Survival Planning; Providing for a Family of Four for 3 Months

Hubs and I have a lot of food stored for an emergency. We watch the grocery store flyers carefully so that we can stock up on needed food items when they are on sale. Every family should have at least 3 months of food on hand in case of a disaster or emergency situation.

Sometimes families want to start stockpiling food but they are overwhelmed by the challenge and don't know what to get and how to store it. We aren't experts but we've done a lot of research and a lot of trial and error so we have a pretty good idea of what nutritional value is in certain foods, which foods have the longest shelf life and which are best value for the money (in terms of shelf life, ability to extend the ration, variety of meals possible, and cost)

I've already given you the list of 7 basic essential foods which will keep you alive. I explained how much of each you need for one adult for one week. I know you can do the math but let's look at how much of these basic essential foods an average family of 4 needs for 3 months.

It is going to shock you. But it's doable! An important fact to remember is that any child over the age of 7 is considered a adult in terms of food storage.

I am using mostly metric measurements but you can convert for a fairly accurate measurement by using the following:

1 liter = 0.26 US gallons
1 kg = 2.2 pounds
1 US cup = 236.6 ml but you can convert using 250ml=1cup and remember that 1,000 ml or 4 cups is pretty close to 1 L

ITEM	1 ADULT 1 WEEK	4 ADULTS 3 MOS	SHELF LIFE
Grains	3.5kg	168kg	20-30yrs
Legumes	1/2kg	24kg	20-30yrs
Oils	3/4 cup	36c (9L)	forever if vegetable oil
Salt	2/3 c	32 c (8 L)	forever
Water	7-21L	336-1008L	forever
Sugar	1/2kg	24kg	forever
Milk	1c	48c	20yrs if powder

Using an Antique Coffee Grinder to Grind Corn to Make Flour

Hubs just used my double wheel antique coffee grinder to grind corn into flour. Very cool! 

But I'm not using the flour until he totally disinfects the grinder... the coffee grinder was patented in 1898... 

This is  one of the ways we store food for Emergency Survival Planning. Ground corn or other flours have a shelf life of 2 or 3 years. Hard corn, not ground, has a shelf life of 20 to 30 years.

We never buy and store flour. Instead we buy hard corn and whole wheat and store that. With our antique coffee grinder we are set if we need to grind wheat or corn to make flour during an emergency situation.

 

Here is the corn that we buy.  It costs $12.00 Canadian for a 25kg bag. For those who are metric challenged, that is just over 55 lb. 

Hubs adjusted the settings on my antique coffee grinder to grind the hard corn into a nice fine flour. 

1 lb of hard corn grinds into 4 cups of flour.  That's a bit less than 1/2 kg of hard corn to make 1000 ml  (1 L) of ground flour.

Hubs is holding a handful of hard corn and in the measuring cup beside him you see the corn after it is ground. 

What can I do with this? Make tortillas or flatbread or bannock every day. I can make 12 tortillas every day for almost 5 months using 1 25kg bag of hard corn. 

I need to stock up on baking powder, salt, vegetable oil and water to make those tortillas. To make 12 tortillas every day for 5 months I also need wheat or all-purpose flour. 

We have a plan for purchasing wheat which we will grind to make our own flour. I don't know how many bags I need for those 5 months of tortillas since I haven't got any wheat yet. As soon as it arrives (it was a special order) I'll let readers know how much it is going to take.

Most tortilla recipes use shortening or lard. But  the shelf life of shortening  is not as good as vegetable oil. Shortening is only good for about 3 years maximum. So every 3 years I would need to replace my old shortening with fresh. That's why I came up with a tortilla recipe that uses liquid vegetable oil which I never have to replace.

Doing this and labeling these specific food items as earmarked for tortillas means that I have guaranteed my family 12 tortillas every day for 5 months. Of course this  supply would last 10 months if we cut back to 6 tortillas daily which is enough for hubs and I to have one tortilla with each daily meal.

All in all it's a very cost-effective and easy way to store some of the food needed for an emergency survival plan. Remember that tortillas are versatile - you can stuff them with almost anything! Rice, beans, sauteed vegetables, cheese, eggs - all it takes is a little imagination.

