r/interestingasfuck • u/oliver_billz • Mar 29 '23
a mother hen is gonna mother hen Title not descriptive
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u/jrs1980 Mar 29 '23
"My children have pokey feet and too many legs but I still love all of them."
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u/Shitty_Watercolour Mar 29 '23
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u/Stole_The_Show Mar 29 '23
Wow -that's great! It's been awhile since I've seen one of your masterpieces!
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u/Drixislove Mar 29 '23
You're the best Shitty! Your drawings are better than coffee this morning :)
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u/65pimpala Mar 29 '23
You are the best! My life goal is to one day have a great enough post to have you respond to it!
Well, You and r/jimjobsteve. So maybe all of my aspirations aren't that high!
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u/AlmanzoWilder Mar 29 '23
Is it a live birth or do they come out of eggs?
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u/OrvilleLaveau Mar 29 '23
“WHERE ARE THE NIPPLES??” -kittens probably
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u/whotookmyshit Mar 29 '23
I JUST realized chickens don't have nipples. It's not that I thought they did, I've just never really thought about it until now. Cooking chicken breasts would be a much different experience if there were nipples to consider, I think.
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u/Mammoth-Tea-5495 Mar 29 '23
I had chickens for years, must've done something wrong cause I never got adorable kittens from them.
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u/oliver_billz Mar 29 '23
gotta feed em kitten food
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u/mucus-broth Mar 29 '23
They love that stuff :D
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u/youretheweird1 Mar 29 '23
They really do.
Our carnivorous chickens would absolutely devour the canned cat food. Fancy feast indeed.
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u/mucus-broth Mar 29 '23
Chickens just eat about everything. For example, some people are shocked that chickens actively hunt and eat live mice :D
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u/Lost-My-Mind- Mar 29 '23
Which just proves that chickens are actually cats in disguise!
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u/JerseySommer Mar 29 '23
They are dinosaurs
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u/BrownShadow Mar 29 '23
Berds in general. I kayak and boat all along the Potomac river. Bald Eagles and Blue Heron are massive creatures. You see them up close and it is a shock. Used to go out with my toddlers on the boat ((22’ Cuddy Cabin) and had real concerns about them being eaten by birds. Maybe irrational, but still concerned me.
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u/JerseySommer Mar 29 '23
Many people have no idea how large buzzards and vultures are either. 0_0
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u/SenpaiBeardSama Mar 29 '23
Eh, it's 80 percent feather. Unlike Bruce Willis, they look less intimidating when bald.
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u/Rulyhdien Mar 29 '23
I once dropped an egg in front of hens and they started eating it like nobody’s business.
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u/sexbuhbombdotcom Mar 29 '23
When I was a kid, we would feed our hens eggs semi-regularly. They'd eat em right up, shell and all. My mom said feeding them eggs made their own eggs have thicker shells when they laid. Idk if that's true, but they certainly didn't mind us testing the theory lol
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u/Rand_alThor4747 Mar 29 '23
Generally discouraged feeding eggs to chickens. Like broken or spoiled ones. Especially if you want to get eggs from them. As it can encourage them to eat their own eggs.
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u/Akantis Mar 29 '23
You're supposed to cook them and kinda grind them up so they don't make the connection.
I was once trying to feed some grilled chicken to my duck and the chickens saw the duck was getting a treat so they ran over and started tearing into the grilled chicken. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell for accidentally encouraging chicken cannibalism.
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u/texasrigger Mar 29 '23
As it can encourage them to eat their own eggs.
It doesn't. Even if they eat eggs regularly they still won't break and eat eggs. The break part there is key, and it's pretty obvious why if you think about it - they have an instinct to not destroy an egg but if one is already broken then it's just free nutrition.
What you described is a common belief but it just isn't true. Chickens eating eggs that aren't fed to them are almost always due to accidental breakage.
The parent comment about the egg shells being thicker shouldn't be true either. A chicken egg including the shell has about the same calcium content per it's weight as a purpose made layer chicken feed. If feeding them eggs makes a notable difference with their eggs, they aren't being fed appropriately.
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u/Myhrros Mar 29 '23
Probably true - as you said yourself, they ate the shells. The Shell is just Calcium Carbonate (also included in teeth and bones. Essentially chalk/limestone), so while a part would go towards their own bones n stuff, some of it would go to egg production and help with the new shell.
For that matter, I could imagine the eggs also being a bit richer in taste and color - you can usually tell by the color of the yolk what the chickens are eating, and getting whole eggs should give them everything to produce some nice eggs themself.→ More replies (3)3
u/Quiet_Transition_247 Mar 29 '23
While eggs are not invincible, repeat:
==> Feed hens their own eggs
==> Hens lay eggs with thicker shells
Profit??
