Talk:Chicken/Archive 3

Vandalism

Looking at this page tells me that it is clearly vandalized, the text on the page shows only "| image = Spongebob-squarepants.png". Checking the edit page says ClueBot reverted it right when it was done, but I cannot see the article. I would investigate further, however, the article is locked. I figured that I should leave this here. --Mukkor (talk) 18:09, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

{{editsemiprotected}} Will someone with the rights to edit the page take out the last line "chick is gay".-- billyjoe007 (talk) 21:06, 06 August 2009 (GMT)

That vandalism was actually to Template:Chicken, which is unprotected. In any case, I've fixed it. Algebraist 20:16, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Domestication and extinct in the wild business

This is very stupid and annoying, I have noticed that on some articles under conservation status (most notably this Chicken article) sometimes you get "DOMESTICATED" written out and then on others you get a proper conservation chart telling the reader that the animal is "EXTINCT IN THE WILD".

Now the conservation chart looks a lot better than just plain writing and it's easier to understand.

I think it's a lot more appropriate to have a conservation chart on every animal included on this website under conservation status, otherwise what's the point of even having a conservation chart availabe if you're just going to write "DOMESTICATED" especially when domesticated and extinct in the wild mean EXACTLY the same thing?.

Now Domestication of an animal is when you take it out of the wild, tame it and use it in whatever way.

EG Cat, we take a cat out of the wild, tame it so it's friendly to humans and then use it for our entertainment or whatever you would use a cat for.

EG Chickens, we take Chickens out of the wild, tame them to live in huts and pens and then use them to get eggs and meat and so on.

Now Domestication of a species of an animal is when that species is fully domesticated and no longer lives in the wild, this means exactly the same thing as extinct in the wild. If an animal no longer lives in the wild then it's therefore extinct in the wild.

You can look around and you'll no longer find Chickens living in the wild, you'll no longer find cows in the wild, you'll no longer find dogs in the wild.

So why not just put under conservation status, a proper conservation chart instead of just writing domesticated?

If you agree then i'll be oliged to do that without anyone else doing it.

Thanks

Jack4740

I have answered this on your user page. Please read the definition for extinct in the wild and domestication. They are not the same thing. Also, there are plenty of chickens living in the wild, both feral chickens and wild chickens.Bob98133 (talk) 17:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I have replied back to you bob, and if you go away and read you'll find that Extinct in the wild and domesticated logically mean the same thing, after all the Conservation status tells us about animals living in the WILD and not living in captivity. There are NO wild chickens living in the wild Bob, because if there was under it's conservation status it would'nt say domesticated, and feral is classed as domesticated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack4740 (talk • contribs) 17:59, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, if you don't believe the definitions or insist on interpreting them as you do, there is no need for further discussion. You are simply wrong. Google returns 343,000 hits for wild chickens in Hawaii, Georgia, China, Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere, so perhaps you should straighten them out, too. Bob98133 (talk) 18:09, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok, listen up dumbass Bob, ;cause this is the last time I'm going to say this............................

Here is a quote from the very page that tells us about "Extinction in the wild"

"Extinct in the Wild (EW) is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa, the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range."

G. gallus domesticus does not exist in the wild, and so is kept in captivity. All of these wild chickens you're throwing at me is not the Chicken I am talking about here, the chicken I am talking about here is G. gallus domesticus, when I said Chicken I meant as in the species G. gallus domesticus, not as in the general genus. So it's you who is wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack4740 (talk • contribs) 18:30, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

First of all, please refrain from calling people names. Second, please learn the difference between a genus, a species and a subspecies. Then, we can talk.--Ramdrake (talk) 18:46, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I understand classification thank you very much so stop diverting the arguement, you want to talk?, talk to me on my own page, not here I am sick and tired of having to click back and for all the time.

Don't reply. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack4740 (talk • contribs) 19:17, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

How much does a chicken weigh?

This article fails to answer that fairly basic question. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)

About as much as a henway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.248.48.50 (talk) 19:22, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Are you asking for the average weight? The average weight of a chicken is highly variable, and depends on such things such as type, how and where it was grown, etc. 128.208.60.138 (talk) 17:40, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

T From what I can discern the chicken itself is an artificial term. I have raised very small Bantam chickens (which can weigh from about 1.5 pounds to 4 pounds according to what I have seen defined as Bantams) which periodically revert back to flight birds and leave my birds. Even my small quail because they took to roosting in trees with my bantams at night when I collect them have had one revert back to a flight bird which comes to visit them and stays with them often during the day with the same markings as a Bobwhite quail. The chicken is just a group of domesticated wild birds which have been bred to be heavy weight, and heavy layers such that it is difficult for the hen to take flight. My favorite example are the Bantams that have no true combs that are descendants from the very black birds of Europe of which one if mine has decided to take flight and returns periodically to scare the others who fear it is a predator bird such that it is basically alone in the wild now as it has no mates locally. Such that there is not any true weight for a 'chicken' nor any true categorization because any bird that is domesticated along with raised with these birds become categorically chickens such as the current love of part American domesticated 'chicken' birds mixed with South American Aeurucana grouse game birds which often do not match up well enough genetically for the eggs to hatch out beyond a low level of development. Quite possibly the existance of combs has been misattributed to the game birds collected by sailors from different places but combs exist in wild turkeys in the North American regions such that surely they exist all over and may exist in a breeding line of domesticated birds or may not. There are categories for sizes and weights. From what I can tell Game birds (below 1.5 pounds) lay very small eggs which may or may not be categorized as chickens. Bamtams tend to be the smaller birds who lay the small to medium sized eggs and full sized chickens lay large and extra large eggs. The question should be what is a normal weight for a specific breed of chickens more so than what constitutes the weight of a chicken. I have carried around an injured Bard Rock/Dominicker pet chicken given to me for a friend that weighed a good ten pounds that was a rooster. Males tend to weigh more of a breed as they have more muscle and hens tend to weigh less as they tend to be smaller with more feathers. The only thing I have noticed in common with all these breeds is they like left over old pizza and pizza crusts whereas one may prefer different feeds thus indicating a different genetic background as to diet and foraging. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.170.218.16 (talk) 23:44, 18 October 2008 (UTC) Also I forgot quite often domesticated birds that are cryptic camoflage colored are also defined as game birds which may be domesticated chicken lines.

