Talk:Chicken/Archive 1

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misc.

Here's another part to fix: "Arsenic

Chickens are also fed Roxarsone, a chemical which helps to kill harmful microbes and also to promote growth. The controversy arises as a result of the fact that Roxarsone contains arsenic, the excessive consumption of which can cause cancer, dementia, and neurological problems in humans. Though the arsenic in Roxarsone is not of the type which can cause cancer, a Consumer Reports study in 2004 discovered enough arsenic in samples of factory farmed chicken to "cause neurological problems in a child who ate 2 ounces of cooked liver per week or in an adult who ate 5.5 ounces per week." [9]

first they're talking chicken, then they're talking liver...

Huh, wierd, the other day I saw someone put down how much they loved chickens, and I erased it... Is there a chance it was still in the record?

This page looks as though it was written by someone with ADD.

---Someone is aski me to come up with a picture of a chicken's earlobe. Do chicken's have earlobe and if they do were would I look for a picture of one? Sorry if this question is not stupid and really necessary for future developments of human knowledge.-

Anybody read this? "Chickens are carnivores and will feed on small children, and even large mammals like giraffes, if they can get them. Domestic chickens are capable of flying for long distances. Chickens will sometimes fly simply in order to explore their surroundings, but will especially fly in an attempt to attack when they are hungry." Sounds cool to me.

why? this is perfectly good information.

So I was hoping to find something about chicken farming here... like, for example, what is the role of roosters in chicken farming? How often do hens lay? Could anyone add these things? Graft 15:35, 4 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Now could somebody add a modern version? I have the feeling that some of Columella's advice is obsolete, but I know from nothing. --JerryFriedman 19:03, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Man, the top of this page looks awful. Anyone know table formatting enough to fix what's wrong? Jwrosenzweig 20:06, 9 Feb 2004 (UTC)

great! thanks a lot! Yak 13:55, Feb 13, 2004 (UTC)

Look at this sentence: "All parts of the animal are used, the recipes mention even the stomach, liver, the balls and even the parson's nose."

Are the chicken "balls" what I think they are, or is it just my pruient mind? If chicken "balls" are not testicles, then what are they? And what is a "parson's nose"?Brian_Schlosser42 23 April 2004

I can't think of anything other than testicles for balls (speaking as an amateur chicken raiser for the last decade plus). "The parson's nose" is a weird slang term for the fatty stub on the chicken where the tail feathers attach; it's more commonly called the "tail" (though incorrectly), and its proper term, I believe, is the pygostyle. I'll fix the sentence in question. Jwrosenzweig 19:11, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

if you dislike parson's nose, ok, but what IS the correct English name? You have simply replaced it by an explanation.

--Yak 17:42, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)

"pygostyle" It's also called the Pope's nose. I didn't know any name for it till I was in my twenties, and I suspect a lot of English speakers don't. --JerryFriedman 19:03, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

"Columella advises to slaughter hens that are older than three years ...". What or who is Columella ? Jay 09:30, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Ancient Roman author writing on Agriculture --Yak 20:34, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Thanks yak. Jay 17:26, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Capons

Speaking of balls, is "capos" (near the end of "Chicken breeding" a typo for "capons"? If so, it needs explanation, as the spurs are not the only thing removed from capons. I hope the Romans didn't castrate roosters with hot irons! --JerryFriedman 19:47, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

capons, yes. Columella says: Of these three, only the female animals are called chicken (gallinae), the male cocks (galli) and the halfmale capons (semimares galli), and they are called thus because they have been castrated to abolish the sexual urge. This is done not by removing the genitals, but by buring out the spurs with a hot iron, when these have been destroyed by the heat, the wounds are covered with potter's clay until they are healed. (Book 8, chapter 2, 3-4).

not very nice, I am sure, but that's it. How do you castrate cocks? --Yak 22:03, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Since chickens and other birds don't have external testicles, the castration of a cock usually involves an operation to remove the testicales from inside the chicken. The page on capons has a link that shows how this is performed. This sort of effort is the reason why you don't see many capons available for sale. --pjf 09:09, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)

As a matter of fact, capons are somewhat commonly sold in the Christmas season in some parts of Europe, such as France. They are a smaller alternative to turkey. (Of course, they are pricier than normal chickens.) David.Monniaux 08:29, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Genome

Should we add something about the news that scientists have "cracked" the chicken genome (cracked may not be the right word....help me, biologists?)? [1] Jwrosenzweig 00:14, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Seriously, the explanation of Columella's chicken breeding habits is an interesting read, but it should have no place in a main atricle on a encyclopedia. Reasons: It's probably outdated information, and as far as I guess, it has had no especially significant or peculiar impact on current breeding habits to warrant a place on a generic article about chickens. (For reference: If the information really isn't outdated, it should be mentioned that "even though this was written a long time ago, chickens are still handled in the exact same way as in historical Rome".)

