What will happen when these eggs hatch? Cat becomes surrogate to hen's clutch but let's see how she reacts when the chicks arrive

By ROB PREECE

Busy mother: Lizzy the cat looks after her kittens while sitting on the eggs to keep them warm

Some parents would say that looking after four youngsters is hard enough.
But after giving birth to four kittens in a chicken pen, a stray tabby cat has become an unlikely surrogate mother - to a clutch of hen's eggs.
Lizzy the cat has made herself at home in the pen and now takes turns with the mother hen to look after the unborn chicks by keeping the eggs warm.
Similarly, the hen keeps an eye on the kittens when Lizzy goes out on the prowl.
The bizarre babysitting arrangements have delighted children at Weston St Mary's School in Spalding, Lincolnshire, where the pen is supervised by teaching assistants.
Staff believe the unlikely deal allows both mothers to go out to get food.
But whether the arrangements will continue after the eggs have hatched remains to be seen.

Babysitter: Lizzy the cat has made herself at home in the pen and takes turns with the mother hen to look after the unborn chicks

Angie Bradshaw, 48, the teaching assistant responsible for the school's pets, said the cat and chicken's relationship was 'fascinating'.
The mum-of-four said: "One morning I came in and the cat had had kittens in one of the chicken pens.
'Then I came in the next day and she'd moved them in with the cockerel and hen.
'We couldn't believe it when we saw the cat lying on the chicken's eggs to keep them warm.

My turn: The mother hen takes over babysitting duties and looks after one of Lizzy's kittens

'It is fascinating to see the two of them together. It is like they have communicated somehow and come up with a nanny share idea.
'They take it in turns looking after each other's young. When the chicken goes out the cat moves her kittens and they all sit on the eggs.
'The cat was quite nasty at first, but now she is friendly. We are going to have her neutered and look after her.
'The kittens are beautiful and all the staff and pupils are very excited about the little chicks hatching.
'The children love the animals and it is good for them to learn how to care for them.'

Unusual: The bizarre babysitting arrangements have delighted children at Weston St Mary's School in Spalding, Lincolnshire

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Gertie becomes Bertie after sudden sex change turns hen into a cockerel

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Confused: Jeanette Howard with Gertie - or should that be Bertie?


An egg-laying hen has stunned its owner by changing sex and turning into a crowing cockerel.

Jeanette Howard, 79, was amazed after one-year-old Gertie grew a distinctive comb and red flaps under its chin.

He - or she - has even started crowing at dawn, so Jeanette now plans to re-name him Bertie.


Characteristic: Gertie has grown a distinctive comb and red flaps under the chin


She said confused Gertie began to walk differently from her two other hens, Daisy and Gracie, a while ago.

But the pensioner was reassured by her vets that the hen was fine and there was nothing wrong.

Mrs Howard said: 'I bought three chickens a year ago and they were all laying eggs for me until the end of the year.

'They began to moult over the winter and I wasn't taking a lot of notice.

'Then one day I heard this crowing noise and I thought "Where's that coming from?"

'I looked into the garden at Gertie and I saw it was coming from her - or him.'

Jeanette, of Needingworth, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, said Gertie had suddenly developed a scarlet comb, chin wattle and long tail feathers, all male characteristics.

'It had started cock-a-doodle-do-ing and had grown bits all over its face.

'He had really grown and was strutting around with his head up in the air, so proud of himself,' she said.

'I shall have to stop calling her Gertie now and start calling him Bertie.'

Jeanette said her three hens had laid eggs every day before the winter but their laying has become more irregular.


source: dailymail

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Chickens may be birdbrained - but they can still 'feel' each other's pain

By DAVID DERBYSHIRE

Pecking order: Female chickens have shown signs of anxiety when their young were in distress


You might think chickens are way down the pecking order in the animal kingdom when it comes to emotional intelligence.

But it turns out that mother hens are such attentive, caring parents that they ‘feel’ their chicks’ pain.

In experiments, female chickens showed clear signs of anxiety when their young were in distress. It is the first time scientists have discovered empathy in a bird.

The ability to feel someone’s pain or see their point of view was once thought to be uniquely human. But recent studies suggest animals may also experience empathy.
The tests on hens have important implications for the welfare of chickens in battery farms and science laboratories.

The British researchers chose hens and chicks because empathy is assumed to have evolved to help parents care for their young.

Jo Edgar, the PhD student at Bristol University who led the study, said: ‘The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.

'We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of empathy – the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.’


The researchers tested the mother hens’ reactions when their chicks’ feathers were ruffled with a puff of air.

When the chicks were exposed to the gusts, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers. The hens’ heart rates increased, they became increasingly alert and, in a recognised sign of stress, their eye temperature lowered.

Levels of preening were reduced and the mothers clucked at the chicks more, according to the findings reported online today by the Royal Society.

The researchers said chickens reared commercially regularly encounter other birds showing signs of pain and distress ‘owing to routine husbandry practices or because of the high prevalence of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders’.