Sorry, this is nonsense. The domestic chicken is definitely one species, not just a random collection of different species. -- Zsero (talk) 01:28, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

References

I'm not sure why the full info on Firefly Ency of Birds seems never to have been entered. Here is the information I just grabbed online:

Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Ed. Perrins, Christopher. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books, Ltd., 2003.

Sorry, I was too tired to figure out how to plug this in. Perhaps someone who already knows will take care of it? Thanks. Australorp (talk) 06:11, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

That's footnote number 2, btw. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Australorp (talk • contribs) 14:47, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I have entered fuller info for the above cite, but do not have the page ref, which should be included. Australorp (talk) 16:47, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I did enter the info, but apparently I'm barred from doing so, as it doesn't seem to have taken. Well, if anyone is attending to this page, perhaps he/she will have the power and the willingness to effect this change. Australorp (talk) 16:58, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

General biology and habitat: I have put into text the following statement's No. 9 ref as given (URL link):

The world's oldest chicken, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, died of heart failure when she was 16.

However, it seems to me the proper citation should be the Guinness Book of World Records, and not a newspaper article second-handedly referring to same. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Australorp (talk • contribs) 16:20, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Okay, okay, I'm trying to remember to sign <smile>. Australorp (talk) 23:29, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I have successfully completed the Firefly ref entry; must've done it wrong the first times. Emailed Robert Plamondon yesterday, who, I see, has fleshed out his references. Thank you Robert. Australorp (talk) 05:18, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Chickens as Pets

In this section, I've rearranged, deleted, added; nothing drastic, I think. I believe it reads better. Let me know if I'm wrong. I documented the egg yolk color. Australorp (talk) 06:52, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Today, I've attempted to substantiate some declarations, added some with refs, etc. Please give feedback. Thanks. Australorp (talk) 02:24, 29 February 2008 (UTC) The name "Xavier Garza" is a form of a fat man chicken. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.90.165.168 (talk) 16:23, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Anyone think that we should move Chickens as pets to its own article? Portillo (talk) 00:13, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Breed?

If someone can identify the breed of this chicken, please caption on the relevant Commons pages (and possibly categorize, somewhere under Commons:Category:Chicken breeds). - Jmabel | Talk 02:33, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

• 
• 

Looks like a "boring brown" – one of a number of commercial egg-laying strains, mostly derived from crosses such as Rhode Island Red with White Sussex (or it could be a similar backyard cross). Not sure it can be identified exactly by look alone. Can you ask the owner? It's a hen, by the way, I'd say a youngish one. (I think the one behind is a Marans...). --Richard New Forest (talk) 07:40, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

I think it may be a buff. It would help if you knew its weight, egg size, egg color, and orgins.

---~Piney (talk) 18:14, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

It could be anything: Rhode Island Red (though I doubt it, usually these are much darker), New Hampshire Red, Sussex, a cross. I'd leave it as breed unknown. VanTucky 19:51, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Spelling/grammar

Why are all the words 'chicken' in this article capitalized? Was this done on purpose, by accident, or as a result of vandalism? -- Ynhockey ^(Talk) 21:58, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I have tranced most of the capitalization to this edit. Looks like it should be completely undone to me (notice also what he did with the dashes, etc.) -- Ynhockey ^(Talk) 22:01, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

yeah, that's me. just bringing it up to date as per Wikiproject Birds, accepted common names of species in caps when used as a proper noun. you know how birders are  ;-) - Metanoid (talk, email) 03:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC) oh, and as far as the hyphenated words go, i don't really care either way. personally i think it looks cleaner without, but i dunno if that's convention or not. if it bothers you too much, you go ahead and chg it, i won't mind. - Metanoid (talk, email) 03:41, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Cocks only in the UK?

I noticed this sentence in the article- "In the U.S.A., Canada and Australia, adult male chickens are known as roosters; in the UK they are known as cocks." Since it is protected, I can't add a {{citation}} to it- is there some sort of proof as to the national distinguishes of the name of the male chicken? From what I know, the term "rooster" and "cock" are interchangeable regardless of whether in the US, Canada, Australia or the UK. 76.28.138.83 (talk) 04:26, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

I've added {{cn}} to that line. Where I am in the US cock is certainly known but rooster is much more common in everyday usage, particularly outside breeding/showing circles. I have no cites and have no idea about anywhere else.--Doug.^{(talk • contribs)} 08:26, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm from the UK and I've always referred to them as "cockerals", not "cocks" or "roosters". Beanrobot (talk) 17:19, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

However, looking at the Compact Oxford English Dictionary it appears I'm wrong and that I should be using "cock" as "cockerel" is a juvenile male. To quote the COED: "rooster: noun, chiefly N. Amer. a male domestic fowl" so I think the article is right to say that "rooster" is from the USA etc. Beanrobot (talk) 17:23, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Funny that, but we here in Australia primarily use the term rooster. The term cock is not used very often when referring to a male chook, but is usually used to refer to part of the male anatomy. --203.220.171.3 (talk) 12:23, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

As a UK person from a farming area, we definately call male chickens "cocks". "Rooster" was never used and has the twinge of Americanism to it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.35.134.122 (talk) 08:34, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

In non-technical circles I rarely hear the word "cockerel" in my part of the US, "rooster" serving for anything old enough to crow and in some cases even have a full comb. I find the technical terms for many juvenile animals are often uncommon everywhere, particularly the names for the males.--Doug.^{(talk • contribs)} 01:09, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

