Red Shaver facts for kids

The Red Shaver is a special type of chicken that was first developed in Canada. It's known as a "sex-linked" breed, which means you can tell if a chick is male or female just by its color when it hatches!

Young female Red Shavers, called pullets, are reddish-brown with white feathers underneath. The male chickens are mostly white, but they might have a few red spots on their feathers.

Red Shavers are strong and can be used for two main things: laying brown eggs and providing meat. They usually weigh between three and five pounds. People also say they are very quiet chickens. These chickens are often found in small groups on small farms.

Egg Production

Red Shaver hens are excellent at laying eggs! They can lay between 305 and 315 large, brown eggs each year. That's almost one egg every day!

There's even a story about a four-year-old Red Shaver chicken in Ottawa that laid a huge egg. This egg weighed 143 grams, which is nearly three times bigger than a normal medium-sized egg. A typical medium egg weighs about 49 grams, while a jumbo egg is around 70 grams.

Meat Production

When Red Shaver chickens are about 18 weeks old, they weigh around 31⁄2 pounds. After they have been laying eggs for about a year, their weight can increase to between 41⁄2 and 5 pounds. This makes them a good choice for both eggs and meat.