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LOS ANGELES — The chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles city dwellers who keep roosters. The City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance that — with few exceptions — allows only one rooster per property. It was spurred by complaints over noise and hygiene and concerns over illegal cockfighting. Janice Hahn, who authored the bill, says it will give residents of her district some peace and quiet.

Early Polynesians Sailed Thousands of Miles for Trade Dave Hansford for National Geographic News September 27, 2007 Early Polynesians sailed thousands of miles for exploration and trade, suggests a new study of early stone woodworking tools. The analysis confirms traditional tales of vast ocean voyages and hints that a trading network existed between Hawaii and Tahiti as early as a thousand years ago. The work also bolsters research suggesting that the Polynesians were skillful sailors who rapidly expanded across the Pacific and journeyed as far as South America by the 1400s A.D. Kenneth Collerson and Marshall Weisler of the University...

Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before ColumbusBy Heather Whipps, Special to LiveScience Which came first–the chicken or the European? Popular history, and a familiar rhyme about Christopher Columbus, holds that Europeans made contact with the Americas in 1492, with some arguing that the explorer and his crew were the first outsiders to reach the New World. But chicken bones recently unearthed on the coast of Chile—dating prior to Columbus’ “discovery” of America and resembling the DNA of a fowl species native to Polynesia—may challenge that notion, researchers say. “Chickens could not have gotten to South America on their own—they...

Kids hoping to grab a Happy Meal from McDonald's might end up with PETA's Unhappy Meal instead. The animal rights organization lifted its moratorium on the McCruelty Campaign this year and since June has distributed Chicken McCruelty Unhappy Meals to McDonald's customers outside about a dozen restaurants around the country. "McDonald's markets its food to children by packaging it in brightly colored boxes with toys," Lindsay Rajt, a spokeswoman for PETA, tells Slashfood. "But most kids really love animals, and if they knew that McDonald's suppliers were breaking the wings and legs of gentle animals like chickens, I think that...

Dear Martha: I'd like to raise chickens. Which breed of chicken is best for egg production, and do you have any tips? A: It's not so much about the breed of chicken as it is about how you're going to keep them. You absolutely must have a well-fenced yard, so raccoons and other animals don't get the chickens; the fence should extend 12 to 14 inches into the ground. The coop will need electricity to run a light and keep their water from freezing in winter; you can also get a heated water dispenser. I let my chickens out every...

HOMER, IL – It may seem like an easy way to save a little money on your grocery budget: Buy a few chickens and start collecting farm-fresh eggs. An increasing number of families in our area are doing just that, and some are also selling their surplus eggs to neighboring families. Garry Herzog, owner of Prairieland Feeds in Savoy, said there's been a steady increase in demand for "laying feed" for chickens over the past two to three years. He said his store also gets many requests for how-to information from chicken-raising rookies. And if Yahoo! is any indication, the...

POLSON — Therapy dogs can be a comfort for seniors and those recovering from illnesses and injuries. So how about therapy chickens? Jana Clairmont of Polson, Mont., calls her therapy birds — a white rooster and Cornish game hen — "Fowl Play."

If you hear the sound of clucking next door, you might just be hearing your neighbor's new pet. Pet chickens are on the rise and they're making their home in city dwellers' backyards. More people are finding it attractive to keep chickens as pets, not only because they're cute, but because people want to produce their own eggs and retain a slice of rural life. "People are turning to things that remind them of simpler times," Ron Kean, a poultry specialist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told the Los Angeles Times . "If you're smart, you can save money...

Waffle Bike is a fully weaponized waffle making device complete with call to prayer public address system. It’s also the name of a short film—documenting the bike’s maiden voyage in search of chickens, naturally, to lay the eggs for the batter. In Waffle Bike, a perfectly clipped narrator chirps out Waffle Bike’s features, which include a Honda Harmony en2500 generator, a 9-inch Norweigan waffle maker, a small refrigerator up front, a tape deck (which plays through three 8-inch, 25-watt, all-weather trumpet horn speakers made in China), and two 12-gauge homemade shotguns. The film is charming and disturbing and funny—and the...

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Some 3,000 chickens were culled after bird flu was detected at a poultry farm in the country's Southeastern Cox's Bazar district town on Sunday night. "On Sunday officials from the center informed us that bird flu virus was found in the samples," District Livestock Officer Dr Zaker Ullah was quoted by The Daily Star, a local newspaper, as saying. He also said they collected samples from the poultry farm on Saturday and sent them for testing to the Regional Livestock Research Centre in Feni. Poultry birds at other farms in the area are being examined to...

