FUNKY CHICKEN FACT #31: Chickens Beat Columbus to the New World

It is common, but quite possibly inaccurate, knowledge that the Spanish first brought chickens to the New World. Some archaeologists have concluded that chicken bones dated to sometime between 1321 and 1407 constitute proof that it was Polynesians traveling East and not Europeans traveling west that first brought chickens to the New World!

CLUCK NEWS: 'MY SUNCOAST' not too generous with news related to a domestic avian species

The webpage masthead says mysuncoast.com but the dire warning at the end of the article seems to imply that it is not our suncoast, but theirs, and they are retaining all rights. The warning says the content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed, which is a little weird because they encourage people to share the article, which certainly seems like a form of redistribution to us. Cautiously we proceed. Here goes:

CLUCK ASKS: Are Those Pasture Eggs Really Any Better?

CLUCK has read articles asserting that when a taster is blindfolded, store-bought battery cage eggs cannot be distinguished from backyard or pasture eggs. That may or may not be true, but without the blindfold most people prefer the free-range eggs because their yellow-orange yolks look so much better than the anemic yellow of most store-bought eggs. 

But beyond appearance and flavor is the question of whether there is actually any nutritional difference. And apparently there is.

CLUCK REDIRECT: Chickens Are Colorblind?

We don't engage in a lot of redirection, simply linking to other online articles, but this piece seems to contain an inspirational lesson that, as humans looking for meaning almost everywhere, seems to suggest that for all their bloody pecking order travails, chickens may have answered the "Why can't we all just get along?" question with getting along.

FUNKY CHICKEN FACT #29: Chickens Role in the Cold War

CLUCK routinely adds facts to our collection of funky chicken facts without much fanfare, but this one is even more surprising than the fact that chicken feathers could slash five million off the cost of a hydrogen powered car. It involves using chickens and nuclear weapons and unless you've heard about this previously you are unlikely to guess the connection.

CLUCK NEWS: Antibiotic chicken food in Netherlands linked to drug-resistant E. coli in humans

Next to Salmonella, probably the biggest health risk associated with chickens is the bacterium E. coli. Some people are probably tempted to assume that backyard hens might be more likely to cause problems related to E. coli because they are less likely to be medicated. Now a report from the CDC that appears in their Emerging Infectious Diseases journal suggests that the genetic makeup of E. coli found in some Netherlands hospital patients is so similar to that found associated with chicken meat sold there that the chickens are likely the source of the strain and, moreover, the strain is drug-resistant probably as a result of emerging in chickens fed anti-microbial agents.

CLUCK CITIES: # 28-- MILWAUKEE

On July 28th, 2011, it will become legal to keep chickens in Milwaukee, the 28th largest city in the US. Most large cities in the U.S. allow chickens. The ordinance allowing them is provisional and will sunset in one year unless renewed. CLUCK is not prone to simply forwarding readers to another source, but for a concise article about backyard chickens, it is hard to beat Michael Timm's How to keep urban chickens happy, which appeared in the Bay View Compass.

Squozi the bantam cochin.
Photo by Jim Klousia for the BayView Compass

And, for the record, chickens are now allowed in our nation's twentififth through thirtieth largest cities:

Nashville TN, Denver CO, Louisville  KY, Milwaukee Wi, Portland OR, and Las Vegas NV.