Basic Suvival Foods to Keep You Alive

Let's start our Disaster Plan with learning what basic foods are needed to keep a person alive. The basic survival foods you should be storing are:

Grains (Rice, Pasta, Wheat, Oats, Cornmeal)
     One adult needs 3.5 kg or 7.5 lb of grains for one week

Legumes (Beans, Peas, Lentils)
     One adult needs 1/2 kg or 1 lb of legumes for one week

Fats and Oils (Vegetable Oil, Mayonnaise, Peanut Butter, Olive Oil, Shortening)
     One adult needs 3/4 cup of fats or oils per week

Salt
     One adult needs 70 grams or 2/3 cup of salt for one week 


Water
     One adult needs between 1 to 3 L of water daily which is 7 to 21 L of water per week.  Water requirements depend on the temperature,  the amount of exercise the person is doing (how hard they are working) and their body weight. 




I also include in my basic survival needs plan Sugar (sugar or honey) and Milk (powdered or canned)


Sugar (sugar, honey)
    For one adult you should have 1/2 kg or 17 1/2 oz. or just over 2 cups or 1 lb of sugar per week

Milk (powdered milk, canned milk)
     For one adult plan on 140 grams or about 1 cup of milk per week

These 7 essential basic foods will keep you alive for one week. You won't have very interesting or fun meals as you will mostly be eating such things as rice and beans but you'll survive.

Note that there are only 15 L of water (30 bottles) in this photo on the right. I personally store the maximum per adult per week which is 21 L. 

I've included oatmeal and rice as my weekly grains as that gives me more variety in meals. What meals can I make with these basic foods?

Not much! That's the reality. But I can make hot oatmeal every morning with a bit of sugar (or honey)

I can make beans and rice for supper. Lunch could be lentil soup. I think you get the idea.

Remember, these are BASIC survival rations. They will keep ONE adult alive for ONE week.

I'll show you how to expand your food rations and make more variety of meals cheaply and easily in future blog posts.

Preparing for Emergencies & Disasters

Do you have a plan in place for your family in case of emergency or disaster? Hubs and I decided long ago that we should always have a 3 month supply of food and water on hand.

Like many other families we began with saving  a 2-week food supply. Eventually that became one month of food, and now we are prepared for 3 months.  One month of food for your family is a realistic goal and I'm going to help you figure out what you need and where and how to store it.

We're not alarmists. We don't think the world is ending in December 2012 (or this weekend May 21st!) But natural disasters happen - floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires, earthquakes to name a few.

Ice storms also occur where we live and power can be knocked out for weeks. If it's winter and you have no power, can you survive? Do you have a plan for staying warm? What about cooking your food IF you have food stored - how will you accomplish this?

Disasters come in all shapes and sizes. Some are short-lived - perhaps a few days or a week or two of power outages and inconvenience. Some could be longer - even up to a few months. Do you have enough stored food on hand for your family for that long?

In a series of blog posts I'm going to share with you the plans that hubs and I have in effect. I'll show you what foods we have stored and tell you our reasons (mainly shelf life and ability to extend to feed many people)

There's so much to research and learn before you start buying and storing food. Hubs and I started as most families do - we bought in bulk whenever something went on sale. So we ended up with many cans of pork 'n beans and soup. But guess what - canned goods have a short shelf life (less than 3 years) so unless you're prepared to eat a lot of beans and soup when that 3 years is up, it's not the best emergency supply food.

So stay tuned, check back frequently, and follow the topic in the right hand menu bar "SURVIVAL FOOD STORAGE" or "DISASTER PLANNING" to read all the great tips I'm going to be sharing with you.

How to Build a Chicken Coop for less than $400.00

Believe it or not, this will eventually be our new chicken coop.

Right now the chickens are in a very nice barn with an attached run. It has one half for chicken and animal feed, the other half has perches for the chickens and my guinea fowl to sleep.

Why are we going to use an old trailer instead? Because the chicken barn is really nice! So I want hubs to clean it out and use it for storage of such things as snowmobilies, lawn mowers and other large items.

The run can be moved and attached to this trailer. The trailer will be moved to the back corner past where the existing chicken barn is. We have 100 acres so space is not an issue.

Right now hubs is building a door for the new chicken coop. He's gutted the insides and it will make a nice cozy barn for our chickens and guinea fowl. Hubs tries to do everything for free or as cheaply as possible.


The only reason it is so near the house is because hubs needs electricity for his power tools.

If you are thinking of getting chickens you need to build a proper home for them. The book on the left is pretty good with ideas an photos to go with it.

So if you aren't sure where to start, this book might just be for you.

Planting the Vegetable Garden

Planting Onions

Today we planted part of our vegetable garden. Hubby finished putting up chicken wire around the newly tilled land so that the pigs and chickens and guinea fowl could not get inside.

The new garden is about 25x30 feet and is close to the house. One area, defined by railroad ties, is our rhubarb patch. It's about 12x12. A second area about 12x18 is for zucchini.