When someone in the U.S. says "cock," they're usually refering to something else. ;) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.208.120.38 (talk) 02:31, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes – I think the use of "cockerel" (and perhaps "rooster") is probably prudishness, like the widespread British use of "turf" instead of "sod". In my part of Britain, to farmers, cock is the adult bird and cockerel is a young male. However many non-farming types will use "cockerel" for both, I think because they feel unsure of the proper word, and are reluctant to come right out with a "cock" in mixed company... --Richard New Forest (talk) 09:05, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

I live in SE Asia as an English teacher. I'm American. I can't tell you how many times British teachers tell me what we say and don't say in America, e.g. sidewalk vs. pavement. We use both. Where do you think we came from? There should not be a national distinction of terminology in this article as it is the same case...we use both. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.19.69.3 (talk) 06:41, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

WP is supposed to be descriptive, and should just state what the usage is, including any geographical variations. If you're an American who freely uses all British English dialect variations, in my experience you are extremely unusual, and certainly as a Brit I regularly come across American usages which I've never heard before. "Pavement" is a good example – the word has different meanings in the two dialects. Not sure what you mean by "where you come from". I'd always understood that there are Americans of almost every ethnic, language and cultural background, and this has surely affected your use of "our" language. (Can you do the accent too...?) Richard New Forest (talk) 13:11, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Legality of castration

"(though both surgical and chemical castration are now illegal in some parts of the world)" I find that parenthetical aside superfluous to the listing of terminology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dozhdbog (talk • contribs) 21:44, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

easter island reference is suspect

article says chickens introduced to easter island 12th century bce, but 'history of easter island' article says humans reached easter island around 300 ce at the very earliest. i'm not an expert on chickens or easter island but i suspect the 12th century bce reference is wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bryndlefly (talk • contribs) 10:45, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

I was curious about this as well. I will delete this if no one can back it up within the next week or two.Shrikeangel (talk) 05:23, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

This google book ref confirms early chickens on the island [1] in this book [2] but the refs don't confirm the time period, so it would need another ref for that. Bob98133 (talk) 12:16, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Oldest chicken 16 years

Was the Guinness record for oldest chicken 16 years or 16 months? Thank you. 76.240.228.226 (talk) 14:21, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Years! 76.240.228.226 (talk) 14:44, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, why is this article locked? I see no discussion of a dispute or any other reason. Did a late-night comedian suggest editing it? 76.240.228.226 (talk) 14:23, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

This article has been that target of a great deal of vandalism. There is even a website, that I won't mention here, that is devoted entirely on vandalizing the chicken article.Danny (talk) 20:34, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

http://www.qwantz.com/archive/000879.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.146.121.149 (talk) 20:06, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

{{editprotected}}

Please add "years" after "16" in the sentence about the oldest chicken. Please also use a padlock icon template to denote the protection status of this article. Is it semi or full protection? If full, please also modify my notice at the top of this talk page. 76.240.228.226 (talk) 19:58, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

 Done. Article is semi-protected, for reasons stated. —  Tivedshambo  _(t/c) 20:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

http://www.everytopicintheuniverseexceptchickens.com/ is the one that Deedmercereal is talking about. :) Isafos (talk) 05:01, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Can someone please change 76 years to 16 years? Thanks 78.105.178.62 (talk) 15:41, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

The humane treatment of chickens

This article claims "There is no federal law that regulates the humane treatment of chickens" and gives no citation to back that up. There is, in fact, a federal document that does regulate the human treatment of chickens:

Guidelines for the Slaughter of Animals

It states the following:

These guidelines apply to the slaughter in slaughterhouses of the following domestic animals: cattle, buffalo, bison, sheep, goats, camelids, deer, horses, pigs, ratites, rabbits and poultry.

I think you are confusing a commission report with the law. The reference you cited is a report that apparently no one paid much attention to, but it certainly isn't a law. Reccomendations, such as presented in this document, do not regulate anything, but just offer suggestions. Bob98133 (talk) 14:29, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

'Broody' vs 'Biddy' hens

In the US hens used to be categorized colloquially as either 'broody' or 'biddy', the broodies being inclined to set and the biddies laying and showing no inclination to nest or brood. I don't know if these terms are limited to the US. I found no reference to 'biddy' on Wiki except as a personal name, but couldn't get into the article to add the reference. Shandyv (talk) 06:25, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

In the UK I'm only aware of "biddy" as an occasional, informal and now rather forgotten name for "hen", broody or not. It's more widely used by extension as a mildly disparaging term for a gossippy old woman. Richard New Forest (talk) 10:02, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

I have had many biddies that eventually when they saw a chick they liked running around with a broody hen they began trying to set and eventually set successfully. I encourage setting because I think all hens should have a regular break from laying as I tend to loose biddies often who just continually lay and do not take a break with setting and raising chicks. To get a hen to go broody you must be willing to loose a few eggs at least once while they learn how to set and begin to go broody. Once they understand setting and being broody they usually do better later on but some never want to set very long but so far I have had success after loosing one batch of eggs with all my hens who finally decided to set and not get up after one try where they got tired of setting because they were young. Young hens do not tend to want to set very much and often one must wait until they are older. I prefer broody hens to an incubator because then the hen will raise the chicks in my back yard teach them how to survive in an open environment along with eat up all the nasty bugs that bite in my yard because chicks have a voracious appetite when growing. (I have an outbred mixture of Silver Seabright, Auracana, Very Broody Black Laying hen, and Game birds. I select for these characteristics: good but not excessive broodiness and the right size a bird hawk cannot carry them off easily but small enough to find all the insects that bite in my yard especially under my rabbit cages. Silver Seabright roosters take excellent care of hens especially black laying hens to the extent one must make sure at night they have food because they will tend to the hens all day some are noisier than others and some are more aggressive than others but they are aggressive protective roosters. I have had one case a cat out of my yard before to protect his hens. Seabrights do not tend towards broodiness but I am sure all birds have it somewhere in their genetics which only need coaxing out probably. EeirenFaerie (talk) 03:55, 26 September 2008 (UTC)EeirenFaerieEeirenFaerie (talk) 03:55, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging

This article talk page was automatically added with {{WikiProject Food and drink}} banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . Maximum and careful attention was done to avoid any wrongly tagging any categories , but mistakes may happen... If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 02:30, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Misinformation.

