like influenza, chickenpox, mopox and yellow fever. Chickens have been crucial in understanding infectious diseases, including seminal contributions to virology, bacteriology and immunology, and play vital roles in all of this.
Speaker 2:Well, that's my deep dive into the parts of a chicken. I hope you guys have learned a little something, maybe even enjoyed some of this today. So remember, anytime you want to get in touch with me, you can email me at chickenseverydayatyahoocom that's C-H-I-C-K-E-N-S-E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y at yahoocom and I'm always looking to read what you guys have to say and if you have a good question, I'll put it on the air or answer your question via email, if I can, if you want to get on the podcast.
Speaker 2:we can certainly do that. So I would love to hear from you If you have chickens and you want to talk about them, if you're a professional and you want to talk about them, if you have another podcast and you want to be included on my podcast to talk about chickens, please get a hold of me. I would love to have you. So in the meantime, y'all guys, try to stay cool in all of this hot for the summer. Thanks for tuning in. Catch y'all guys later. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:That's all we have time for today. I really hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast. Be sure to watch our videos. So, on behalf of my Papa, gary, and me, sylvie, thanks for listening.