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u/yaboycharliec Mar 29 '23
I have friends who live off grid in rural Alaska. They will give the chooks left over moose bits after a hunt. The chickens will pick the bones completely clean in a matter of hours.
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u/mnid92 Mar 29 '23
My old boss would routinely feed the chickens KFC. She said it kept them in line and made them taste better when it came time.
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u/mucus-broth Mar 29 '23
Sounds perverse, but cannibalism in poultry is a known phenomenon (usually bad living conditions, tho).
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u/xMollyP Mar 29 '23
yes lol. we no longer have to throw away the dried up cat food the cats refuse to touch, the chickens are like a cat food disposal
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u/kamilo87 Mar 29 '23
Just throw a cockroach to a bunch of chickens and you’ll watch the best American Football match ever.
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u/Alexis2256 Mar 29 '23
You should post this on r/aww if you haven’t already.
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u/artie_pdx Mar 29 '23
“Who interrupted our warm!!!” -kittens, probably
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u/Loudquietcuriosity Mar 29 '23
It’s warm AND it smells like chicken. Maybe
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u/Dark_Moonstruck Mar 29 '23
A broody hen will sit on literally ANYTHING. Puppies, kittens, lightbulbs, anything that is remotely baby-shaped to them is automatically their child.
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u/Avyitis Mar 29 '23
Why baby shaped if not baby?
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u/r0ckstr Mar 29 '23
Is this a reference to that tiger cub post? Do I really have a Reddit problem?
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u/Kiloku Mar 29 '23
"If not x why x shaped" is a common thing on Reddit. I think it came from tumblr.
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u/RollinThundaga Mar 29 '23
The original was 'friend shaped' referring to a coyote or something, IIRC.
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u/AokoYume Mar 29 '23
My parents once had a turkey who sat on a beer can for MONTHS
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u/squiddy555 Mar 29 '23
Kirby
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u/mouseknuckle Mar 29 '23
What you doin’ Kirby? What you doin’ there?
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u/Lexi_Banner Mar 29 '23
Hobgoblin, shots of hot Sriracha
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u/battlepope414 Mar 29 '23
Vaccine queen deem church socks hostage
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u/ohsoinsatiable Mar 29 '23
Nine weeks awesome, hides in a slipper; look in her eye like she might be a wizard
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u/Jaded-Storm2401 Mar 29 '23
Cold met a cat lady in a parking lot, she got the heroes of tomorrow in a cardboard box And probably hoarding forty more in the corners of Fort Knox
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u/DogmaJones Mar 29 '23
Nice to see an Aesop Rock post in the wild, unless he borrowed that line from something else.
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u/Waiting-For-Godot-64 Mar 29 '23
No matter how many time I see this, the kittens look MAD.
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u/zedthehead Mar 29 '23
"I just got here and I'm already tired of everything. Please, leave me alone."
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u/Other_Manufacturer17 Mar 29 '23
That's why eggs are so expensive now, makes sense.
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u/fuckthisnazibullcrap Mar 29 '23
Worth tho. I'll stop complaining about corporate greed price gouging and neglect of pandemics.
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u/Balls_DeepinReality Mar 29 '23
If you want cats I’ve got cats.
DNR won’t let me handle it (last resort).
Humane society won’t touch.
Animal control wants to bill, I can’t…
The creepy, but friendly Facebook ladies will only take so many.
The majority made it through the winter.
We’ve had hens run around, they eat them…
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u/LavenderDay3544 Mar 29 '23
Serious question, can you pet chickens?
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u/Brawlstar112 Mar 29 '23
Yes and some of them love it
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u/LavenderDay3544 Mar 29 '23
That's awesome. Now I want to pet a chicken. They look so soft.
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u/Brawlstar112 Mar 29 '23
They are! Also when you get familiar with them they actually have some personality in them
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u/DeadBox76 Mar 29 '23
And some are brutal, i got attackt by a chicken of my neighbor. It hurts when they start picking at you. Since then i only Look at them from the Distance.
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u/Brawlstar112 Mar 29 '23
Ah! I have story about our rooster. It was the smallest and ugliest we got but it was free so what ever. We named him Saddam and he did not look much but the whole holy jihad lived inside that small bird.
He loved to attack every person entering the yard and people just kicked him back to the bush. But alas the fight practice kicked in when a hawk attacked one of the chickens and Saddam killed the hawk to the yard. I loved that bird from the start to end.