A sport utility vehicle loaded with 1,200 baby chicks in cardboard boxes pulls up to the Clearview Feed and Seed store, where customers come to pick up their peeping, cheeping poultry orders on a recent spring day. Poultry dealers, chicken feed businesses and self-proclaimed "chicken enthusiasts" nationwide report city slickers and suburbanites are showing greater interest in raising small flocks of chickens far from the farm. Store workers whisk boxes from the vehicle — where the heat is cranked up to keep the chicks warm — and gently sort the downy birds born at a hatchery into smaller containers. Temporary...

I need some advice on chicken breeds. Where I live in Central Texas, in the summer it’s not uncommon for us to have a 6 week run of high temperatures going over 100’. So here’s what I’m looking for in my dual-purpose hens:- I want girls that are temperature hardy that can handle the heat. (I know that I’m going to have to help any chicken survive a severe, prolonged heat-wave, [fresh water, misters, shade, etc.] but I don’t want to suffer 50% losses just because I was stupid enough to get birds which were never bred to handle it...

Dogs do in chickens at center of Worthington controversy Tuesday, Dean Narciso 3:21 PM By Dean Narciso THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Lael Weyenberg stands outside the chicken coop in her backyard in Worthington. Chris Russell | Dispatch Lael Weyenberg stands outside the chicken coop in her backyard in Worthington. Hillary, Veronica and Cindi are dead. The backyard chickens -- the subjects of a neighborhood pecking match that spilled over into a packed Worthington City Council debate last month -- fell prey to two loose dogs on Sunday, police said. Lael Weyenberg and her husband, Andrew Rozmiarek, returned from a friend's house...

Oxfam Officer: Israel Killed Some 35.000 Palestinian Chickens in Gaza By Davut SAHIN (JTW) Israeli Gaza attacks not only killed the people but also the animals of Gaza. Elena Qleibo, who works in the Gaza Strip as a Food Security and Livelihood Officer for Oxfam, reported yesterday that some 35,000 chickens were also killed during the bombardment and the price of eggs in Gaza went up. "Before the war, a kilo of eggs used to sell for 2.40 Euros (£2.20), now in some places people pay up to 5 euros (£4.60)" she added. Elena Qleibo further said "there were non-exploded...

Nepal government is taking all the possible steps to save other regions of Nepal from falling prey to deadly bird flu. Mechinagar has been declared emergency region where birds were found affected with deadly H5N1 virus. Districts close to the affected areas, including Morang and Chitawan have been issued notices regarding risk of spread of bird flu. Prabhakar Pathak, chief of the department of livestock services in Kathmandu informed that about 13,000 poultry would be culled in five days to control the virus within a 3 km radius of the town, and the government would pay up to $5 for...

If you picked up a carton of eggs at the store this week, they probably set you back about $1 or $1.50. The organic, cage-free kind costs more like $3. But some urban and suburbanites are skipping the store entirely when it comes to things like eggs and honey and turning instead to their own backyards. Whether from tighter food budgets or local-eating ideals, more and more people are petitioning their cities to allow small animal husbandry.

Pleasant Hills, CA (AHN) - While thousands of dogs and cats are being given up by pet owners across the U.S. as times become harder, chickens are gaining popularity as household pets in some U.S. cities. The rising popularity of the feathered creature is due to the chicken's ability to provide eggs, pest control, fertilizer and eventually meat. To address zoning regulations, homeowners are working to amend local laws in areas like Fort Collins, CO, Bloomington, IN and Brainerd, MN. One of the pioneers of raising chicken as household pets, Rod Lublow of California, even created the Website BackYardChickens.com to...

While thousands of dogs and cats are being given up by pet owners across the U.S. as times become harder, chickens are gaining popularity as household pets... The rising popularity of the feathered creature is due to the chicken's ability to provide eggs, pest control, fertilizer and eventually meat. To address zoning regulations, homeowners are working to amend local laws ... Some cities like New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle already allow chicken to be raised by urban residents

Jeremiah Wright is the the 'Reverend' best known for making headlines as president elect Barack Obama's controversial former pastor. Well, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is making headlines again yet again. It would seem that Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a hypocrite. A Texas woman has come forward claiming to have had an illicit affair with the cleryman.