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Laying this one must have been eggscruciating! The hen's egg eight times heavier than normal

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Eggstatic: The giant egg laid by Jeremy Paget's hen, Hattie


For a free-range hen who just laid an egg more than eight times heavier than normal, Hattie the hen seems remarkably unruffled.

The egg weighs a hefty 5.7oz, is three and a half inches long and eight inches in circumference.

Hattie’s owner Jeremy Paget, 50, who has been rearing his nine chickens for only six months, said of Thursday’s find:

‘My wife brought it in to me and asked me to close my eyes and said, “I’ve got a present for you”. We were absolutely gobsmacked.’

He now plans to use the egg to make an enormous omelette.

The financial consultant, of Four Marks, Hampshire, said Hattie did not seem particularly concerned afterwards.

It's not the first time recently that a chicken has laid an enormous or strangely shaped egg.

Last summer Harriet the hen laid an egg 4.5 inches long with a 9.1-inch circumference - both measurements half an inch longer than the previous record holder.


Whoa! Did that really just come out of me? Hattie inspects what she's laid


In Newquay last autumn a hotel chef preparing breakfast was left shell-shocked today after discovering a perfectly round egg, a billion-to-one discovery.

Hens' eggs are usually 2.3 inches long and have a circumference of 5.5 inches.
The heaviest hen’s egg on record so far weighed an astonishing 16oz.


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Sign him up, Fabio! The cockerel with dazzling football skills

By Daily Mail Reporter

Cock and ball: Two Chinese cockerels have become the toast of the town after putting on a mock World Cup match


To call England's World Cup campaign a success is nothing more than a cock and bull story, one even to rival that of Zhang Lijun in China.

The keen football fan has spent the last three years training her pet cockerels in the fine art of the beautiful game.

There is an argument to suggest her feathered friends could have done a better job than Fabio Capello's men.


Under orders: The cockerels have been trained since 2007 by Zhang Lijun


Acting as a referee, Shenyang resident Lijun directed her cockerels in a mock World Cup match on the streets in the Liaoning Province of China.

Using both their feet and their wings, the cockerel's chased after the ball, even throwing in a couple of tricks and flicks along the way.

China didn't qualify for the Finals in South Africa but are part of an improving quality of football in Asia.


On the ball: One of the birds showed that sort of threat in the air that was England's defenders lacked


Over the top: Both cockerels were surprisingly adept at controlling the ball


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Would you like yours boiled, scrambled or split? The bizarre banana-shaped egg

By Daily Mail Reporter

Breakfast time? The odd shaped egg found in Wuyuan, Anhui province of China


It's not what you'd usually expect to come across while settling down for breakfast, but this strange looking object is actually a seriously misshapen egg.

Discovered in the Anhui province of China, the curved egg has taken on a similar shape to a banana.

But whether it's scrambled, soft boiled or fried, it will no doubt be difficult to find anyone prepared to eat it.

Misshapen eggs are common, but the varying shapes differ with each strain of bird.

However they are most often produced by pullets coming into lay, or hens late in lay, often as a result of double ovulation.

Meanwhile a British family were thrilled today after their chicken set a new world record by laying fourteen eggs - in one day.

The heavyweight hen - named Sarah - produced more than a dozen of her own eggs - in just over two hours.


Egg-stra special: Misshapen eggs are common, but the varying shapes differ with each strain of bird


Owner Debbie Armstrong, of Newquay, Cornwall, says the bird has only ever previously laid one each morning.

But last week the plucky chicken produced 14 eggs in a day - which experts say is a world record.

'It was over two hours that she laid fourteen eggs. She laid one when I was holding her.

'I couldn't believe it. I researched it on line and found most chickens only lay one or two a day. So this is a lot more than that.

'I'm just glad she hasn't died. I was getting increasingly worried about her as she had been acting broody lately.


The heavyweight hen: Sarah left experts shell-shocked after laying 14 eggs - in one day
'But since she laid the 14 eggs, she seems a little more happy.


'I've spoken to farmers who have all said they haven't heard a chicken laying that many eggs in such a short space of time.

'Others farmers think she could be worth a lot of money.'

The hen is owned by Debbie and her son Toby, eight, who helped collect the eggs.

Debbie said: 'Toby had some friends over at the time. The eggs kept coming again and again.'

Andrew Pooley, secretary of the caged bird society at the Royal Cornwall Show, said hens normally only lay one or two eggs a day.

He said: 'I've heard chickens that lay two in a day - one in the morning and one at night - but never 14. The shells need time to develop.'


source: dailymail

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She's done it egg-ain: Harriet the Hen breaks her own record with whopping 4.5in egg

By Andrew Levy

And here's one I made earlier: Harriet the hen surveys her two giant eggs, laid within days of one another


After producing one world record-breaking egg, Harriet the hen was probably entitled to a rest.

But just days later, her owner was stunned to find an even bigger offering in her nest.