Then we have a few rows each of spanish onions, cooking onions, green onions, garlic, red peppers, chives, mint and horseradish.

A final patch of tomatoes will complete the planting. Then we cross our fingers and hope!

Planting Mint

Most of the herbs we bought this year are planted in window boxes on our back deck but we wanted the mint and chives in the vegetable garden.

Plastic Made Using Chicken Feathers

Researchers have developed ways to substitute chicken feathers for petroleum in some plastic products, and at least two companies are working to bring items ranging from biodegradable flower pots to office furniture to market.



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Planting Pommes de Terre (Potatoes)

Planted potatoes today.

We've never done that before so should be interesting to see if they grow. If they do, we'll have 350 lb (yes POUNDS!) of potatoes in the fall. Sure hope our friends and family can use some because we still don't have a root cellar.

We planted Yukon Gold and some other kind, hubs doesn't recall the name.

Putting in a Vegetable Garden

Started to dig a vegetable garden today. Got it dug. Now need a fence around it to keep the piggies out.

'Reen can see it from the back deck and the mudroom. She wants me to plant tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, two kinds of onion, bell peppers, and horseradish.

She can freeze the grated zucchini and make zucchini bread all winter. Yum yum! 

I tilled the soil to make the garden around the existing rhubarb patch so we hope it spreads now.

Screaming Baby Pig

One week old baby pig does not like to be picked up

Pigs Help Out

Tilling a vegetable garden with the pigs

Is that a chicken in your pants?

Peterborough Ontario Police say an employee of a No Frills grocery store watched as a man stuffed four packages of chicken down his pants. When the security guard at the store tried to stop him from leaving, the man turned violent and punched him. 31 year old Jessie Adam Johnson is charged with assault with intent to resist arrest, theft and breach of probation.

A number of cockerels have been found dumped in Dunnet Forest in the north of Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after 11 cockerels were abandoned in Dunnet Forest near Thurso.

The dumped birds were reported to the charity by a member of the public on Monday.

Senior Inspector Audrey Gunn said: "When we arrived the cockerels weren't keen on getting close to us so we had to coax them with some bird food.

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Pigs Leave Home

we found out I'm allergic to pig urine so we had to move the baby piglets out to the garden shed near our house. Hubs rigged up a heat lamp for them to keep them warm.

So far they're doing fine but poor hubs has to set the alarm to go out and feed them every 4 hours during the night.

Great PIg Escape

We took the baby piglets out of the ensuite jacuzzi and put them in a huge wading pool in our basement family room. The smell in the ensuite was bothering me and they were noisy all night long, fighting and pushing and snorting.

After a few days in the basement we discovered they had figured out how to climb out of the wading pool!

Operation PIg Rescue

We had to bring our baby pigs inside as one died overnight in the cold. So we are taking care of them inside and bottle feeding them

Baby PIgs Born Today

Six pot belly pigs were born today on our hobby farm. There are 2 black ones and 4 spotted. The mother and father are black so we aren't sure where the spotted genetic material came from.

Our last litter of 3 baby pigs were crushed by the mom because she buried them deep in the straw and then lay on them. She couldn't see them but we can't remove the straw or the pigs will be cold and the babies will die.

We will have to think about what to do with this litter

Japan poultry farm begins chicken cull

A poultry farm in Japan has started culling about 150,000 chickens after confirming that chickens there had contracted the highly infectious H5 strain of bird flu.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry conducted tests on chickens that had already died at the firm. The dead birds tested positive for H5 bird flu in preliminary testing. This is the fifth outbreak of avian flu at a poultry farm in Japan this winter.

Scientists develop the first genetically modified chicken, engineered to prevent the spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus

Scientists have developed the first genetically modified (GM) chicken, engineered to prevent the spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, and in the process have sparked a renewed debate about the development of biotechnology.

The researchers at the Roslin Institute of the University of Edingburgh and at the University of Cambridge bred the transgenic chicken to be unable to transmit avian influenza to other chickens.

Prof Helen Sang, from the Roslin Institute said she saw the development as a possible boon for farmers in areas where avian influenza is endemic.



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“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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Afghanistan Chicken Farm

Members of the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team visited a local chicken farm owner in Khinj district, Panjshayr province Afghanistan recently.

Shanawaz Khan is a Go Joeal villager who started his chicken farm about 16 months ago with 30 chickens. Khan now has more than 800 laying hens and he looks to continue the growth of his business in the future.

