The first time I heard this question, I couldn’t believe my ears:
Do chickens breastfeed?
To me, it didn’t make much sense to even ask this question, but then when I thought about it, I realized it comes from a natural place.
After all, we eat chicken breast all the time. If they have breasts, do they breastfeed?
Well, I did some research into this and how they care for their young chicks too.
Chickens do not breastfeed. Though they do have breasts, they don’t have mammary glands which excrete milk. Chickens care for their young by showing them how to eat, where to find food, and protecting them. Only mammals feed their babies through the milk and mammary glands.
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Do Mother Hens Nurse Their Young?
No, mother hens don’t nurse their young.
Chickens are poultry and birds.
Nursing is almost exclusive to mammals, which have mammary glands that excrete milk for their babies.
This is where the “mamm-” in mammary and mammals come from!
As such, hens don’t nurse their young at all.
In fact, they won’t even chew and regurgitate the food for their babies as many other birds will.
Mothers don’t just abandon their young, though. They do help in many ways (look for more information on this later in the article).
Why Does It Look Like Chickens Breastfeed?
One reason many people assume chickens breastfeed is that mother hens will often let their chicks huddle up under their breasts and bodies.
The chicks may even turn their heads up and pick at the mother chicken’s feathers.
Despite how it looks, they’re not nursing or anything.
It’s more about getting heat and protection from the mother’s body.
The picking is more about mutual grooming that chickens sometimes do too.
Why Do Chickens Have Breasts If They Don’t Breastfeed?
This question stems from a common misunderstanding that I also fell for before doing some research.
When an animal, bird, or whatever has breasts, it’s referring to the muscle groups on the chest of the animal in question.
So really, almost all animals have breasts of some kind!
Breasts in humans also refer to the function of producing milk, though it’s more appropriate to call this a function of mammary glands and ducts.
So while chickens have this muscle group, they lack the glands to produce milk.
How Do Hens Care For Their Chicks?
Chickens don’t nurse their chicks, but they will care for them.
Here’s how they do it.
Teach Chicks How To Eat
The first way they help their young is to show them how to pick and eat food.
They’ll make clucks and kick feet to get the attention of their young.
Then, they’ll demonstrate how to pick at and eat the food in front of them.
Some hens will pick up the food and drop it in front of their chicks.
But the most they’ll do for feeding is to hold the food while the chicks pick at it from their beak.
It’s pretty interesting to watch this whole teaching process.
I’ve even seen some more attentive mothers push the chicks up to the food to help them out!
Without mother hens, baby chickens will also learn how to eat, but you need to feed them special chick food with extra nutrition.
It’s also easier for them to eat.
Basically, they’ll learn how to eat normal food easier with a mother, but they’ll learn in time without them.
This special food is called chick starter or grower.
Of the different kinds I’ve used, they all work about the same.
Now, we use this Manna Chick Starter for our new chicks. (Link to product on Amazon.)
Protect The Baby Chickens
Momma chickens also protect their young.
They’ll fight predators to a certain extent, such as:
- Coyotes
- Foxes
- Snakes
- Owls
- Raccoons
- Skunks
- Opossums
- Weasels
They also help them get out of the elements when the weather turns bad and cuddle them to keep them warm in the cold.
Show Chicks How To Find Food And Water
Chicks know how to instinctively scratch at the ground for food from birth.
But they seem to get lost about where to do this.
Along with teaching how to eat, the chickens will show the babies the ropes and where to find the food and water in their coop and pen.
They’ll guide the chicks to where they need to go once the chicks are more mobile.
If you want to know how many waterers to get for your chickens, check out our dedicated article with tables.
Do Hens Feed Chicks At Night?
If the chicks get hungry at night, they’re on their own. Mother hens won’t feed them at night.
Chickens sleep during the night, so they’ll all huddle up together, but they won’t eat.
This is critical in their natural behavior as they conserve their energy by sleeping at night.
If they’re kept up, they’ll end up losing weight and dying faster.
Don’t forget that most chicks are raised by humans than by mother chickens in the modern-day.
Chicks can care for themselves with success in most cases, though it’s quite common for chicks to die within the first 6 weeks of life.
Do Chickens Drink Milk?
Chickens are true omnivores, and they’ll pretty much eat anything they can reach, from hay to grass, fruits to veggies, and even plastic!
So if you give them milk, they will drink it, and they’ll also eat milk-related products like cheese.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s good for them.
In small amounts on occasion, it won’t cause harm to your chickens, but it also won’t add any value.
Milk is higher in fats and sugars than what the chickens need and can handle.
On top of this, milk isn’t something chickens would ever get naturally in the wild.
It’s not like a mother cow or goat will let the chicken bustle up and take a drink!
The molecules in milk can’t be digested easily by chickens.
At best, it’ll pass through their systems while adding zero nutritional value.
At worst, their stomachs will get irritated, and they’ll gain a lot of fat and sugars, making them unhealthy.
So, in short, don’t give them milk or milk products at all.
There’s no point; it’s not good.