Update: 47,000 Chickens Died and 3,000 were sent to Sanctuaries

February 25, 2012: Update from Los Angeles: 47,000 Chickens Died and 3,000 Were Sent to Sanctuaries. 

Breaking News: Los Angeles Times Reports that 50,000 Chickens Were Found Dead or Starving at Central Valley Farm

Stories like this one reported in the Los Angeles Times are absolutely heartbreaking. Warning: This story is not for the faint of heart or chicken-hearted.

For more information, click on the clip from CBS News.

Two rescue groups will be taking in some of the chickens that are still alive reports CBS-Sacramento.

Chinese National Olympic Marathon Team Raise Their Own Chickens

(This is not the Chinese National Olympic Team)

In an attempt to have food that is toxin-free, the Chinese National Olympic Marathon Team has resorted to raising their own chickens. According to Reuters, Clenbuterol, a prescribed bronchodilator for asthmatics, is "sometimes fed to livestock by unscrupulous farmers" in order to produce a leaner meat that garners a higher price.

Food scandals are nothing new to China. In an article by the United Kingdom's Telegraph, here are the top 10 Chinese food scandals:

1.   Melamine contaminated milk - six babies killed; 300,000 sickened
2.   Toxic bean sprouts
3.   Pesticide-drenched yard-long beans
4.   Leather milk
5.   Aluminum dumplings
6.   Glow-in-the-dark pork
7.   Lean meat powder pork
8.   Toxic "take-away" boxes
9.   "Sewer" oil
10. "Cadmium" rice

IV Types of Super Bowl Fans

Yes, it's true. While an estimated 196 million people will be tuning out by indulging in long mountain hikes, hedonistic spa treatments, or wine tasting in bucolic countrysides, another 113 million will be tuning in today to watch America's 46th Super Bowl. Of these 113 million, most will be sitting on their recliners' edges yelling at their television sets while polishing down a wicked amount of mouthwatering chicken wings. In fact, an estimated total of 1.25 billion chicken wings will be devoured today. 


For some very "lukewarm" football fans, it's not the game but the SuperBowl brew and grub they're after. Hefty bags of nacho chips, salty pretzels, and other "nutritious" nosh will line their coffee tables, along with bottles of beer, an estimate of 1.3 million which will be consumed. That means that nearly every time a chicken wing flies into the mouth of a hungry Super Bowl fan, a brew will rinse it down. (Why does the song 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall keep looping through my mind?)


And, then, there's the handful of  Honest Joe's out there. The ones who freely speak their minds. Patriots versus Giants? Who cares, they guffaw. Chicken wings and beer? Pshaw! For these self-actualized beings, there's only one reason to tune into the Super Bowl: for the ads--those crazy ads, the ones that are priced to the hilt (3.5 million per 30-second spot)? The Wall Street Journal reports ad cost to be nearly three cents per viewer, a much-heftier price than normal ad fare. But, for companies hoping for "Big Bang for the Buck", the extra cents seem to make sense.


In a surprising trend this year, over half of the ads are already posted on-line for previewing. Samples of these include the Volkswagen ad aimed at fitness and canine freaks. For saucy, check out Go Daddy's ad.

Unfortunately, it seems, that almost all of the advertising creative teams forgot to include our feathered friend--the chicken. I guess they figured chicken was better left fried and on the plate. Only PETA gave a nod to chickens with their protective billboard campaign.

As urban farming throughout North America takes flight, reflections of the trend should start appearing in national ad campaigns. I guess we'll have to wait until next year for the Red Wings and the Ducks Super Bowl face-off. Oops. Wrong sport.

Forget the game. Forget the nosh. Forget the ads. I'm not interested in any. It's time for me to slip  into my Patagonia, lace up my hiking boots, and head to the mountains so I can miss this year's chicken wing-heavy XLIV Super Bowl.

A Super Bowl ditty from songwriter Jesse Rhodes:

A Day With a Chicken Farmer - by Karen Telleen-Lawton

Noozhawk’s Karen Telleen-Lawton and husband David enjoy the fruits of their labor on the chicken farm. (Mark Tollefson photo)

This morning on Noozhawk.com, writer Karen Telleen-Lawton talks about her birthday gift given to her by her husband in A Day With A Chicken Farmer. 

Craving Adventures, a Santa Barbara-based adventure company, co-owned by Eve Sommer-Belin and Caroline Conner, arranged the delicious chicken culinary adventure at Fairview Gardens in Goleta, CA.

PETA's Super Bowl Ad Campaign is for the Birds

Contributor Tim Nudd broke the news today in the AdFreak section of Adweek's online magazine that PETA's campaign, "Let them keep their damn wings..." is set to fly onto billboards in New York, Boston and Indianapolis for the 46th Super Bowl weekend. PETA's billboard campaign, shown above, asks Super Bowl fans to go vegan instead of eating the notoriously famous football dish--chicken wings. According to PETA's news release, over six hundred million chickens are killed for wing consumption for Super Bowl weekend.

It's a good thing that rivals New England Patriots and New York Giants are in this year's Super Bowl. If the Philadelphia Eagles entered the fray, PETA would really have something to squawk about.

Although I'm an advocate for the humane treatment of animals, I think PETA's campaign is a bit bird-brained. But, if you disagree, by all means, please check out PETA's recipes for mouth-watering Super Bowl weekend alternatives at http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/vegetarian-super-bowl-party.aspx.


To take a gander at some of PETA's controversial ads from years past: http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/exclusive-first-look-at-petas-nsfw-new-super-bow

Why DID the Chicken Cross the Road?

                                                                                                                             Robin Loznak/Zuma

Photographer Joel Sartore's Silkie Showgirls

Photographer Joel Sartore's Silkie Showgirls

Check out Joel Sartore's Biodiversity Project in 

National Geographic: The Great American Zoo Trip. 

Learn how many species are estimated to go extinct each day. Read how Mr. Sartore's feels his photography technique of capturing the species on black or white backgrounds "gives all species equal weight and importance. A tiny beetle is as interesting as a lion, and a two-toed sloth as cuddly as a panda bear."

* * *

I just placed my order for spring chicks, including black silkies. Their interesting attributes--down-like "fur", dark blue flesh and bones, blue earlobes, docile nature, non-flying feathers, and five toes--make them somewhat of an anomaly in the poultry world. 

Being the history buff that I am, here's a little background on these, as Mr. Sartore calls them, "Silkie Showgirls":

Inveterate traveler and prolific writer Marco Polo was the first to mention the fur-like plumage of the Silkies during his 13th century Asian travels. The most well-documented origin of Silkies is China, although there is conjecture that they may have originated in Java or India. Silkies most probably arrived in the West via the Silk Route or through the maritime trade.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the black-skinned chicken is used to reinforce body immunity and protect  from emaciation and feebleness. Black-skinned chicken is also used to treat diabetes, anemia, menstrual cramps and postpartum disorders. 

Silkies are one of the oldest chicken breeds known. They are often exhibited in shows. Silkies do have a tendency to go broody making them excellent mothers.  They come in two types: bearded and non-bearded. 

For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkie

http://showsilkies.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1469:history-of-the-chinese-silkie-chicken&catid=29&Itemid=100010

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/acs-bsf082806.php