“I’d like to have 8,000 chickens to produce enough eggs for all of Panjshayr and one day, all of Afghanistan,” Khan said through an interpreter.



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This Is Y I Raise My Own Chickens And Hogs

Most of us have no idea what we are eating.



Washing, treating with chlorine, injecting (with brine) and rebranding chicken

China's ban on Manitoba poultry

China issued an announcement Thursday saying it had banned poultry and poultry imports from Manitoba after an outbreak of bird flu on a turkey farm here was reported last month. But chickens raised for meat are sold to supply the domestic market almost exclusively, the Manitoba Chicken Producers said Thursday. So I guess its a non issue.

FSA issues food poisoning warning over chicken livers

Caterers are being warned to cook chicken liver thoroughly after an increased number of campylobacter food poisoning outbreaks in the last year.

Data provided by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that 11 of the 15 outbreaks recorded this year at catering premises were linked to consuming poultry liver parfait or pâté.



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Chicken Abuse ???

Humane Society of the United States on Wednesday took aim at the largest producer of fresh eggs in the country, releasing images and a report it said documents federal safety violations and inhumane treatment of chickens.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40236758/ns/us_news-environment/

Truck crash scatters chickens

Dozens of chickens were scattered across a Highway in Quebec overnight when a large truck went off the road. The crash happened near St. Mathieu de Beloeil when the truck driver veered off the highway and into a ditch, turning the truck on its side. The truck was carrying crates of live chickens which were thrown across the highway and the side of the road.

Diesel from chicken fat

Tyson Foods Inc. and fuel developer Syntroleum Corp. will announce Monday that they have successfully opened a plant that makes diesel from chicken fat and leftover food grease in Geismar, La., south of Baton Rouge.

KFC sells 350,000 Double Downs in Canada

KFC Canada sold 350,000 Double Downs in just 14 days. That's roughly one Double Down for every hundred Canadians. KFC Canada was reluctant to sell the sandwich at first, but after KFC sold 10 million Double Downs in the United States in its first month this spring KFC Canada was convinced to bring the Double Downs north of the border. I wonder how many chickens it takes to make 350,000 Double Downs.

Stress Free Death

Two premium chicken producers, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary’s Chickens in California, are preparing to switch to a system of killing their birds that they consider more humane. The new system uses carbon dioxide gas to gently render the birds unconscious before they are hung by their feet to have their throats slit, sparing them the potential suffering associated with conventional slaughter methods.

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Chickens help in battling Alzheimer’s: Part 2

Chickens help in battling Alzheimer’s

This is the final in a two-part series on Russell and LouNell Boyd, and how a large collection of animals – especially their chickens – are used for healing.

LouNell Boyd has chickens – a variety of chickens. To LouNell, it’s more than just a love of feathered friends.

It’s a recommended method of healing, staying active and maintaining a healthy emotional outlook.

“Life has many ups and downs, but how we react to adversity influences not only our own psychological health, but also the quality of life of those who live with Alzheimer’s,” said Russell, LouNell’s husband. “Yes, LouNell has Alzheimer’s, and she is accepting it and living with it, knowing that may one day it may take away a lot of the life she has known.”

Boyd menagerie source of joy, wonder: Part 1

Boyd menagerie source of joy, wonder

This is the first in a two-part series on a local couple with a large collection of animals and an unusual array of yard ornaments, and how they use them for health and healing.

"Russell and LouNell Boyd have an interesting life just outside of Tahlequah, and it’s a good thing: Both of them are storytellers." Continue reading...

Bears Attack Man Who Smells Like Fried Chicken

The Michigan State Department of Natural Resources and Environment said a 21-year-old deer hunter was attacked by a bear and three cubs over the weekend because he smelled like fried chicken and baked pork.

Continue reading ...

Bike Thieves Wore Chicken and Gorilla Suits

A teenager in, Long Island New York was attacked by three men (or women) who were wearing full-body costumes. Two were gorillas, and one was a giant chicken. Rather than perform some kind of entertaining mascot-type stunt, the three people in the costumes punched the kid in the head and then stole his bicycle. Only In New York.

US to appeal China's new tariffs

The group that represents the nation's chicken exporters says U.S. producers did not sell their products at unfairly low prices in China and plans to appeal new tariffs imposed by China.

The Chinese government says that its investigation found that U.S. chicken products are being sold at low prices which undermine the local market. New import duties ranging from 50.3 percent to as much as 105.4 percent will take effect Monday and last for five years.