11-05) 08:17 PST SACRAMENTO -- A measure that would ban farmers from raising egg-laying hens, veal calves and pregnant pigs in small cages and crates by 2015 appeared to be headed for victory this morning. Supporters of Proposition 2 said the initiative would guarantee farm animals a better life, giving them the space they need to stand up, turn around, lie down and extend their wings, as well as prevent diseases caused by overcrowding. Opponents argue that the measure would put California's egg industry out of business, as well as put consumers at risk for disease from imported eggs produced...

Barack Obama may have quelled a self-described political "firestorm" by quitting Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial "black liberation" church, but the bombastic pastor is preparing to set off a bomb in the homestretch of the Democratic candidate's campaign.

Two men gather newly hatched chickens for vaccination and introduction to food and water at one of the chicken farms in the Mahmudiyah Qadha Aug 1, 2008. Photo by Pfc. Christopher McKenna. FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH — Six chicken farms in the Mahmudiyah Qada received 5,000 chickens each to help further the poultry industry Aug 1, 2008. “This is the second cycle of farms which have been given chickens,� said Paul Heidloff, the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team lead agribusiness advisor. “Twenty-four farms are set to receive chickens throughout the cycle, with six receiving chickens every two weeks.�This cycle of chicken...

The study questions recent claims that chickens were first introduced into South America by Polynesians, before the arrival of Spanish chickens in the 15th century following Christopher Columbus. ...the University of Adelaide's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) Director Professor Alan Cooper says there has been considerable debate about the existence and degree of contact between Polynesians and South Americans, with the presence of the sweet potato throughout the Pacific often used as evidence of early trading contacts... A recent study claimed to have found the first direct evidence of a genetic link between ancient Polynesian and apparently pre-Columbian chickens...

A New York Times article reveals that late night comics are having a hard time making jokes about Sen. Barack Obama. From the article: What’s so funny about Barack Obama? Apparently not very much, at least not yet. On Monday, The New Yorker magazine tried dipping its toe into broad satire involving Senator Obama with a cover image depicting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his wife, Michelle, as fist-bumping, flag-burning, bin Laden-loving terrorists in the Oval Office. The response from both Democrats and Republicans was explosive. Comedy has been no easier for the phalanx of late-night television hosts who...

Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot* Bond MeasureProposition 1 SB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.** **Note: The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century was originally scheduled to appear on the November 2, 2004, General Election ballot. Subsequently, Senate Bill 1169, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2004, provided that it appear on the November 7, 2006, General Election ballot. However, most recently, Assembly Bill 713, Chapter 44, Statutes of 2006, provides for the submission of this Act on the November...

Please COPY but don't LINK, as linking uses my bandwidth. Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright said of the 9/11 attacks that "America's chickens have come home to roost."

   International Respect for Chickens Day, May 4, celebrates the devotion of hens to their chicks and deplores the suffering of motherless chickens on factory farms. In this photo, Ruby fosters Ivy, a chick rescued from a factory farm in North Carolina to live in a safe and loving home. (PRNewsFoto/United Poultry Concerns)MACHIPONGO, VA UNITED STATES May is International Respect for Chickens Month MACHIPONGO, Va., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- InternationalRespect for Chickens Day, May 4, celebrates the dignity, beauty and life ofchickens and protests against the bleakness of their lives in farmingoperations. Launched by United Poultry Concerns in 2005,...

Over the weekend, the Obama campaign suffered a further disaster: the Reverend Jeremiah Wright finally seized his 15 minutes of fame. Lured by the irresistible glow of the spotlight, the reverend launched a media blitz that took him from a softball interview with Bill Moyers on Friday, to a speech to a Detroit meeting of the NAACP on Sunday, to a press conference at the National Press Club on Monday morning. Barack Obama is now declaring himself shocked and disappointed at Wright's unrepentantly racist and anti-American views--but Obama can no longer plausibly claim innocence in this matter, because he is...

Answer: Malcolm X I just heard Rush mention that the ambasador Rev. Wright is blaming for his now famous "chickens coming home to roost" quote is now denying it. No Joke. Rev. Wright is a liar. I heard the whole sermon on Hugh Hewitt's show last week, and Wright himself is the one that mentions Malcolm X and chickens coming home to roost (Malcolm's quote was regarding the assination of Kennedy in Nov. 63) before Wright says it himself regarding 9/11. This demonstrates Wright is lying in his own words from his sermon. And it demonstrates Wright's attitude about Malcolm...

