Facts About Chicken and Eggs

There are more chickens than any other species of bird - and there are even more chickens than people on earth.

Chickens are sometimes considered as the most abused animals on earth. Every year, there are more than 8.5 billion chickens killed for their flesh in United States alone. Compared to other land animals combined, there are still more chickens that are raised and killed for food.

In Indonesia, there is a rare breed of chicken that is completely black including its organs, beaks, bones and feathers, and they can be sold for more than $2,000. Many buyers aim for their black blood that is used in ceremonies. In fact, their blood is not really black but very dark red.

Chickens have a comb too, but unlike a human, they do not use their comb for their hairs. Chicken's comb is soft and smooth, and it sticks up from the animal's head. This comb helps them to stay cool as the chicken's blood goes into the comb. A healthy red comb means the chicken is ready to mate while a darker or lighter than usual can indicate that the chicken is sick. Beside red, certain breeds have purple combs and young chicken have pink combs.

Have you ever noticed why chickens keep their head in a fixed spot when they are moving or if you wiggle their body around? the answer is image stabilization.
When chicken is moving, its eyes have difficulties to focus on a stationary objects. Keeping its head still is chicken's way of correcting its vision.

Chicken can be easily hypnotized. Just hold its head down against the ground, use a chalk to draw a straight line start at the beak and extend outward in front of the face. If done correctly, you will successfully put the chicken into a state of trance for about 30 seconds to 30 minutes. In order to dehypnotize it, just give it a gentle push or clap your hands.

Claws and beaks are made from keratin. Chicken feathers are also made from keratin (a fibrous protein) and evolved from the scales. They have both scales (you can see them on their feet) and feathers. Their feathers are 20 times stronger than wood.

Chicken feet is a popular cuisine from many countries like Indonesia, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. In fact, consuming chicken feet can gain several health benefits as its key component is collagen. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body (according to the National Library of Medicine). It provides strength to ligaments, tendons, bones and scaffolding for skin wounds to heal. Beside collagen, chicken feet also a good source of hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, both of them provide health benefits.

Many people would think that chicken skin is bad for health. However, the Harvard School of Public Health explained that the majority of fat contained in the skin is unsaturated. And the consumption of this unsaturated fat is associated with lowered bad cholesterol as well as blood pressure levels. As long as the chicken is not deep-fried or battered, and not raised using chemicals, we can eat the skin occasionally and in small quantities.

Chicken eggs are the most consumed eggs in the world.

Your chicken earlobes can determine the color of the egg. White ear lobed chickens lay white eggs, while red ear lobes chickens lay brown eggs.

Whether your hens are being kept in the company of roosters or not, they will still lay eggs.

There are two types of eggs - fertilized and unfertilized. The difference between the two is located at whether a rooster has been involved or not. A rooster is not needed for hens to lay eggs. If a rooster mates with a hen then the egg it produces are fertilized, therefore with the right incubation condition its egg can bear chicks.

The formation of an egg's shell is not designed or created by the chicken. In fact, the egg grows the shell around itself - the same processes that happen in seashells and bones.

All egg yolks have cholesterol but chicken eggs have about three times less cholesterol than duck eggs.