Woman finds chicken head in take-out wings order

A woman in Toronto found a chicken head in take-out wings order. The woman allegedly found a deep-fried chicken head in her order of take-out wings from the Wild Goose Bar & Grill in Etobicoke, according to a report in the Toronto Sun. Toronto Public Health officials say as long as the head was properly cooked, there's nothing illegal about selling chicken heads in Ontario.

China imposes duties on US chicken

China has imposed anti-subsidy duties for five years on imports of chicken from the US. Importers must pay tariff rates ranging from 4 percent to 30.3 percent on U.S. broiler or chicken products, starting Aug. 30, the ministry announced. The ministry said producers benefited from government subsidies that lowered feed prices and hurt Chinese competitors.

Huge Egg Recall - Salmonella Poisoning

Write County Eggs has recalled millions of eggs. Salmonella on the shells has sickened many individuals.

Egg brands affected by the recall include: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms, and Kemp

Infected eggs are in cartons with dates ranging from 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413, and 1946.

Do not eat these eggs if you have any. Return them to the store for a full refund.

Gloria's Island Chicken

Got too many meat chickens? Looking for another way to cook one or two? Try Gloria's Island Chicken, mmmmm good!

Cheltenham chicken lays giant egg

A chicken belonging to a Gloucestershire man has laid an egg double the normal size.

Jeremy Power, from Cheltenham, said his hen Rainbow produced the egg on Saturday.

"Sadly it's not a world record, ours comes in at about 130g (4.6oz) whereas there are eggs on record of 160g (5.6oz), " he said.

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Perdue Farms recalls 90,000 pounds of chicken nuggets

Perdue Farms is recalling 91,872 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets because some of the products may contain pieces of plastic, the company said Tuesday.

The recalled products - 50,688 packages in total - have a "best if used by date" of June 9, 2011. On the back of the packages appears the numbers 89008A, 0160 and P-33944.

Free range chicken eggs contain more dioxin

Eggs from free range chickens contain nearly six times more of the toxic chemical dioxin than eggs hatched by caged hens, a Taiwanese study has found.

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McCruelty

PETA isn't chickening out on its push to put "McCruelty," a 250-pound, bloody and bandaged chicken sculpture, on the 16th Street Mall -- and today could be decision day for the City of Denver.

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Foul Reflection Of South African Crime Wave

Even a plucky chicken which has for months avoided becoming road kill on a Johannesburg intersection, can't escape the crime-ridden city's crooks.

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Ban on chicken costume voters in Nevada polling spots

Voters wearing chicken costumes will be barred from polling stations in Nevada, election officers have decided.

Chicken myth #4 - It is expensive to start raising your own chickens

Chicken myth #4 - It is expensive to start raising your own chickens.

Well expensive is a relative term. Whats may seem expensive for some people may not seem expensive for others. And it depends on where you live and how many chickens you want. But in general it is not expensive and if you use a little ingenuity you can start with out spending much at all. Just remember that all chickens need is shelter from the elements, predators, and a little food and water. They do not need a fancy house and expensive water and food dispensers. So keep it simple.

What's the name for an old chicken?

What is the name for an old chicken?

Campylobacter Infections

In almost all developed countries the incidence of human campylobacter infections has been steadily increasing for several years. Undercooked meat, in particular poultry, is often associated with illness, as is unpasteurised milk and untreated water. So make shure you keep your chickens clean and healthy. And cook them well when you eat them.

Chicken Myth #3 ~ It is cheaper to buy eggs in the store than raise your own.

Chicken Myth #3 ~ It is cheaper to buy eggs in the store than raise your own.

Wrong. Having a few hens for eggs can save you a little bit of money. However it is true that for the average family it will not save you a great deal of money. If the only reason you are thinking about getting a few chickens is to save money on eggs then it is probably not worth it. However their are lots of other great reasons for raising chickens.

Chicken Myth #2 ~ Chickens Smell.

Chicken Myth #2 ~ Chickens Smell.

Wrong. Chickens don't smell, chicken poop smells. So if you keep your chicken pen clean....NO SMELL.

Chicken Myth #1 ~ Chickens are hard to look after

Chicken Myth #1 ~ Chickens are hard to look after.

Wrong. Chickens are quite easy to look after. However like all things in life some work is required. For a small back yard flock of 10 or 20 birds you should expect to spend about 15min a day looking after them.

The Chicken Ranks First

San Diego's Chicken ranks first in Forbes magazine's survey of 10 most-liked sports mascots.

Chicken Causes Baldness ????