Protein analysis confirms modern birds descended from huge predatory dinosaur, study finds. In the first analysis of proteins extracted from dinosaur bones, scientists say they have established more firmly than ever that the closest living relatives of the mighty predator Tyrannosaurus rex are modern birds. The research, being published today in...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Before the war, numerous areas in Iraq thrived off the chicken industry. Hawr Rajab, Arab Jabour and Adwaniyah all had prosperous chicken markets. "Historically, this was the largest chicken-producing area in Iraq," said Capt. Michael Lenart, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-3 Brigade Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Insurgent violence ravaged the industry. Chicken coops and pens were used by insurgents as safe houses and weapons cache dumps. Electrical equipment such as cables, generators and water pumps were stolen or neglected after al-Qaeda threatened employees to quit coming to work....

NASHVILLE - An FBI agent told a state Senate committee Tuesday that cockfighting remains relatively common across Tennessee even after undercover operations that led to multiple arrests and the closing of two major operations in Cocke County. Thomas E. Farrow, a Johnson City-based agent who supervised the Cocke County operation known as "Rose Thorn," said there are "still quite a few pits" operating in Tennessee, "pretty much throughout" the state. Beyond the large, somewhat organized cockfighting pits, he said there are smaller and more informal "hack fights" that amount to "a circle of pickup trucks and bails of hay." Farrow...

This is an animation of a Red Tailed Hawk, known to be a (Chicken Hawk), and it’s songs with humor.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Chicken farming in Iraq is moving toward pre-war levels, as Coalition forces work with farmers to overcome challenges. There are about seven functioning chicken houses in the region where 3rd Battalion, 7th infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division operates, and dialogue has begun with the owners on how to increase production. One of the first areas where the unit discovered chicken houses was the community of Abu Lukah. It has four chicken houses, three of which are functioning. The first visit by the unit was at the end of January during which...

When Ward Churchill wrote Some People Push Back: Of the Justice of Roosting Chickens about the attacks of September 11, 2001, a lot of people felt that he was original in his hateful thinking. As was the case with his “authentic” American Indian Art, nothing about Ward Churchill came even remotely close to being original. In Churchill’s “opus magnum”, he wrote the following breathtakingly callous and hateful concluding paragraph. As for those in the World Trade Center... Well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They...

Gainesville -- Officials at Mar-Jac Poultry said they were shocked to find out Thursday that federal officials suspect the company might have ties to terrorist funding. Company Vice President Doug Carnes said at least a half-dozen U.S. Customs agents spent all day Wednesday gathering financial records and charitable contribution files. They were "real nice, professional and complimentary," he said, but they didn't disclose the nature of their visit. It was only on Thursday that Carnes was alerted by company officials in Virginia as to what the agents were looking for. "I'm shocked. I'm in disbelief. I've worked for them for...

PHILADELPHIA - Monday mornings are hard enough. Imagine finding 50 chickens running loose in your high school. Workers arriving about 5:30 a.m. to open Northeast High School in Philadelphia found dozens of hens and roosters wandering around the hallways. The birds were apparently brought to the school sometime over the weekend, said school district spokesman Fernando Gallard. "We don't know where the chickens came from or who they belong to," Gallard said. "I'm pretty sure there is a very upset poultry farmer somewhere who wants them back." The floors were covered with droppings and chicken feed. Most of the school's...

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole! First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit holeSecond thread: The New Hobbit HoleThird thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!) Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...Sixth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...Seventh Thread: The Hobbit Hole VII - But not yet weary are our feet... Eighth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VIII - Still round the corner we may meet... Ninth Thread: The Hobbit Hole...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Three hundred chickens died in panic early on Sunday when a drunken German teenager on a joyride crashed a van into their shed, police said. "Apparently some of the chickens were so desperate to get away that they ran into the wall and died," the spokesman said. "Others suffered heart attacks." The 17-year-old from the western city of Kassel crashed the van through the wall of a shed containing around 1,000 birds and then returned to a nearby fairground where he was staying, according to a spokesman for the local police. The youth was arrested.

More people turn to chickens as pets By GRANT SLATER, Associated Press Writer Fri Jul 20, 4:33 AM ET The leaves shiver, the branches quake and 9-year-old Sophia Genco bounds out of the bushes, clucking at the top of her lungs while sprinting after a flock of scurrying chickens. She isn't chasing down dinner. She's just playing with one of the family pets. The Gencos are among a growing number of urban and suburban families keeping chickens in their backyards. While the birds don't cuddle like kittens or play like puppies, owners say they offer a soothing presence in the...