A USDA study discovered E. coli in 99% of supermarket chicken, the result of chicken butchering not being a sterile process. Feces tend to leak from the carcass until the evisceration stage, and the evisceration stage itself gives an opportunity for the interior of the carcass to receive intestinal bacteria. (So does the skin of the carcass, but the skin presents a better barrier to bacteria and reaches higher temperatures during cooking). Before 1950, this was contained largely by not eviscerating the carcass at the time of butchering, deferring this until the time of retail sale or in the home. This gave the intestinal bacteria less opportunity to colonize the edible meat.

Anyone who has ever slaughtered a chicken will tell you that this is trivially wrong. It is not at all difficult to eviscerate a chicken without spilling feces into the carcass, and it's a process that's kind of been perfected for thousands of years. This claim is both uncited and ridiculous on the face of it, and the "before 1950" sentence is clearly original research. --75.49.223.179 (talk) 21:31, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Most of these supermarket chickens are coming from factory farms. Anyone who has slaughtered 100 chickens an hour for 8-10 hours per day, will confirm that it is difficult to do without spilling feces into the carcass. It is OR to use your personal experiences slaughtering chickens to challenge the process through which most chickens used for food are slaughtered. The difference in scale makes a huge difference in sanitation.Bob98133 (talk) 13:00, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

theres no need for protection here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by StopVandalsNow (talk • contribs) 14:27, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

There's still no reference on this particular point. The only usda study I found was this one where its closer to 10% —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rezrovs (talk • contribs) 06:03, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

Taxonomic Issues

For some reason the chicken in Wikipedia is labeled as a different species not a subspecies?. I find this biased because a typical scientist would say they are a subspecies of red junglefowl. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.105.47 (talk) 06:26, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Artificial Incubation

"Eggs must be turned regularly (usually three to eight times each week) during the first part of the incubation."

Eggs need to be turned several times a day, not week.

See any page on incubators for birds (not reptiles), or automatic turners, such as Hova-Bator (https://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=79).

Tomh4236 (talk) 20:08, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Even though egg turning is recommended to increase success we have incubated quail eggs without turning with decent success. I have watched my chicken hen brooders and often they do not move or turn eggs they simply move them to make sure they are underneath they bodies and feathers. I have no idea where the concept of turning eggs came from because my hens do not turn their eggs they simply gather those that slip out beneath them when they get up and return after taking a break or needing to allow the eggs to cool a bit on a hot day. The success of my hens who rarely move their eggs is actually often better than those I find moving them constantly because they move around and the eggs slip out more often such that they do not get evenly warmed or even warmed. This is more common in my younger broody hens especially their first time such that we are lucky to have any hatch out from their first setting such that we kept chicks around to give to the hens who were not very successful so they would be happy when they no longer wanted to set the first time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by EeirenFaerie (talk • contribs) 03:48, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Eggs need to be turned three times a day during incubation or use a cradle (or auto turner). Eggs can be kept fertile for up to 2 weeks if turned daily so the yolk dosen't get settling, If you intend on incubating eventually. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Billyjoe007 (talk • contribs) 20:15, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Domestication of the 'Chicken'

What we know today as a chicken is not a bird that can be found in the wild. The chicken itself today shows a wide variety of looks, sizes and traits according to which birds were in its blood line which had successful breeding. Success depends greatly upon how well genetics can find a way to link up. Unsuccessful links often do not grow inside the shell or die part way through the incubation period as shown with the Ground grouse flightless bird Auracana being bred in with a variety of different chicken lines. I have noticed that the very dark black lines of chickens, which are often called black laying hens, resemble much more in characteristics even their calls that of the very large breed black birds found in Europe such that one of mine which regressed took flight and left the others it was raised with as it had somehow gone back to a very stream lined flight bird not a ground bird. The domesticated lines of birds categorized as chickens have been selectively bred to have an abnormally large egg for a bird along with very long laying periods such that often the birds are worn out early on in life or die while egg laying because of the demands of creating very large eggs. For this reason all domesticated line chickens require a very good diet with additional sources of calcium. With the Auracanas being bred in with the domesticated lines of birds which have been successfully interbreeding longer to become more successful than crossing a donkey with a horse which occassionally can be fertile and new line of ground chickens is being created with a wide variety of well loved looks along with a very caring less aggressive personality than many game bird line chickens. The auracana is a shorter legged meatier line of chicken which when allowed to be free range can produce eggs which have better health benefits because these birds love to eat a variety of things such as grasses and leaves. The more they are allowed to be free range the darker the coloration of their eggs become. The arguement as to auracana eggs having less cholesterol is affected by what they are allowed to have as a diet. If they are cage raised and limited to a predominantly corn fed diet then the eggs will resemble in nutrition that of other cage raised chickens. If they have grasses and insects or other desire foods added to their diet either by providing it in the cage or allowing them to be free range then the nutritional content of their eggs are affected as such. As they tend to eat more green growths in the yard when free range than many other chicken varieties I am sure this affects the content of cholesterol in a positive way for the health of those who would choose to eat such eggs. But it is not the bird totally that determines the cholesterol content of an egg it is the amount of exercise and good nutrition a domesticated bird is allowed.

