They can be either. "Straight run" just means the birds are not sexed prior to shipping. You take your chances as to whether the birds are hens or cockerels. Theyare slightly cheaper to buy this way and most small farms use the hens for layers and the young cockerels for meat once they are identified.
Yes, they are. The ones that produce baby chickens have been fertilized, and the ones that we eat are not fertilized. Ask your grocer about the availability of duck eggs.
there are many different types of chicken which vary from show breeds to just layers
Dominique's are steady and good winter layers. They often produce eggs every day or every other day. They are considered moderate layers.
When healthy and with proper nutrition, every 24 hours for heavy layers.
My Ameraucana hens usually start with their first egg at about week 18. often with a break for a few days after (to get over the shock of what has happened) but then are quite prolific layers. Often laying an egg daily until the first molt.
No. Layers are layers and broilers are meat birds
Layers- chickens raised to lay eggs Broilers- chickens raised for meat.
Yes, they are. The ones that produce baby chickens have been fertilized, and the ones that we eat are not fertilized. Ask your grocer about the availability of duck eggs.
No, you do not have to mix layers mash with water. Layers mash is designed to be fed dry to chickens. Water should be provided separately for chickens to drink.
Layers or Hens.
Layers
White Leghorns are the most common breed of layer chickens.
They will lay a bit but eggs are quite small. I will go with production reds or americana chickens for some great egg laying hens.
No. Hens that are "too old to lay anymore" would make very poor market quality chicken. Slaughterhouses that process chickens for the food industry get their chickens from farms where the chickens are raised specifically for the meat market. "Overage" layers that are sent to slaughter wind up in cat food, etc.
Do not mix the feed that you give to your chickens. It could be potentially harmful for them.
The best layer is probably the australorp. Next are leghorns and rhode island reds.
Orpingtons are very friendly and make relatively good layers. if you want a good layer, I'd recommend leghorns, but if they are not handled enough as chicks (as with all chickens) they can become fearful or nervous. the most foolproof way to get a chickens to respond to you, is, in my experience, to raise it alone and without any other chicks around it, and INSIDE the house, where it will get the most attention. in doing this, YOU become the mother hen, and that stays throughout the chicken's life. although this probably works with all chickens, i tried this method on a leghorn who is now the sweetest thing, but doesn't like any other chickens but her "friend" Darkflight, one of my mixed breed roos. so if you want chickens that are social with people but not other chickens, try that. also I'm sure it would work with a SMALL flock of two or three raised that way.....