Chickens

Come and meet our chickens in our woodland walk and bird enclosure.

Calling all animal friends! Do you want to give our animals a little bit of extra love? Why not think about sponsoring our adorable chicks!

A chicken is a domesticated bird. This means they’re kept on a farm, rather than living in the wild. They’re usually kept for their meat and eggs.
There are about 24 billion chickens in the world. Wow!
Most breeds of chicken can fly for a short distance.
Some chickens roost in trees. A roost is somewhere to rest and sleep.
A male chicken is called a rooster or cockerel. A female chicken is called a hen. A young chicken is called a chick. Like other female birds, hens lay eggs which can hatch into chicks.
When raising chickens, a farmer needs to build a chicken coop (like a little house) for the chickens to roost in. They also need a run or yard where they can exercise, take dust baths, eat, and drink. The chickens also need to be protected from predators like foxes. This is often done with fences.
Chickens can also be farmed intensively. This is sometimes called ‘battery farming’. Chickens are kept indoors in cages, and because cages don’t take up much room, it means the farmer can keep lots more chickens. Battery farming produces lots of meat and eggs, but it’s not as good for the chickens as letting them roam free outside.