The Ameriauracana lines tend to be very nice and easy to raise as domesticated birds. They do not tend to fly well because the Auracana has flightless droopy spineless feathers much like emus. They have beautiful featheration colors and do not have tail feathers that stick out they just droop off the end making them look like they have no back area. As a large percentage of American Chicken Aurcana crosses tend to not survive in the shell, stop development it shows that though closely related enough to have successful chicks hatch out it is obvious when cross linking genetics there are places where the matches are not good enough to produce successful offspring thus showing they are at the very least if not a different species a different genotype of birds than the mixed domesticated lines of chickens. In listening to the sounds and calls of varying chickens one can to some extent determine what is their heritage such as those which make sounds resembling ground fowl and having ground fowl coloration. There is a line of chickens that match very closely the smaller birds such as bobwhite quails that make similar noises along with have similar movements while walking and elongated shapes which may indicate that they have to some greater extent been selectively bred to larger sized birds from such game birds as quails. Chickens did not arise from any one specific region or species in the world. They are a mixture of game birds that were kept in close captivity which eventually over many generations of domestication evolved into the mixed breed we have named chickens. Most chicken lines would not survive very long in the wild because of their increased need and demand for food based upon generations of better care and breeding often more so than in the best of wild environments. Chickens which have been domesticated often as they have arisen from wild birds may desire to return to the wild or to semi wild conditions often not very successfully or may return to wild type genetically and leave the status of being domesticated. Why did the chicken cross the road because it returned to wild type.—Preceding unsigned comment added by EeirenFaerie (talk • contribs) 03:31, 26 September 2008 (UTC)EeirenFaerie (talk) 03:43, 26 September 2008 (UTC)EeirenFaerie

Broody Rooster

I used to have only 2 rhode island red hens for like 1 month. Then we got a barred rock rooster, he was still a cockerel, but was already mounting the hens, and the second day I went into the coop and one of the hens was laying an egg while the rooster and the other hen were just looking. When the hen layed the egg, my rooster starting making funny noises and sat with the hen in the nest. He then started collecting straw around the nest and placing it in the nest Now a days I have the original chickens and 8 more. The rooster still does this, and will sometimes help the hens make nest. Is this natural rooster behavior or unnatural rooster behavior? Unusual but not unheard of. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.46.0.13 (talk) 01:49, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

more about Courtship

Males make a food-related display called tidbitting, performed upon finding food in the presence of a female. The display is composed of coaxing, cluck-like calls and eye-catching bobbing and twitching motions of the head and neck. During the performance, the male repeatedly picks up and drops the food item with his beak. The display usually ends when the hen takes the food item either from the ground or directly from the male’s beak and is associated with copulations and more offspring. Behavior, not morphology, is the best predictor of paternity. Specifically, behaviors related to dominance and to signaling are critical, and the single best predictor is the rate at which males produce anti-predator alarm calls. This suggests that male alarm calling is a form of mate investment, increasing the survival of his chicks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rrobbyy (talk • contribs) 11:46, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Article Photos

The picture of the free range/battery eggs is terrible (at least it's 5MP!). I don't think it's particularly informative and it stands out from the other well-executed pictures in the article. 18.138.5.157 (talk) 06:13, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

machee

Machees are found all over the world. It is commenly knowen as a place where the chickens are kept. There, chickens are allowed to roam free and do as they please. The most machees in one area is located in south Africa. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Poopish2 (talk • contribs) 00:08, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Photo issue

Why is the chicken article illustrated with photos of roosters??? ChildofMidnight (talk) 18:20, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Well, the article is about the species, which does include both cocks and hens. The earlier photos in the article tend to be cocks, but I make the overall balance six pics with cocks in, seven with hens and three with chicks. Have you any photos that would illustrate the article better? Richard New Forest (talk) 20:43, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

add one IW please

[[wuu:鸡]]          THX !! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.35.135.136 (talk • contribs) 11:37, 15 March 2009

Added by User:GrouchoBot, 11:59, 15 March 2009. Richard New Forest (talk) 14:06, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Taxonomy Issues

Isn't the chicken's scientific name either Gallus gallus domesticus or Gallus domesticus. Below are some sources
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Gallus+gallus+domesticus
http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gallus_gallus_domesticus
http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/qt/chicken.htm
http://www.cabicompendium.org/NamesLists/AHPC/Full/GALLUD.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.105.47 (talk • contribs) 10:22, 19 March 2009

Generally on WP we follow Handbook of Birds of the World (see Wikipedia:BIRD#Taxonomy and references). Don't know what that says though... Richard New Forest (talk) 14:06, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

south american trade with polynesia

If chickens arrived from Polynesia on the Arauco peninsula in Chile, then possibly sweet potatoes made the reverse trip. We know that kumara / sweet potato first appeared in the Marquesas and the approximate date - might not the arrival of chickens in Chile have been around the same time? Are Aracauna chickens in fact Marquesan chickens? Would a midden in the Marquesas provide us with an answer? Lgh (talk) 08:48, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Regarding the DNA that suggests that chickens were already introduced in Chile prior to the arrival of the first European seafarers in the early 16th century, I am informed that these data were contaminated and do not support the claim of chickens being "prehistoric" among the native Mapuche. Please, make sure that this claim is more solidly backed up by the latest research data. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.179.147.203 (talk) 01:34, 8 June 2009 (UTC) it is pure surmise and not a 'claim.'Lgh (talk) 06:42, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Clear Problem With the Article

Iev red thee ativcle, but i thinks theres a prablem with it.

It duz not actewally menshun wot chiken is without usin complingcating languidge!!!

pleas help mi. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.70.161.153 (talk) 16:51, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

You might like to try the Simple English wiki: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken Richard New Forest (talk) 08:40, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Small typo

Courting

When a rooster finds food. he may call the other chickens to eat it first.

Needs a comma instead of a point after "food".

216.221.62.198 (talk) 14:13, 16 July 2009 (UTC) Luc D.

Gallery

The gallery isn't really consistent with WP:IG. There isn't really much reason why these images couldn't be interspersed throughout the article. If a gallery is preferred, it needs to be significantly improved -- the current one (a collection of random images) should be removed. --Skeezix1000 (talk) 23:10, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

USDA

Someone is referencing something called the USDA without actually saying what the hell a USDA is ...

