40 Incredible Chicken Facts You Didn’t Know in 2024!

Wanting to learn some incredibly interesting and maybe surprising facts about chickens? We have put together 40 of the most interesting chicken facts we could find. Read on to learn more!

Here are 40 chicken facts that we didn’t know, and maybe you didn’t either…..

1. There are more chickens on earth than people – 33 billion. There are also more chickens than any other bird species.
2. Chickens undertake REM (Rapid Eye Movement) when sleeping. That means they are capable of dreaming, just like humans!
3. Chickens are very social beings that form bonds with other chickens. Some bonds are so close that grief at the death of another species member can be so significant that the chicken left behind will die soon afterwards.  
4. The cognitive skills of chickens are complex and developed, they are intelligent beings. 
5. They slurp grass just like we would spaghetti!
6. Chickens understand that when an object is taken away and hidden, it still exists. 
7. Chickens can remember over 100 different faces of people or animals.
8. A mother hen turns her eggs as often as 96 times in 24 hours.
9. The record number of eggs laid by a chicken in one day is 7. The record number of eggs laid by a chicken in one year is 371.
10. An egg develops at 88 degrees Fahrenheit and is laid at 105 degrees.
11. Chickens were domesticated in Southern China around 8,000 years ago in 6000 B.C.
12. The color of the egg depends on the chicken’s earlobes. Red ear lobed chickens lay brown eggs, while white ear lobed chickens lay white eggs.
13. Chickens lay larger eggs as they age but lay fewer than when they are younger.
14. Chickens can’t taste sweetness, however can taste saltiness.
15. A hen has to eat about four pounds of feed to make one dozen eggs.
16. On average, 97 chickens are killed every 0.05 seconds worldwide.
17. The record for most egg yolks in one egg is 9 yolks.
18. The largest chicken egg ever recorded weighed 12 ounces and contained two yolks.
19. Many chicken breeds can be found in a smaller bantam version.
20. The longest recorded flight by a chicken lasted for 13 seconds at a total distance of 301 feet.
21. A chicken’s body composition is 70% water, that’s 10% more water content than the human body.
22. If the white of an egg is cloudy, it means the egg is fresh.
23. Chickens can see and dream in full color.
24. When chickens feel stressed, they start to lose their feathers.
25. It only takes about 26 hours for a hen to produce an egg, and 21 days for the egg to incubate and hatch.
26. Chickens have their own unique language with over 30 different sounds used to communicate.
27. Baby chicks can develop object permanence as soon as 2 days old, while it takes human babies around 7 months.
28. A hen will start to eat their own eggs if not enough calcium is provided in their diet.
29. In order to clean themselves, chickens take dust baths. They dig a small pit in the ground and use the dirt to help with the oil in their feathers.
30. If chickens listen to classical music, they can lay bigger and heavier eggs.
31. Chickens can run up to 9 miles per hour!
32. A chicken’s heart beats from 220 to 360 times per minute.
33. Chicken beaks can bleed.
34. Mother hens talk to their chicks while they’re still in the eggs, and the chicks can chirp back while in the shell.
35. Roosters will do a dance called “tidbitting” which includes bobbing their head up and down, repeatedly picking up and dropping food from their beak and making sounds in order to attract a hen.
36. The chicken is the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
37. Chickens have three eyelids.
38. Mother hens teach their chicks what to eat and what to avoid.
39. Most eggs are typically laid in the morning between 7 am and 11 am.
40. Hens generally choose their mates based on the size and brightness of a roosters comb on top of his head.

We hope you have gained some extra knowledge while reading about these chicken facts. We hope you share your newfound knowledge with others so they can appreciate this amazing species of bird as well!

Chicken Care Shopping List

Are you looking for a shopping list of everything you need when caring for your precious flock? We have put together an easy reference of items for your convenience.