Chickens Help Scientists Study Dinosaur Death Pose

Is this T Rex just a big Chicken?

To address a long-standing mystery in paleontology, scientists went to the grocery store.
Many dinosaur fossils appear in the same pose, not so much “terrible lizard” as “terrible limbo accident.” Their tails are stretched out and their necks thrown back grotesquely. But it’s not clear why this is. Researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada got a fresh take on the puzzle—or, at least, a recently killed and frozen take—by using dead chickens.

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http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/inkfish/2015/08/28/chickens-help-scientists-study-dinosaur-death-pose/#.VeNnUZd2y7s

More and More Urban Chickens

We love Backyard Chickens

With the prices of eggs going up many people are raising chickens in their backyard so they can have farm fresh eggs.


 Read more at ........

http://www.kpho.com/story/29914363/urban-chickens-take-wing-as-egg-prices-soar

Panic Grows in China as Bird Flu’s Death Toll Now at 6

With confirmation that a sixth person has died from the mysterious avian-borne virus H7N9, Chinese officials escalated their response on Friday, advising people to avoid live poultry, dispatching virologists to chicken farms across the country and slaughtering more than 20,000 birds at a wholesale market in Shanghai.

Bird Flu Kills 6  in China

Barred Plymouth Rock Chicken

Here's a Great Bird for the Small Farmer or Backyard Chicken Owner  - Barred Plymouth Rock Chicken

The Barred Plymouth Rock, also known as the Barred Rock, is the most popular variety of the Plymouth Rock breed, and it is also one of the most popular brown egg layers for small farm and back yard chicken farming. 

They will lay between 200-300 eggs in a year, and when they no longer have any laying utility they are large enough to produce a good amount of chicken meat. They are very hardy, so good for cold weather climates

They can be tamed easily and thus are great for children

Facts (from EFowl.com)

• Adult Weight - Male: 8-9 pounds ; Female: 6 pounds
• Color - Black and White Barred, Yellow Skin, Smaller Comb
• Purpose - Dual Purpose - Egg Laying and Meat Production
• Egg Production - Excellent
• Egg Color - Brown
• Country of Origin -United States

The Urban Chicken Backlash

At this point in the locavore narrative, urban chicken-keeping has vocal advocates and an adamant opposition. Some cities welcome backyard poultry with open arms, while others are more skeptical. As the practice grows, the two sides seem prepared for a long, drawn out war on the value and propriety of chicken-keeping within city limits.

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The Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival April 13th through the 15th.

The Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival will be held in Moulton April 13th through the 15th.

Does banning chickens make sense?

Nr 1: The domestic dog: a wolf descendant whose bite is responsible for about 1000 hospitalizations per day (mostly facial injuries of kids), and 34 deaths in 2010 in the USA alone. Known for producing loud noise at all hours of the day, often roaming freely and leaving unsightly and smelly poop everywhere. Perfectly legal in Nelson.

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Farmer's chickens lay green eggs

Just a little story about a farmer and his chickens.
Farmer's chickens lay green eggs

“A chicken in every pot”

“A chicken in every pot” has been used as a political promise and a slogan of hope for a brighter economic future since at least the reign of Henry IV and as late as the successful 1928 Republican presidential campaign.

The lowly chicken symbolizes prosperity for everyman in such political pronouncements.
Well, the chicken has returned to the political arena. However, this time the egg definitely comes before the chicken.

City dwellers across the country are petitioning their various governing bodies to allow them to raise chickens. When we say urban chickens, we are not talking about the noisy males of the species, but quiet, brooding hens, and hens, as an ironic hipster once noted, are only an egg’s way of making another egg.

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A Fox Got One of my Guinea Fowl

Yesterday in the early evening our guineas were squawking and putting out a loud distress cry. They were very agitated and we knew something was wrong. Even the chickens' posture changed, which is a sure sign of fear. Then the guineas flew up on the phone wires and barn roof, continuing their warning/distress cry. We figured there was a predator about, but we couldn't see anything.

A few minutes later, the front doorbell rang and one of our distant neighbours reported that a large fox was running down our drive with one of my birds in its mouth. So now Im down to 3 Guineas and a handful of chickens and roosters.

The perils of living in the country.

Backyard Chickens

If you are interested in the Backyard Chickens issue that many cities are wrestling with you may want to read the article Concerns about backyard chickens are valid, but solutions exist