"If hens are allowed to forage or are fed additional greens, their eggs may differ from USDA standards. "

If this article _HAS_ to be centred around USA, please state what these abbreviations mean, or at least link to them to allow the developed world ;-) to understand!

~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.64.212.67 (talk) 21:34, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

You're absolutely right. I've stated and linked the full title of the organization at the first instance of use. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 22:55, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

Animal Size Market Designations

Should include all sizes of chickens rather than just the over all identification of broilers as meat raised chickens. — Preceding unsigned comment added by A1Houseboy (talk • contribs) 03:15, 4 Febuary 2009 (UTC)

Split proposal

I have placed a split tag on the "Issues with poultry farming" section. My reasons are:

1. It takes up too much of the article
2. A section on poultry farming is more important and the issues should a section of that. (FYI, the section on Chicken#Poultry_farming has no citations.)
3. It is a notable global issue of interest to many people.

I had split it out to its own article but it was reverted. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 21:07, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I have reverted the removal of the split tag. It is bad form to remove a split proposal without discussion. The reason given in the edit summary was "splitting off this material into a fork is expressly against Wikipedia's rules". This is incorrect since it is not a fork. It is an article spinout with a summary to be left behind. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 20:34, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

The question is, why are people looking up chicken in Wikipedia? I say it it because the want to know what they are putting in their and their children's bellies. So they expect to find the information here. Furthermore, we already have an article on Poultry farming, so any overload of detail can be placed there. WP:FORK is very much in effect here; "issues with" or "controversy " articles are the classic form these forks take. Finally, Chicken was viewed 123,582 times in August, but Poultry farming was only viewed 7081 times. This means that if something is a "notable global issue of interest to many people" then it should be in the Chicken article, where it will be actually read. Abductive (reasoning) 21:11, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Replies:

• You are making an assumption about why people visit the chicken article. There are any number of reasons to visit the page and since it has many related topics we have to make it easy for a reader to navigate to the one that they want. One of the ways of doing this is to use summary style and place the bulk of its information in its own page.
• Note that the poultry farming article was not linked from this article until one of my very recent edits. Before I came along there was a "Chickens in agriculture" section that was all about the US with no link to poultry farming. As the article now stand there is STILL no information about poultry farming in general, and a big section about "Issues with poultry farming".
• There are numerous issues and controversies and criticisms articles that are happily exist in in WP with no accusations of being content forks
• Since it is a "notable global issue of interest to many people" it deserves its own article linked from chicken with a summary style.

Have a read of WP:CFORK, WP:SS. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 21:52, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

It seems really odd to me that this material is not in the poultry farming article. With an April expansion to include material on alternatives to factory farming, the many criticisms leveled against poultry farming would be better placed in that article, consistent with Wikipedia's summary style.--chaser (away) - talk 02:40, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

Forking out criticism is forking. Could this attempted fork be perceived as related to the huge lawsuit coming down the pipes? Abductive (reasoning) 03:03, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

Please don't make assumptions about how I edit. It is, arhhh, bad reasoning... So can you explain how lil' ol' me in lil' ol' New Zealand who moved some text to its own article has on how some US states are "considering" legal action. It is an extremely tenuous connection and it beggars belief that you could ever make that claim. Please read and make an attempt at understanding WP:CFORK. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 03:21, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

Perceptions count. Abductive (reasoning) 22:08, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the stuff should have been in the poultry farming article. The chicken article should have a passing mention of the issues however. Because of the strong interest the topic will only grow so I feel it should have its own article now. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 03:21, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

I disagree. The chicken article should far more than a "passing mention" of a topic with "strong interest" (your words). The poultry farming article is this place for the minutiae of poultry rearing, including criticism thereof. There should not be a third article for the negative aspects of chicken production; this would be a fork for all the worst reasons. Abductive (reasoning) 22:08, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

I came to this page interested in the wild relative from which the domestic chicken was bred from. This article answered my question to my satisfaction. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.124.194.45 (talk) 10:07, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

I have just added a sentence in the 'General biology and habitat' to balance the description of the different ways of what happens to commercial hens when egg production begines to decline. This paragraph now looks nothing like General biology. I suggest this para needs a good clean up which I am willing to do. Any thoughts? DrChrissy (talk) 14:00, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

Chickens as pets

Anyone think Chickens as pets should have its own article? Do you think so? I don't.Portillo (talk) 05:18, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

I'm not automatically against it; it would be interesting to see if enough WP:RS information can be found to support a stand alone article. --Nsaum75 (talk) 05:35, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

The Chicken coop article has some information on keeping chickens at home, which in theory could be merged with a Chickens as pets article. Thanks for your response. Portillo (talk) 06:51, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, go for it. Presumably the article is to cover chickens kept for for household egg production. The whole aricle needs to be cleaned up. I tried splitting out part it (see above). There needs to be a "Chicken in cuture" section as well as other changes. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 21:14, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

yeah-do it!Roxy:Pkid (talk) 23:31, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Agree - this could be a good article. There has been a lot of stuff in the news lately about this - Vancouver, BC and some other cities are looking at ordinances to allow chickens as pets.Bob98133 (talk) 13:12, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

I, to agree. I encourage anybody to raise chickens,and I myself have six.Rachel Sun, June 23,2010,5:10 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rachel Sun (talk • contribs) 00:10, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

I disagree. I just got a chicken (story for off wiki) and It's good to have one article about it so that you don't need to look around the WHOLE site. It's a huge world. It's a huge site. Ian (talk) 01:23, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

remeber to keep your chicken in a cage because they will bite your head off if not and if you let them out they will also take over the universe and team up with aliens. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Doughnut07771 (talk • contribs) 17:34, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

This might be a be a neat article but since a keep farm chickens I wouldn't know much about it:)Claire Anemone (talk) 20:25, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

I think that a chickens as pets page would be a great idea! I keep chickens myself, and I would be glad to help expand the page if it gets made. GreyPage (talk) 01:30, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

Chicken fodder

Perhaps a section "chicken fodder" can be added ? Chickens can eg be fed with grass, as mentioned at fodder KVDP (talk) 10:48, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Chicken genetics?