If you don't want to end up bald or gay, don't eat chicken, says Bolivian President Evo Morales. Speaking at an environmental conference this week in Cochabamba, Bolivia, (officially titled the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth) Morales told attendees in an inaugural address that chicken producers inject female hormones into the fowl, "and because of that, men who consume them have problems being men."


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New device detects chicken spoilage

A new instrument can quickly and precisely sniff minute amounts of poultry spoilage.
The new technique, developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology research chemists Tom Bruno and Tara Lovestead, can sniff out trace amounts of low-volatility compounds present early in the decay process.
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Chicken Day turns out different than we planned

Just a little story I fond interesting

Chicken Day

RIP, Connie the chicken.

A chicken has met with a death most foul in the Philadelphia suburbs.Lauren Steltzer said her pet chicken, Connie, was killed with a bow and arrow shortly after escaping on March 29.

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It Is Spring.......Time To Order Some Chicks

Well it is that Time of year again. Time to think about ordering some chicks from the hatchery. I don't know about you but it is my favorite time of year.

EU food safety agency says most raw chicken in Europe has bugs

The European Union's food safety agency says most chicken sold in Europe is infected with bacteria that can cause food poisoning if the meat is not cooked thoroughly.

In a report Wednesday, scientists said 76 per cent of chicken they tested at slaughterhouses in 2008 was infected with campylobacter and another 16 per cent had salmonella.

The agency says infection rates vary widely across Europe. All chickens it tested in Luxembourg showing positive for campylobacter. Only 4 per cent of Finnish chickens had the bacteria.

Man In Chicken Suit Shot With Pellet Gun

Police in Kansas are investigating a drive-by shooting with a bit of a twist.
They say a man sporting a chicken suit to advertise for a burger joint became the target of a drive-by shooting, shot in the thigh Friday afternoon with a pellet gun.

Aussie cat that thinks he's a chicken!

An Australian moggy that seems to think himself a chicken, took over the job of incubating eggs after they were abandoned by hens.

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Can Chickens See Better Than People

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.

Scientists mapped five types of light receptors in the chicken's eye. They discovered the receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken's ability to see many colors in any given part of the retina, the light-sensing structure at the back of the eye.

"Based on this analysis, birds have clearly one-upped us in several ways in terms of color vision," says Joseph C. Corbo, M.D., Ph.D., senior author and assistant professor of pathology and immunology and of genetics. "Color receptor organization in the chicken retina greatly exceeds that seen in most other retinas and certainly that in most mammalian retinas."

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Squirrel Sets Fire To Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant

Fire crews think a squirrel started a fire that gutted a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in England. A family of squirrels had been living in the roof space of the building and one of the rodents may have sparked the blaze by snacking on an electric cable.

China to Tax U.S. Chicken

China is getting increasingly bold in its response to an ongoing trade dispute with the U.S., Chinese authorities Friday slapped preliminary import duties of as much as 105.4% on U.S. chicken products.

The Ministry of Commerce which announced the decision said U.S dumping is hurting China's domestic poultry industry. Once the new directive takes effect Feb. 13, U.S. exporters, including Pilgrim's Pride Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc., will be required to deposit the duty with Chinese customs, pending a final decision on the matter.

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Colourful dinosaur was like a chicken

Scientists have mapped out the full colour pattern for a feathered dinosaur for the first time. They found that the species in question looked something like a Spangled Hamburg chicken.

By analysing fossilised pigments, called melanosomes, the team were able to assign colours to individual feathers of Anchiornis huxleyi, a four-winged carnivore dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic period in China.


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Lucky Caught At Last

Lucky the chicken has been caught at last. Lucky, a black chicken who spent two months dodging cars, coyotes and captors at a busy Glendale CA intersection is all cooped up.


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Chicken Love

A video posted online that shows a man on a New York City subway snuggling and kissing a chicken has viewers giggling and the city transit agency launching an investigation.However I dont see anything wrong with it. Chickens need love too :)

See Chicken Love

E. coli in retail chicken eyed for link to infections

Research from McGill University suggests there may be a link between a strain of E. coli in undercooked chicken and a risk of urinary tract infections in younger women who consume it.

McGill researcher Amee Manges, studying samples taken in the Montreal area between 2005 and 2007, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the University of Guelph, said her results show "strong new evidence" that E. coli from chicken sold at supermarkets, restaurants and elsewhere can cause common urinary tract infections.

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Russian American Chicken Fight

Russia, which spent $800 million on U.S. poultry in 2008, has banned imports from its largest supplier on concerns related to the use of chlorine in treating the meat -- a practice routinely used in the United States to kill bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

Russia May Ban US Poultry

"If some foreign producers do not or cannot comply with our safety requests, we will work with other suppliers. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a meeting on poultry production and development of Russia's poultry market.