Chicken bones show Polynesians went to Chile By MAGGIE FOX - Reuters | Tuesday, 5 June 2007 A chicken bone found in Chile provides solid evidence to settle a debate over whether Polynesians travelling on rafts visited South America thousands of years ago – or vice versa, New Zealand researchers have said. The DNA in the bone carries a rare mutation that links it to chickens in Tonga and Samoa, and radiocarbon dating shows it is around 600 years old – meaning it predates the arrival of Spanish conquerors in South America. "These chickens are related to hens from Polynesia,"...

Polynesians beat Columbus to the Americas 22:00 04 June 2007 NewScientist.com news service Emma Young Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Prehistoric Polynesians beat Europeans to the Americas, according to a new analysis of chicken bones. The work provides the first firm evidence that ancient Polynesians voyaged as far as South America, and also strongly suggests that they were responsible for the introduction of chickens to the continent - a question that has been hotly debated for more than 30 years. Chilean archaeologists working at the site of El Arenal-1, on the Arauco Peninsula in south-central Chile, discovered what...

The Department of Agriculture on Monday announced that some 20 million chickens that may have eaten feed contaminated with melamine held on farms in several states will be released to market. "In several cases, feed samples have tested negative for melamine and related compounds," USDA said in a news release. "It is assumed that because only small amounts of the contaminated feed were mixed with other rations, the melamine and related compounds were no longer detectable." Last week, USDA pointed to 38 farms in Indiana where some 3.1 million chickens may have eaten tainted feed in February, but were slaughtered...

ederal officials on Friday placed a hold on 20 million chickens raised for market in several states because their feed was mixed with pet food containing an industrial chemical.

Darwin's theory of evolution has been dealt a stinging blow by a group of Swedish-Norwegian researchers. The group, led by Professor Per Jensen from Linköping University, has launched a challenge to Darwin's notion that behaviour cannot be inherited. In a study published by scientific journal PLoS ONE, the group found that the young of domestic hens exposed to high levels of stress displayed similar behavioral anomalies despite growing up in a stress free environment. Furthermore, genetic modifications in the young chickens' brains were similar to those developed by their parents as a result of stress. Per Jensen is keen to...

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, “The Colbert Report.” “He said don’t do it … it’s a risk and it’s probably safer not to do it,” said Rep. Steve Cohen. But the freshman lawmaker from Tennessee taped a segment that last week was featured in the 32nd installment of the “Better Know a District” series. Colbert asked Cohen whether he was a black woman. He isn’t. Eyes (but thankfully, not heads) roll in Emanuel’s office when other...

Anti-cancer chicken eggs produced GM chickens could be a route to faster, cheaper drugs UK scientists have developed genetically modified chickens capable of laying eggs containing proteins needed to make cancer-fighting drugs. The breakthrough has been announced by the same research centre that created the cloned sheep, Dolly. The Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, says it has produced five generations of birds that can produce useful levels of life-saving proteins in egg whites. The work could lead to a range of drugs that are cheaper and easier to make. Professor Harry Griffin, director of the institute, told the BBC: "One of...

Gainesville, Georgia, is halfway between our mountain and Atlanta airport. Gainesville is a huge chicken processing area. So, we see a lot of poultry trucks. These are wire cages piled ten high, about twenty wide, and about forty deep. Strapped down, they are a solid mass of nervous chickens having their feathers back-combed at 60 MPH, Chickens don’t have the best bowel control when they are at home and comfortable. Imagine what it is like if you are a chicken in the bottom row, with a thousand other hysterical chickens above you or upwind of you. Hold that thought, and...

See for example this thread first. Book: Six Ways to Hypnotize Chicks (I thought it was on dating tricks) But to my surprise it's not for us guys --I guess Frank Purdue gets his kicks!

Did you know that chickens worry about the future? I'm worried about chickens worrying. But what worries me the most is that most people do not worry about chickens at all. A recent sobering sight on the freeway brought the truth home to me. I noticed a smell outside the bus I was on and looked over to see flatbed truck passing on the left. It was stacked high and long with crates of chickens. But these chickens weren’t happily pecking about in their boxes. They were trussed, lying on their sides, with their feet sticking outside the crates. Directly...