The main page of this article suggests that cross-breeding the Red Junglefowl with the ordinary chicken results in a sterile hybrid.

But it isn't clear to me why the hybrid is sterile.

This could be explained here, or in an article dedicated to chicken genetics. Even a generality would be better than nothing at all. After all, if cows can be cross-bred with buffalos, yielding beefalo, why can't chickens be cross-bred with other, similar, near-chicken species? Dexter Nextnumber (talk) 03:52, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

I am actually working on an article about chicken genetics in my Sandbox, though it's on hold until this summer when I can finish it properly. There's lots more to add. This information about the breeding of RJF and chickens is incorrect, red jungle fowl and chickens are the the same species (Gallus gallus), and can 100% of the time produce fertile offspring. There is significant SNP variance between domestic chickens and red jungle fowl, but that's what happens with thousands of years of artificial selection for traits useful to humans. Even grey jungle fowl have been reported to hybridize with domestics and sometimes produce fertile offspring. I'll fix it up.Earthdirt (talk) 01:16, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

How can you say 100% of the time? There is no species that can produce fertile offspring 100% off the time, though some species get close to that (those mostly are micro-organisms and plants). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.224.238.214 (talk) 16:54, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't think that's quite what Earthdirt meant. If I understand it correctly, they're not saying that chickens (or anything) can be fertile all the time – in other words that every single egg hatches, but that any Red Jungle Fowl crossed with any domestic chicken will produce fertile eggs, in other words every pairing between the two will be fertile.

Actually, I'm not sure that interfertility is too good a guide to speciation in birds. The barrier between bird species is often not mainly physiological but behavioural, and very many closely related bird species are physiologically interfertile. For example most finch species can interbreed freely, most ducks, many geese, many gulls and most falcons. These hybrids occur freely in captivity, but hybrid birds are very rare under natural conditions. Not so sure about chickens and other pheasants, but the lack of physiological barriers is illustrated by hybrids of chickens and turkeys. This cross can produce living embryos which I believe can sometimes survive until hatching – and they're not always even considered to be in the same family! Richard New Forest (talk) 18:50, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Incorrect geographic reference

In the section "Breeding" there is reference to "the Tarim Basin of Central Asia - modern day Iran".

The Tarim Basin is not in modern day Iran and is quite far from Iran. It is in Central Asia, but it is north and west of Tibet in what China calls its Xinjiang Province, and what historically is in fact the Central Asian area known as Eastern Turkestan.

Please edit, since this page is closed to my account for editing.

Rthwait (talk) 23:33, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Corrected per our article on Tarim Basin Trugster | Talk | Contributions 20:15, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

chickens

I have four hens, and can take pictures of them doing things if necessary for the article. UNIT A4B1 (talk) 17:14, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Like alpha (the black chicken) pecking the lowest rank (my favorite one, the yellow chicken) or dust baths or eating food or fluffing their feathers or maybe brooding or "flying" or pecking at the ground or wiping their beaks on the ground after eating soft/squishy food. They're quite intelligent really. The chickens, that it. UNIT A4B1 (talk) 17:48, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

That was weirdly phraised. UNIT A4B1 (talk) 04:00, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

That was not, really —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rachel Sun (talk • contribs) 00:06, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

I think there should be a section on the intelligence of chickens.Derwos (talk) 16:13, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

I own 50 chickens and can give information about healthy chicken keeping if need be. Chicken intelligence? My chickens are only intelligent when they are trying to get out of their fence or how to get as much food and lay as few eggs as possible! Claire Anemone (talk) 20:27, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

Sorry if what I said about chicken intelligence was offending to anyone. Maybe I just have some very un-intelligent chickens! I also messed up my wording in my message above:0) I found a mouse in my chicken's water the other day. Had to go out in the dark and take care of it. My 11 y\o brother would not :P HAHA! Thought someone might find the story interesting.Claire Anemone (talk) 22:38, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Rat Attack

In the Nova show "Rat Attack", it says that the bamboo fruits from the mass flowerings could have led to the domestication of the chicken. Could someone watch the show and incorporate? UNIT A4B1 (talk) 03:59, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Problem with age of commercial vs. "free range organic" chicken

"In commercial intensive farming, a meat chicken generally lives only six weeks before slaughter.[13] A free range or organic meat chicken will usually be slaughtered at about 14 weeks. "

The most popular "meat chickens" are the Cornish Cross, typically raised from 6 to 8 weeks whether in a commercial poultry house, in a commercial poultry house falling under the USDA definition of "free range" (meaning the chicken is fed organic feed and has "access to the outdoors" accord to USDA Organic Standards) or on a farm (typically a small farm that direct-markets them) that raises chickens on pasture.

Other breeds of chicken are generally slaughtered at an older age because they take longer to develop meat. So, the age of slaughter is dependent on the breed, not the farming method. Most free range, organic and pasture raised meat chicken is Cornish Cross because it is cost prohibitive to raise other breeds of chickens if you're running a business. However some small farms do raise 'heritage' breeds, standard breeds or non-Cornish Cross hybrids.

I know this from my experience in raising chickens and as a small farmer, so I need to collect sources. The literature on this, however, is all over the place, typically from misconceptions published in homesteading magazines and in articles by new/hobby farmers.