Now Tony Barbouti is waiting to see if the six-month-old bird will be making a regular habit of it - or whether she simply beat the odds twice and will now lapse back into normal laying duties.

'My son Haythan went out there to the hens and found the second egg. He comes back and says "Guess what? I've got another one",' said Mr Barbouti, 64, a taxi driver from Eastwood, near Southend.

'luckily I kept the first one or I don't think anyone would believe she laid two.

It's virtually the same length but it is even bigger across. It's definitely another whopper.'

The first egg, which was laid on June 8, was 4.5 inches long with a 9.1-inch circumference - both measurements half an inch longer than the previous record holder. Hens' eggs are usually 2.3 inches long and have a circumference of 5.5 inches.


Eggstra: The eggs are more than twice the size of regular eggs


It weighed an incredible 5.75oz - still some way short of the 16oz record held by an egg with a double yolk and double shell, however.

Harriet was definitely in need of a little rest afterwards but still went on to produce the latest egg, which was found on Sunday. But the new offering has already developed cracks and Mr Barbouti said he would not risk measuring it.

Mr Barbouti, who is married to wife Jacqui and has two children, has been keeping hens for 30 years and feeds them mash and vegetable peelings.


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Ruling the roost: Hen that thinks it's a dog adopts litter of puppies

By Daily Mail Reporter

Mabel the hen adopted the litter of puppies and jumped into the dog basket to keep them warm

You'd be forgiven for thinking that chickens and dogs were not natural bed fellows.

But a one-year-old hen that thinks it's a dog has adopted a litter of puppies much to the bemusement of their canine mother.

Mabel has taken to keeping the small dogs warm by snuggling up to them while their mother, Nettle, sits out in the yard at a farm in Shrewsbury


The chicken, who was saved from the pot by Mr Tate, has taken to roosting on a litter of puppies


Owners Edward and Ros Tate saved Mabel from the pot and now the hen has taken to roosting on the litter of puppies.

Mr Tate said: 'Mabel was hatched here about a year ago. She would have gone onto someone's dinner plate but we saved her.

'Unfortunately, she got into an accident with a horse, which accidentally trod on her foot.

'Because of that, she gets terribly cold during the winter so we decided to bring her into the house.

'We have a dog, Nettle, which has just given birth to a litter of pups. Within a few days of giving birth, Nettle was up and about, prowling in the yard.


Edward Tate with Mabel the hen and her adopted litter of puppies


'Mabel observed Nettle's behaviour and, as soon as there was a chance, she hoped into the dog basket to roost on the pups.

'She keeps them and herself warm, while Nettle is outside on the yard.'


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Murder most fowl: Three hens and cockerel named Dude peck fox to death after it breaks into coop

By Luke Salkeld

Dude the cockerel was the ringleader who turned the tables on a sly fox who broke into his coup


Being chickens, they probably didn't put too much thought into it.

But somehow a flock of four birds managed to kill a fox that had slunk into their pen hoping to gobble them up.

Their owner Michelle Cordell, 43, had the shock of her life when she went to collect the eggs on the weekend and instead found a heavily pecked pile of fur lying dead in the corner.

She said: 'I was shocked. When I opened up the door, the chickens came running out, happy as anything.

'I went inside and the fox was laying there. I've never heard of anything like this before. It's like revenge of the chickens.'

The family, of Basildon, Essex, have in the past lost a hen and a cockerel to foxes, so are well aware of the danger the animals pose.

And so, it seems, are their chickens.


The bloody aftermath after the chickens pecked the fox to death
This time, the marauder was a relatively young fox - and no match for the new cockerel Dude and his hens Izzy, Pongo and Pecky.

Miss Cordell has no doubt it is Dude who was the ringleader in the murder.

She said she had shut the sliding door of the coop when she put the chickens to bed on Friday night, but the fox must have nosed his way under. When she went out on Saturday morning, the door was still shut.

The little table in the corner of the coop, which the chickens perch on, had been kicked over and was lying next to the fox's head.

It appeared to have fallen on him and knocked him out, leaving him an easy target for the beaks of the chickens.

Miss Cordell said she thinks they finished off the young fox with pecking as 'it had little blood marks on its legs. It had not been dead long'.


The dead fox was knocked out by a table before being pecked to death
The table falling down could have been part of an elaborate plot hatched by the brood - but was more likely the lucky result of frantic squawking,flapping and running about.

Miss Cordell, who lives with partner Gary Howell, 45, and daughters Maddi, eight, and Ruby 13, began keeping chickens last summer because Maddi begged her to.

They lost their first two before Christmas, and were left with just Dude and Izzy, both a speckled variety.

Pongo and Pecky, both Rhode Island Reds, joined them a month ago.

'The fox was not a cub but it was only a young one and Dude and Izzy are big birds,' she said.

'It looks like the fox bit off more than he could chew this time.

'I reared Dude from a tiny little chick and he has become very protective of the others.

'He thinks he is human and chases our dogs around the garden, pecking them.

'Now he is a murderer.'


source: dailymail

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