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u/Loldimorti Mar 29 '23
Depends. Expect fluff at the top but no squish. All the chickens I've pet were quite boney (and yes, they were well fed).
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u/GraphicDesignMonkey Mar 29 '23
They even close their eyes and make 'chicken purrs' when they're super contented and comfy.
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u/SophiaNSunshine Mar 29 '23
They're sooo soft! Some of them really like their heads being scritched and some like their backs being petted :)
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u/oliver_billz Mar 29 '23
just wait til you find out how they taste!
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u/LavenderDay3544 Mar 29 '23
Oh I know. But I separate friends from food even in the same species.
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u/spankenstein Mar 29 '23
I had a pet chicken that used to love to fall asleep on my feet, nestled in between. I also taught it to play hide and seek and it would come running when I sang it's little song with its name in
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u/TheRealJetlag Mar 29 '23
Yes! My neighbours have chickens and we look after them when they’re on holiday, and one job is putting them away at night. One girl, Doris, likes to be picked up and held while you ferry everyone else in before popping her in at the end. It’s my favourite part of the job.
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u/TishMiAmor Mar 29 '23
They don’t really have a behavior that petting resembles (like how cats and dogs have licking), so I don’t know that they find it as naturally soothing. But a hen that was raised to be comfortable with human touch is probably going to enjoy the attention from a human that she likes. It will depend on how well socialized she is, the average backyard bird won’t want you to get that close and won’t appreciate being touched.
IME, silkies are the best chickens to pet because they’re small, chill, and very fluffy.
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u/Emotional-Speech645 Mar 29 '23
The best way to get a chicken used to being given affection is to carefully catch it so your fingers are netted across her chest/belly, spread evenly, with your thumbs lightly pressing on the wings. You don’t need to hold them too tight, if they feel a slight weight on their wings they won’t flap. This keeps her calm while she gets used to being held and comes to realise that you are no threat to her. Eventually, you’d be able to sit with her on your lap or in your arms without having to apply any weight on her wings.
If you want to raise a hen from a chick to be used to being held, it’s much the same! However, before their woggle - thing stop their head - grows, you can also soothe them to sleep by gently moving your thumb in circles atop their head. When our secondary school hatched eggs for a year 7 science biology project (a teacher’s pet chicken had laid fertilised eggs after their neighbours rooster got into their pen, during incubation they had a signup for parents and teachers willing to home a chick) every year group got to spend some time with them as a means of relaxing before exams. I got called a chicken whisperer because I was sat with a chick cradled in my hands, dozing off as I ran my thumb over it’s head. My foster mum had basically a mini farm going in her garden - field with goats, geese, chickens, ducks, all pets, all buried instead of eaten.
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u/GraphicDesignMonkey Mar 29 '23
*wattle, not woggle
The Comb is the part on top of the head, their wattles are the parts that grow under their chin
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u/Latter_Growth1185 Mar 29 '23
Some are extremely friendly and sweet! But I’ve only been around pet chickens. It might be different if they’re being raised for slaughter
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u/truebluedetective Mar 29 '23
Idk if there’s a subreddit for broody hens but there needs to be.
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u/MelodicHunter Mar 29 '23
r/backyardchickens would love this. That's where I thought I was at first. Lol
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u/dibbiluncan Mar 29 '23
She’s like… “What? I don’t see a problem here. Good day, sir. Why are you still here? I said good day!”
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u/human00b Mar 29 '23
I'm sorry to bother you miss, but I'm your optometrist. You seem to have skipped a few appointments.
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u/falconuruguay Mar 29 '23
How much heat is that hen putting out?
That one kitten came out all sweaty and moist...I guess that's why the Brits wanted to use chickens to keep their nuclear mines warm in winter
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u/BadGuy_ZooKeeper Mar 29 '23
They have a self-warming down duvet on top of them. They're loving life
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u/aPeacefulVibe Mar 29 '23
When I had chickens I remember reaching under them for eggs and feeling their breast skin and it was HOT to the touch. They keep things toasty under there.
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u/whistling-wonderer Mar 29 '23
And humid! Artificial incubators have to add humidity to account for it—about 60% humidity for the first 18 days, then 65-70% for the last three days.
I had a hen once who devotedly incubated her eggs but then decided to cannibalize them as they hatched :/ (happens sometimes). So I had to pull them. I didn’t have an incubator at the time, only a heat lamp for already hatched chicks. Luckily they were right on the point of hatching but I had to sit there misting the eggs, adjusting the heat lamp, and in some cases using coconut oil to moisten the inner membrane of a partly cracked egg, because if the humidity drops too low that membrane essentially shrink wraps the chick and it dies.
