Price Of Eggs Up 23 Percent

The average price of eggs rose 23 percent in some parts of the U.S. The rise in price is the result of higher costs that farmers must pay for the grains make chicken feed.

Federal policies designed to encourage ethanol production have caused two separate shifts. Corn farmers have been selling more of their harvest to be processed into fuels, and that has driven up the cost of the part of the crop that goes into various animal feeds.

The lure of the ethanol market also has caused many farmers to replant what normally would be soybean acres into corn, Sumner said. The resulting drop in soybean acreage has boosted prices for that versatile crop, which is the other key constituent of henhouse cuisine.

More Chicken Fighting

US authorities have reportedly raided a chicken fighting operation. About 300 chickens were seizes during the operation. The property’s owner was also arrested on animal cruelty charges.

The Jamie Oliver effect

Estate agents in England report a rise in inquiries, particularly from young buyers, for properties where they can keep chickens. Many call the trend "the Jamie effect", believing it to be inspired by the chef Jamie Oliver's recent television investigation into how battery-farmed chickens are treated.

Canned Chicken

A New Zealand company has launched a new idea – canned chicken. The idea is that Canned Chicken is more safe to eat. They say it will reduce the risk of campylobacter-related food poisoning cases in the country.

Giving Up Steak For Chicken

At U.S. stores, a growing number of shoppers are giving up steak for cheaper chicken. Stung by the housing slump, tightening credit terms, and rising inflation, U.S. households are finding ways to cut back, putting a damper on the consumer spending.

Chicken Manure Mistaken For Gas Leak

What many thought was a natural gas leak kept police, emergency crews and gas company workers busy Friday morning in the town of Rockville. The police recieved calls from people all over town reporting the gas odor. The smell was so strong officials at a local school considered evacuating the school. After a few hours of checking, gas company workers determined the odor was not natural gas, but chicken manure. The manure had apparently been spread on a nearby field and the odor was wafting over the town.

Chicken Poo Catapult

A man in England is using a 30ft Roman catapult, loaded with chicken droppings to defend his his company, Grumpy Joe’s Flooring. In the early hours of February 2 arsonists started a fire that caused £2,000 worth of damage. On the same night, four cars outside his daughter’s house had their tyres slashed and windows smashed.

“My daughter lives 12 miles away,” he said. “It’s too much of a coincidence. We are pretty certain it was a rival company, but I can’t prove it.”

He says he did not build up his flooring business in order to let his rivals walk all over him.

Hyperspectral Imaging

Hyperspectral imaging, involves technology used by NASA satellites to monitor temperature and climate changes. It is now also used to monitor frozen chickens.

When Henry the chicken came home to roost

Read about Henry the chicken.Henry

Tyson fires workers for chicken torture

Tyson Foods has fired several workers at chicken slaughterhouses in the wake of a federal investigation of animal cruelty charges, the company said this week.

Tyson also is stepping up management surveillance of areas where live chickens are handled and retraining workers. The Springdale, Ark.-based company disciplined other workers.

School Chicken Prank

Police found 85 chickens roaming the hallways of a Northeast Philadelphia High School.

The school sent students home and they returned Tuesday morning after the city’s Health Department determined it was safe.

Surveillance footage shows four to five individuals in hooded jackets in the school prior to the practical joke.

Fried Chicken Kentucky's Official Picnic Food

Animals rights advocates are squawking at a measure that would make fried chicken Kentucky's official picnic food.

State Rep. Charles Siler is sponsoring legislation to honor the late Colonel Harland Sanders, the Kentuckian who founded the fried chicken chain that now has 11,000 restaurants in more than 80 countries.

However the animal rights group PETA claims that the chickens KFC serves are abused. PETA has been involved in a long-standing battle with KFC, and even began a push two years ago to have a bust of Colonel Sanders removed from the Kentucky Capitol. Sanders, with his white goatee and black string tie, became recognizable worldwide by marketing his fried chicken.

Study reveals broiler chicken health problems

Selective breeding processes may have increased the likelihood of inherited health issues among broiler chickens, a new study has argued.

University of Bristol experts have published a study in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, revealing that more than a quarter of birds raised using the intensive farming method have difficulty walking.

Explosion In A Chicken Shop

A massive explosion destroyed a chicken shop in Sydney and ignited a fire that left one man critically injured and hundreds homeless.

The cause of the explosion is still not known, but the Gas company is assisting police and Fire Brigades with their investigation.

Chicken sandwich contamination Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada

A warning has been put out about chicken sandwiches that may be contaminated with listeria bacteria. Listeria can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea, and is particularly dangerous to pregnant women. Food contaminated with listeria may not look or smell spoiled.

The sandwiches were sold in Ontario, Quebec and possibly Atlantic Canada under the name "Martel" or "La Maisonnee" and include chicken salad. The sandwiches carry a best before date of Jan. 25 and Feb. 5, 2008.

Chicken Sales Up In England

The British Poultry Council, which represents poultry producers, says chicken sales have risen despite a TV campaign to get customers to purchase free-range poultry instead. The campaign was led by chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on his recent Hugh's Chicken Run shows for Channel 4. The campaign aimed to persuade shoppers that eating intensively reared chickens was bad.

Strange But True ?

A man in China was shocked after he took a chicken out of the freezer and found that it was still alive. Gan Shugen put the hen in the freezer wrapped in a plastic bag, assuming it was dead. But two days later he was amazed by what he saw. He said: "I heard weak sounds, and when I opened the bag, a red head popped out. It was still warm, and when I removed the tape, she could stand."

Tyson Foods to investigate claims of chicken abuse

Tyson Foods Inc is investigating allegations by the animal-welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that chickens were abused and tortured at two of its chicken processing plants.

Sales of chicken unaffected by Jamie Oliver

Sales of chicken appear to have been unaffected by Jamie Olivers programmes on intensive farming conditions, with major supermarkets saying chicken purchases have actually increased. TV chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Whittingstall are up in arms about the differences between standard and free range chickens. But supermarkets say it was business as usual.

Mass Produced Chickens

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is on a new crusade. Oliver and fellow high-profile British chef Hugh Whittingstall have got people in a flap about the conditions that mass-produced chickens are forced to live in.

Now I think it is safe to say that not many people would say that the way animals are mass-produced is very nice. However we must remember that not that long ago meat on the table was a luxury for many people. And that was not very nice either.