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Chicken Crash

A 45-year-old trucker from Los Angeles says he choked while eating chicken and passed out, allowing his southbound tractor-trailer rig to crash.

Chicken Crack Down

The county of Sacramento will be cracking down on urban chicken owners starting next week. The county is telling owners to eat or get rid of their chickens by Monday, Jan. 18 or county code enforcement will start investigating and fining them. Crack Down

Chicken Rage Is Becoming a Problem

I am told an Ohio woman who flew into a rage and broke a window after she was told a McDonald's was out of chicken McNuggets has been charged with felony vandalism. I can totally understand this. When you gotta have chicken. YOU GOTTA HAVE CHICKEN.

Policeman Shoots Children Over Chicken

According to a report on Radio Mozambique a policeman shot three children, including two of his own sons, because they ate a chicken he had been keeping for his dinner.

Why farmed ducks endure worse conditions than chickens

Why farmed ducks endure worse conditions than battery hens. To stay healthy, they require access to ponds and space to roam. But many thousands of birds farmed in Britain for their meat endure appalling conditions. Sanjida O'Connell investigates.

An interesting article, perhaps a little one sided but worth a read.

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Chicken From China On Your Table Soon

The U.S. Congress tore down a barrier to imports of chicken from China last week. President Obama signed an appropriations bill on Wednesday that clears the way for the imports by allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct in China the safety inspections U.S. law requires for any country exporting food to America. The congressional move in 2007 to block funding for those regulatory steps amounted to an import ban. Now USDA will go through its normal regulatory process to open the door to Chinese imports, which could take up to 18 months.

Ten months in prison for The Chicken Killer

A man in England has been jailed for a total of 10 months after torturing and killing 24 chickens before their coop was burnt down.

Kevin Hughes, 20, was sentenced after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, and a further count of arson. A number of people were arrested after the attack, but only Hughes was charged.

China May Stomp On American Chicken Feet

China buys and eats an estimated $350 million in U.S. chicken feet each year. Now upset over new American tariffs on Chinese tire imports, Beijing has retaliated with an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices by American chicken importers that could threaten this traffic to the China.

Be afraid of the urban chicken

I do not happen to agree with the author of this next story but thought it was worth passing on.....

Chickens are dirty, vicious and require a lot of upkeep. From time to time, they fly the coop and you have to round them up. They leave gooey little messes all over the yard. Too cold and they die; too warm and they die. And they smell. Read More

Antibiotics in poultry and eggs a bad idea?

Antibiotics injected into poultry and eggs to reduce the spread of infection may be making people less susceptible to important antibiotic treatment, says the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The agency says Health Canada should ban the use of cephalosporins in agriculture because — although the drugs are effective in reducing the spread of illness in animals — they were not intended to be used in farming, and the effects of eating animals treated with the antibiotics are unknown.



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Salmonella Poisoning On The Rise

The BC Centre for Disease Control is reporting a significant increase in cases of salmonella and is reminding people to handle their food properly, particularly when preparing and cooking chicken.

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Chick A Poo

A new fertilizer, “Chick A Poo, ” is made from chicken feces. Chick A Poo

Regina City Council bans the raising of livestock unless the animals are pets

The City Council of Regina Canada passed a bylaw banning the raising of LIVESTOCK like chickens, cows, pigs and rabbits within the city limits.

So if you're raising chickens as pets in your backyard, that's just fine. But if you are going to eat them, you can't.

It is not clear if you are allowed to eat the eggs that your pets may lay.

Energy In Chicken Droppings

A growing number of environmentally-minded poultry farmers in the United States, Canada and Australia are looking to peck away at their greenhouse gas emissions by transforming chicken dung into biochar fertilizer, as well as biogas and a form of bio-oil that can be used to run farm operations
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Chicken or Black Tit?

In England in 1946, egg taste-testers were used to test The Palatability of Eggs and Birds. In a six-year study with the Cambridge Egg Panel, one of many similar bodies formed during second world war to help regulate the nation's food supply. Participants tasted the eggs of 212 bird species. This resulted in a 129-page report called The Palatability of Eggs and Birds: For the egg panellists, "samples were tested in the form of a scramble, prepared over a steam-bath, without any addition of fat or condiment". Each taster assessed each sample on a scale dropping from "ideal" way down to "repulsive and inedible".