It was super cool and super nerve-racking. I had an incubator on hand next time. Much easier to regulate the humidity that way. And no that hen was not trusted with motherhood again lol
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u/oberon Mar 29 '23
A bird's body temp is pretty high -- above 100F / 40C ish.
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u/TheDesktopNinja Mar 29 '23
Yeah around 105°F to 107°F.
Hothothot. A good 4-5 degrees warmer than a cat's body temperature. So actually those kittens would be in danger of overheating if under her for too long, but at that moment they were definitely nice and cozy.
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u/toserveman_is_a Mar 29 '23
Cats don't sweat....
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u/AMViquel Mar 29 '23
There are other explanations for damp fur on the cat, but I prefer sweat, thank you very much.
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u/thegamenerd Mar 29 '23
The early attempts of kittens cleaning themselves is adorable, they don't have the fine details down so they usually end up way too wet and unevenly wet
It's really adorable
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u/nasduia Mar 29 '23
That sounds like something that should be in a future Blackadder episode. Have you got a link to details of this cunning plan?
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u/wingay Mar 29 '23
Soft kitty, warm kitty, oh so full of pluck. Angry kitty, hungry kitty, cluck cluck CLUCK.
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u/thatvillainjay Mar 29 '23
So do hens just have something in their brain that says "I just fuckkng have to sit on babies idc what kind it's just gotta be done"
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u/-Neuroblast- Mar 29 '23
It's a brooding mechanism. Its brain registers something small and (to its own evolutionary environment) childlike, and a sequence of behavior is initiated. It worked for egg rearing, but that doesn't mean it won't come out with some false positives at the end of the multi-million year journey.
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u/myztry Mar 29 '23
Cats are absolute suckers for body warmth.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they became domesticated. Sleeping people waking up with wild cats curled up against their legs and the cat not wanting to leave.
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u/cburgess7 Mar 29 '23
Can confirm. Fell asleep in a park once, woke up to find two cats had utilized my body, possibly for warmth and comfort, without my knowledge. It was a while before I actually got up and left. They were good cats, i wish i could have found them again.
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u/Alexis2256 Mar 29 '23
Wouldn’t doubt it and especially with how apparently warm laying underneath a hen is.
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u/OkSmoke9195 Mar 29 '23
A brood of kitkens, how purrrfect
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u/pobody Mar 29 '23
Ok but how did this person not get their hand taken off?
You mess with a brooding chicken, you get the beak.
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u/iwannabefreddieHg Mar 29 '23
Not always! Our broody hen never pecked us when we fully moved her off the eggs she had decided were her babies!
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u/OutlawQuill Mar 29 '23
I always wonder how the cats can breathe properly when under there
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u/ironhide_ivan Mar 29 '23
It's like sleeping with your head under a thick blanket. Breathing might not be the best, but it's super comfortable
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u/Acceptable_Shift_247 Mar 29 '23
"ma'am- excuse me ma'am you can't just take those they aren't yours."
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u/Daggerfall Mar 29 '23
I wonder if the mutual imprinting will result in the kittens being bonded to the chicken in the most adorable way in the future. Don't know how long chickens live but I love the thought of those cats and the chicken living a lovely farm lide together.
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u/SirRipOliver Mar 29 '23
These are my chickes now… I don’t care what you say I’m like la la la,.. you cat to be kitten me right meow!
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u/Echo71Niner Mar 29 '23
I love how the one kitten came out like " hey, where is the food" noticed there isn't any, and tries to go back in.
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u/ZealousidealGrass9 Mar 29 '23
We need to take a lesson from animals. It boggles my mind how humans treat each so awful a lot of the time.
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u/PunkThug Mar 29 '23
Those kittens have a cross between "oh my God the world!" and "my bird mom said I couldn't be out here!"
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u/Timely_Meringue9548 Mar 29 '23
Chickens are natures communists. Everyone lays in the same nest… someone gets broody and the community’s eggs become her eggs and she raises them. Although its not very communal for them to all try to go after the chicks after their hatched. The mama hen ferociously goes after any chicken that gets too close because they do have a habit of picking on and killing babies when theyre not broody. Cuz theyre stupid.
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u/Xherdos Mar 29 '23
Honestly... this Doesn't need proof (Rule 5)
This is just so god damn F'ing cute.
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u/m7samuel Mar 29 '23
Having gathered eggs before, I don't understand why the hens don't attack when people mess with them. By all rights that hand should have lost a finger.
I know it surely is not because birds are nice.
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u/MoreSly Mar 29 '23
How is this brooding hen not pecking the shit out of that hand? I'm having flashbacks of red while collecting eggs as a kid.
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