Addition: The egg laying period is also breed dependent. Most chickens are closer to two or two and a half years of high yield laying. The article sourced for the usage and lifespans is politically motivated and focused on the very specific industry in the US, while the data pulled from it are restated as a matter of fact for chickens as a species. A less biased source with more general information should be used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.176.24.9 (talk) 14:54, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

The age of slaughter differs on how they are bred. The so-called breeds are just made by picking the fastest breeding ones and let them reproduce. In that way, the slaughter age is dependent on the slaughter method, as they would not need to create such a fast-living chicken breeds which collapse (both feet and heart) under its own weight and are made to have no life. They just have to be slaughtered or they die by themselves. That is no life. Let them die and don't let them breed. Put them out of their misery as a species in total and let the bio-industry go down, so normal chickens can be used in a normal way. For that to happen, people first need to realize that you don't need meat every day. 2 times a week or no meat while eating other stuff with a lot of iron and B12 and you should be fine. Sorry for wandering off after the slaughter-age dependency :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.224.238.214 (talk) 17:07, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Information

Useless article doesn't even answer these questions - how big is a typical chicken, and what its mass?

Useless, unsigned comment of no relevance. If it is important to you to include this information, find references for it and edit the article. Bob98133 (talk) 14:26, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

i recomend to have one more section taking about broodies and layer hens and their differences —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.97.155.55 (talk) 17:36, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Fowl

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) states that chicken is

• 1.a The young of the domestic fowl; its flesh.

It states as its fourth definition:

• 1.d. A domestic fowl of any age.

First point it is the young of "the domestic fowl" not "a domestic fowl" "the" implies only one species of domesticated fowl while "a" as used in this article implies more than one.

Under "Fowl" the first meaning given is

• 1 Any feathered vertebrate animal; = BIRD n. 2 (q.v. with note attached). Now rare exc. collect.
• 3 The prevailing sense: A ‘barn-door fowl’, a domestic cock or hen; a bird of the genus Gallus. In the U.S. applied also to ‘a domestic duck or turkey’ (Cent. Dict.). Often with some modifying word prefixed: as, barn-door-, game-, guinea-fowl, for which see those words.
• 4. a. The flesh of birds used for food. Now only in the phrases fish, flesh, and fowl, etc.
• 4. b. In narrower sense: The flesh of the ‘barn-door’ or domestic fowl.

The Wikipedia article states "'Chicken' was originally the word only for chicks," but this is contradicted by the OED, while it may be used for "a domestic fowl of any age" the primary use is for "The young of the domestic fowl; its flesh." Intact a chicken is a young fowl but usually one older than a chick, although the OED says under chick:

• 1. A chicken; esp. a young chicken; sometimes, the young of any bird.
• 2. esp. The young bird still in the egg or only just hatched.

The usage is similar to the eating of lamb instead of mutton. Supermarkets prefer to advertise lamb, and in the English speaking countries most sheep are slaughtered as lambs but that does not mean that lamb means either sheep or mutton.

I have no intention of editing this article but perhaps someone else can use them to improve this article. -- PBS (talk) 07:37, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a dictionary as such the words may be treated differently. This article refers to a species of animal (Gallus gallus domesticus) whose current universal common name is "Chicken". The history of the word is fine to discuss in a section of the article but the main article is about the animal and its role in the world today, it would be uncommon to find modern agricultural references which refer to this animal as a fowl. Earthdirt (talk) 23:01, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

PBShearer, the older usage of "chicken" is actually the plural form of "chick" (similar to "child" into "children", although "children" has actually been 'double pluralized' — "child+er+en"). As words always do, they eventual change in meaning or die out. In the case of "chicken," it now refers to the domestic fowl (g. gallus domesticus) of any age and sex, not to a plural form of a term for the young fowl. — al-Shimoni (talk) 01:59, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

Rated as C

I rerated this to a C, quite choppy in bits and odd sections etc. Not bad overall as inline references go though. Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:54, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

More chicken info needed

I found this page while searching the internet for info on the history of keeping chickens as livestock.

I have been involved with the raising of chickens since childhood, and have continued in the forty-some years since.

i would like to see the following additions to the wikipedia article:

a detailed list of acceptable foodstuffs for domesticated chickens. this should include a list of items not recommended for poultry consumption. while i do not criticize commercial poultry feed it is feasible to feed chickens entirely on crops grown on your own land as long as you are aware of the nutritional content of each item individually and the feed as a whole.

---

an exhaustive list of known breeds, their know colors and characteristics and adult weight. as an addition it would be very interesting to have a similar list of extinct breeds. it would be very valuable to have large, bright, clear photos of each breed showing both hen and rooster.

---

i did not see a mention in the article that chickens vision is limited due to their eyes being placed on the sides of their head. this is why chickens 'cock' their head sideways and horizontally to see what lies on the ground before they peck it up.

---

i would like to see added: chickens make a sound called 'cackling' when they have laid an egg, also occasionally when communicating.

---

chicken care, chicken health, chicken diseases: more info please.

ThePerfectCottage (talk) 14:14, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Hi – This is Wikipedia, the encyclopaedia that anyone can edit. If you have information about these things that can be supported by published sources, please add it. In fact there is a separate article listing breeds: List of chicken breeds, though this does not currently include much detail about each breed. Further comments on your talk page. Richard New Forest (talk) 20:51, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

how did i not laugh hysterically at this before? ViniTheHat (talk) 16:36, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

"Buttonholing" chickens

I know someone who lives on a farm, and he recently made a remark about "buttonholing" chickens. I have no idea what he means, being a suburbanite myself, and Googling around gives no results (!). Currently there is no mention of this term or its meaning on Wikipedia, but I think there really ought to be, so that people who hear about it and don't know what it is can find out easily without having to spend several hours looking for it. After all, that's what Wikipedia is here for. Stonemason89 (talk) 22:38, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

If you can find no references to this, perhaps it doesn't exist. Bob98133 (talk) 13:37, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

• Try this. I do something similar when butchering chickens, but with the lower skin, I think just a form of "trussing" without string. This certainly isn't something for the main article on chickens. Earthdirt (talk) 11:27, 27 August 2010 (UTC)