The paper concludes with a list of the different egg types "in descending order of acceptability". Keep in mind that these are the aggregate preferences; individual tastes may vary. Most acceptable: chicken, then emu, coot and black-backed gull. The eggs of last resort, as rated by official British egg-tasting persons: green woodpecker, Verreaux's eagle owl, wren, speckled mousebird and, dead last, black tit.

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More Strange Chicken News

A British man who admitted biting off another man's ear while dressed in a chicken suit was sentenced to 15 months in jail.

Snake-bite chicken

In a strange story, health authorities in China are asking restaurants to stop serving Snake Bite Chicken. Said to be detoxifying, snake bite chicken is served by a small number of restaurants in south and south-west China.

Firecracker Noise Scared Chickens To Death

The owner of a motorcycle shop in China had to pay over 16,000 yuan for the death of about 800 chickens. The noise from firecrackers used to celebrate the opening of the shop sent the chickens into a frenzy and they eventually died from shock according to the owner of the farm.

Family ordered to get rid of pet chickens

A man may take his case for having pet chickens to the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Chickens Are In

The strain of the recession and concerns over battery farming is creating an explosion in urban chicken farmers.

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The chicken that laid the golden egg.

A bride in Saudi Arabia hid her wedding jewelry worth more than SR40,000 inside a frozen chicken in her freezer. Thinking it would be a safe hiding place while she was away honeymooning in Malaysia. However the young bride did not count on a power failure. So when her mother came over to tidy up before her daughter’s homecoming. She discovered that the food in the fridge had become rotten and threw everything out.

Reminds me of the case of THE BLUE CARBUNCLE.

Chicken Legs Spark Blaze

A chicken dinner sparked a blaze that gutted a newly refurbished kitchen in England.
Chicken legs left in an unattended oven started a fire that set soon the rest of the kitchen on fire. One person was taken to Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The chicken was ruined.

Plumped Chicken

Chicken that is labeled "all natural" is often "plumped," meaning that it contains extra water, salt, and a seaweed extract called carrageenan. According to the Wall Street Journal. Plumped Chicken

Chicken Tonight

A generation ago, a chicken dinner was only for special occasions. Today, chicken is an everyday meal, enjoyed by more Canadians than ever before. It also represents excellent value and outstanding nutrition.

Chicken Tonight

Group seeks to protect rare chicken breeds

At about the time Foghorn Leghorn appeared on the Looney Toons drawing board in 1946, he began disappearing from America's dinner tables.

Now the bird on which the rooster cartoon character was modeled is among 66 types of old-fashioned chickens the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is trying to save from extinction as factory-raised cross varieties command 90 percent of the market.

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Chicken farming

I found an interesting story on chicken farming in the news and I thought it might interest some of you.

Having spent his working life in advertising, including founding the multi-million pound agencies, Samuels Jones Isaacson Page, and Eurobrand Communications, Graham Page felt ready for a change.

He was fed up with the daily commute into London and, as a widower, wanted to be around more for his three children – so he sold up, got out and in March 2008, at the age of 63, set up a poultry farm.
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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.

More than 500,000 people keep chickens in England

I found this interesting story about keeping chickens in England and I thought it may interest some of you.

It has been eight months since the arrival of Bouncy Beauty, Black Beauty, Henny Penny, Coco Pops, Emily, Gertie and Rosie — the bossy one.

Their pretty feathers colour the garden and speckle the daffodils with shades of black, red, brown, grey and white as they scratch around and flutter in fear ofmy determined three-year-old.

More than 500,000 people keep chickens in England and it is not hard to see why. It was a revelation to me how kind they can be, putting up with grubby expressions of love from my three little boys, quickly learning to come when called and sitting in the sun clucking and cooing beatifically. But as much fun as chickens can be, and although we haven’t bought an egg since last November, we certainly don’t seem to be saving ourselves any money.....


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Chicken Bandits

Florida police are looking for robbers that held up a woman for her chicken. The suspects followed the woman home after her shift at Popeye's Chicken in Jacksonville.

The suspects kept circling the home of the woman in a car yelling, "Give us the chicken!" then the suspects approached the couple with a shot gun and threatened to shoot them if they didn't put down the chicken. However before they left, the chicken bandits also took the woman's purse.

Obama Fried Chicken

A Brooklyn eatery is in hot water over its name. Obama Fried Chicken. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the New York City fried chicken restaurant named after President Obama could probably find a more appropriate name. Black activists say the name is "very offensive to African Americans."

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

Trade in Chicken-Flavored Frogs Uncovered

A Nashville area restaurant is expected to face action for allegedly importing frog legs and serving them as "chicken."Read More