Farm Animals - Poultry

Chickens

Chickens Each September 50 pullets (young hens) are placed in a pen with the floor covered in a thick layer of wood shavings and straw. This is the deep litter or barn system. During the next ten months they will be expected to produce 300 eggs each! Wild birds lay in the spring and early summer as the day length increases. To encourage the hens to lay throughout the winter when the days are short, extra light must be given. The flock are sold at the end of July as they approach their first moult.

A cockerel, running with a dozen hens in the free range unit, provides (fertile) hatching eggs which are placed in an incubator. A temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius is maintained for three weeks. Just before the fully formed embryo breaks out of the shell it absorbs the yolk which nourishes it for the first two days of life. The chick emerges from the shell using a small egg tooth on the tip of its beak.

Day/Month	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June	July
1		39	35	40	36	47	43	40	40	38	28
2		40	34	43	39	43	43	37	40	36	33
3		37	38	40	39	44	40	43	41	34	32
4		40	42	38	47	45	43	38	38	39	33
5		41	39	35	42	43	40	36	42	41	42
6		47	41	40	43	45	42	40	38	37	41
7		47	33	39	46	39	42	49	39	39	38
8		48	38	39	35	43	43	41	40	37	31
9		37	42	42	38	41	41	40	40	39	33
10		46	43	37	42	41	43	37	40	34	41
11		50	40	35	42	40	39	41	40	35	27
12		47	40	39	41	48	39	48	39	40	46
13		45	35	37	37	41	39	40	38	39	41
14		42	38	34	35	43	41	40	44	37	39
15		45	40	32	34	41	39	40	44	34	37
16		46	41	37	41	39	39	38	40	41	30
17		43	41	36	44	43	40	36	39	40	31
18		46	42	39	38	41	40	39	41	36	End
19		42	41	36	37	41	36	43	38	34
20		47	37	37	34	41	42	40	43	43
21		40	50	39	36	39	41	41	38	38
22	Start	41	36	38	34	46	42	35	37	43
23	12	45	37	35	37	43	40	42	41	41
24	12	41	40	44	37	41	43	38	39	44
25	14	46	37	43	46	40	42	40	37	36
26	25	42	35	35	35	41	39	37	38	39
27	30	37	40	40	39	40	39	43	40	38
28	43	43	38	40	39	41	43	38	37	41
29	40	38	41	38	38		39	38	38	42
30	43	31	35	38	43		41	37	42	46
31		33		38	41		43		39
Total	197	1312	1169	1183	1215	1180	1266	1195	1230	1261	603

*Total egg production: September 23-July 17 (10 month egg laying period): 11811
Number of birds: 50
Average per bird: 236 for the 10 month period

Based on the above record each bird would have laid approximately 283 eggs over a 12 month period. (The National Average for a Battery Hen is 305).

Free range chickens

Hens which are allowed space to move around outside are called free range birds. They enjoy scratching around in the grass to find insects and seeds. The yolk of a free range egg is often slightly more orange in colour than that laid by a bird kept inside. It is due to something in the grass that they peck at.

Aylesbury Ducks

Aylesbury ducks are usually kept on farms for their meat.

Branstone Farm on the Isle of Wight
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