I'd like to see the text moved to it's own article, for example titled "Historical Roman chicken breeding habits", or something alike. If there are no arguments against this, I'll probably be back to do the change it at some point.

I'd also like to see some information on chicken egg fertilization and such. I'd add that myslef, but unfortunately as I came here searching for the said information, I do not have it to share. --195.148.72.14 17:36, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Cratinus & Athenaeus

I replaced "Kratinos" with its Romanization of "Cratinus" so that it would link to the appropriate article. Regarding the "Athinaios" citation, I couldn't find anything. Cratinus didn't have any works by that name. Athenaeus reported some fragments of earlier Greek writers, so maybe that was what was meant. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. --Jpbrenna 05:08, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

Chicken Oddities

I've removed the following text from the article, as I do not believe it is encyclopedic, nor does it come with a reference:

A lady brought a Chicken Hen on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and it played "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on a child's toy piano and bowled 3 strikes scoring a Turkey. Some Animal Rights Activists like PETA see this and other amazing Chickens as evidence that Chickens are intelligent and sentient and shold not be killed or eaten.

If anyone disagrees with this, or would like to argue that this section adds significantly to the article, then I would love to hear it. --PJF ^(talk) 04:08, 7 May 2005 (UTC)

quite frankly, i do not in any way see how this improved the article. try to see the page from the POV of someone doing research on chickens; do you think that they would rather learn something new about the birds or not? adding info to an article never hurts, and "encyclopedic" applies not to the content of the article, which is (or should be) the sum of all the relevant info available on the subject, which we can't control at our discretion, but rather how it is stated. "chickens can be very smart and one even played a piano on jay leno!1!" would be unencyclopedic. i'm restoring the passage, albeit with a ^{[citation needed]}. i'll find a reference, or if i can't i'll take it back out. Joeyramoney 22:17, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Added discussion of free range chickens and correct reference to broilers.

What about chicken language? i've heard reports that their 'language' contains as many as 100 words/pharases! personally i've identifyed about 10. i think this deserves some sort of mention 205.188.116.201 23:47, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Smoking Birds

Who the hell smokes birds? [snip]Chicken coops should face southeast and lie adjacent to the kitchen, as smoke is beneficial for the animals. Coops should consist of three rooms and possess a hearth. Dry dust or ash should be provided for dust-baths.[snip] Is that not a little... strange??? -- 129.116.66.194

Chickens definitely need dust/ash/soil for dustbathing, it one of the birds' natural ways of removing parasites, as is essential for the well-being of the birds. As for smoke being beneficial to the birds, there are certain parasitic diseases that can affect a chicken's throat and respiratory system. These parasites can be killed by smoke, and one way to 'cure' birds suffering from such infestations was to put them in an extremely smokey room long enough to kill the parasites, but not the bird. The comment about it being beneficial in general may have reflected the lower incident of throat-parasites in birds kept in smokey conditions.

I'll need to dig through my books on chicken health and care to give references regarding the smoke and parasites. In any case it certainly needs further clarification in the text. --PJF ^(talk) 01:02, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

but 'coops should consist of three rooms'? my chickens need to be together. i tried keeping mine seperate, but they got cold (even though i keep a heat-lamp on them)and i lost production. when i combined my coops, my hatch consisted of mutts, but i actually got a hatch.

Chickens in religion

The cock, pig, and snake are an important triune symbol in some Buddhist traditions (but for what, exactly, I don't remember at the moment. Something like anger, greed, and envy?) --216.240.37.31 23:57, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Request For Content (RFC)

How often do chickens lay eggs? Do they lay multiple at a time? Things like this I want to know.

That info is already in the article. Please actually read the article before requesting that info be added to it! Thank you Tekana (O.o) Talk 17:49, 10 October 2005 (UTC)