Thursday, December 22, 2011

Black-skinned Chickens Shed Light on Evolution

With all the talk about genetic engineering and controversy regarding evolution, it is appropriate to ask what light chickens may shed on the question of how organisms change through time. A great place to witness species change is with domestic animals since people have been selecting for various traits for thousands of years, in the case of chickens about 8,000 years.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Pinellas Says Yes to Backyard Poultry

The County Commission of the most densely-populated county in the state okayed backyard chickens last night. Commissioners who govern the unincorporated portions of the County voted 5-2 to allow backyard chickens after a 18 month campaign spearheaded by Lisa McBride, founder of Pinellas Citizens for Backyard Poultry, and many 4-H supporters. The change affects approximately 280,000 people who do not live in one of the two dozen municipalities in Pinellas County. This covers a little more than one third of the land area of the county. Chickens are already allowed in five of the 24 cities (Belleair, Dunedin, Gulfport, Largo and St. Petersburg).

An Email from McBride contained the following paragraph: