The Name Game for Chickens

Rebecca's Chickens - In honor of Rebecca's Birthday today                          Photo by Nancy Shobe

Really. Someone ought to start a name registry for chickens.

Unlike moms and dads to-be who spend hours poring over baby name websites to find the perfect match, (one that doesn't remind them of anyone they don't like and  doesn't evoke ire from either side), the chicken owner usually waits to name the chicks until they're hatched. At least, that's what I did.

Normally, I'm rather clever at the name-game. As a former advertising copywriter, "headlines" and "names" usually pop right into my head and onto the page. But, the naming of my chickens had me perplexed. And, confused. It wasn't what to call them. It was how would I EVER remember the names of six chicks?

I took the easy way out and ended up calling them, for the most part, a name derived from their breed. For instance, Jersey is a Black Jersey Giant chicken; Coachie is a Giant Partridge Cochin. I know. I know. Not exactly clever...No CLIO Award Winner here...

There are some differing opinions on whether to name your chickens. After all, chickens are livestock, not pets, and some would argue it's best not to get attached. Personally, and I'll stand by this, I enjoy the challenge of naming my chicks and having something to call them when I bring their morning treat.

Below is a vignette I received from Jaki of Portland, Oregon--a thirty-or-so year veteran of chicken farming--on naming chicks:

" So, are you naming your chickens now?  I had one I named Lily for a while.  She was a beautiful white chicken.  They are rare here, because I don't buy leghorns.  But, as a wee one, she lost one wing somehow.  I suspect a feral cat or a rat reached in through the wire fencing that separated my babies from the grown hens.  Someone was able to pull her wing off. I was very worried.  To care for her. I ensconced Lily in a rabbit cage here in the kitchen.  I put a mirror in the cage with her so she would remember she was a chicken. She healed nicely, but remained my pet.  I did so love that bird.  Finally she was large enough and well enough to be put in with the other hens.  She did fine until a neighbor's dog dug under our fence and got into the chicken yard.  The only chicken the dog could catch was Lily, because, with only one wing, she couldn't fly.

I haven't named a bird since.

The neighbors got rid of the dog.

sigh"

In just one month, I'll be acquiring another six-pack of baby chicks. Anyone have some ideas for chicken names?

P.S. I just discovered an on-line chicken naming website. Check it out at Pet Name Zone. The Internet never ceases to amaze me.

Celebrity Chicks with Chicks

Tori Spelling with her White Silkie.

It seems like everywhere you go now, you hear about women raising chicks. Is this just some new-fangled trend? Or, is that seekers of untainted, organic, nourishing food are deciding that they have to take "good food" into their own hands?

Things that are trendy always seem to have the celebrity "label" on them. But, in some cases, like Martha Stewart, raising chickens is something's she's been doing for years.

Here are some celebrity "chicken" highlights punked from the Internet:

It was almost exactly a year ago that Daily Mail showed Tori Spelling with her white Silkie chicken and reported on her fondness for raising chickens.

Oprah highlighted Barbra Streisand's home and barn where Ms. Streisand raises Araucana chickens that lay green eggs.

Elizabeth Hurley also seems to have a penchant for chicken charms. It was reported by Ecorazzi over four years ago that Hurley was starting a television show about organic farming. I wonder what ever happened to that...

Martha Stewart is no slumming urban farmer. Rather she raises chickens on her palatial estate and has for many years. But, we'd expect no less from Stewart.

Here's a great article about chicks who raise chicks written by Peggy Orenstein for the New York Times a couple of years ago: The Femivore's Dilemma.

Breaking News from Ecorazzi: Jennifer Aniston is now raising chickens. Maybe the new trend isn't celebrities raising chickens but celebrities going from hot men like Brad Pitt to raising chickens...Oh, wait, I forgot, Tori's still married...

1/j6/13: And, new to the chicken scene is Helen Hunt. 

Chickens Going Nuts!

Coachie   -    copyright KeithSkeltonPhoto.com

See the crazed look in this hen's eyes? Yes, Coachie, my Giant Partridge Cochin, is eyeing a handful of unsalted Spanish peanuts. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that chickens would love peanuts. But, when I discovered a bag of "lost" peanuts in the pantry, I decided, "What the heck. The chickens loved yogurt. Let's see..."

As I opened up the door to the pen, a handful of peanuts in hand, just the smell of the peanuts nearly started a War of the Flock. Jersey, the Black Jersey Giant, came running toward me like a chicken on a wild rampage. I leaned down toward her. She pecked the peanuts from my hand as fast as she could to score as many as possible before the others. Being the grande dame of the flock, she also maneuvered her large feathery backside to effectively block the other hens until she had her fill.

Coachie, the more reserved and shy of the Foursome Flock, hung back until I stepped aside and offered her some of the tasty treat. Just like the others, she pecked away to her heart's content.

Even Diamond, the bantam Silver-Spangled Hamburg, loved them. The only thing was that the peanut was a bit too big for her mouth, so I had to split the peanuts in two, "spoon-feeding" them  to Diamond one half at a time.

Feeding chickens unique treats provides for a giggle-full morning. Just a couple of weeks ago, I gave the hens some nonfat yogurt. The yogurt went a'flying when the hens shook their heads to get it off their beaks. Sunflower seeds are a big-time hit. Pomegranate seeds, too. I can only hope that as they peck these bright red biblical treasures, that they're also downing some vital nutrients and antioxidants (that's if chickens require antioxidants...)

Backyardchickens.com has a wonderful treat chart. They advise against feeding chickens anything salty. They also advise against feeding chickens green potatoes, citrus, avocado skin and pit, candy, and chocolate and sugar. Jaki in Portland, Oregon, who has raised chickens for over 40 years, said that onions don't sit well with hens. And, the other day, while trading chicken stories with Kim, a colleague from northern California, she asked, "Have you fed your chickens mealworms yet?" I shook my head. "They are my chickens absolute favorite treat," she said.

Unable to get to the pet store today to stock up for the "disgusting" treats, I did notice as I was checking out at the garden shop that there was a box labeled, "Live Worms" next to the register.

"I'll take one of those," I said to the clerk. Now, I can't wait for tomorrow morning. Sun up means a whole new experience with a whole new treat. More on that later...

P.S. Joe from Facebook checked in and said, "From my garden, I'll provide damaged or fallen tomatoes....they go absolutely crazy for tomatoes. Yes, you are right, uncooked potatoes and some other organics foster salmonella and other bad things that can enter the flock and go into the eggs. Have fun on the worm feeding :) A friend of mine lets his chick'ns out in the back yard, there isn't a rolly-polly, earwig, worm, spider anywhere in his yard now ;)"

Higher Levels of Vitamins D, A & E and Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Pastured Chicken Eggs

Eggs from pastured chickens ready to cook in the skillet.

Crack a fresh-from-the farm egg and notice the difference. The yolks are more orange than commercial USDA eggs. In fact, they are a deep, orangish-golden yellow--a color similar to the setting sun off the Pacific shoreline. According to research by Mother Earth News and Penn State, the color of the yolk isn't the only thing that is different about eggs produced from non-commercial, free-ranging chickens.

Mother Earth News conducted the Mother Earth News egg testing project, a research project in which 14 flocks from around the country were allowed to free-range on open pastures or were moved around in moveable pens. The eggs were sent to an accredited research facility in Portland, Oregon, where research was conducted on the eggs nutritional content. Results released in 2007 concluded that eggs from chickens allowed to roam on pastures may contain:

1/3 less cholesterol;

1/4 less in saturated fat; and had,

2/3 more Vitamin A;

2 times more omega-3 fatty acids;

3 times more Vitamin E;

7 times more beta carotene;

4-6 times more Vitamin D; 

in comparison to conventional USDA eggs.

A study conducted by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and published January 2010 on-line in Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems substantiates some of Mother Earth News claims. In the Penn State study, Vitamins A, E, and fatty acid composition of caged hens and pastured hens, there were striking differences in the eggs. Heather Karsten, associate professor of crop production ecology at Penn State, said, "Compared to egg of the commercial hens, eggs from pastured hens eggs had twice as much vitamin E and long-chain omega-3 fats, more than double the total omega-3 fatty acids, and less than half the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids...Vitamin A concentration was 38 percent higher in the pastured hens' eggs than in commercial hens' eggs, but total Vitamin A per egg did not differ." At the conclusion of the experiment, it was noted that pastured hens weighed 14 percent less than commercial hens and averaged 15 percent lower egg production.

Raising your own backyard chickens or purchasing eggs from a reliable, pesticide-free, free-ranging farm is a great way to obtain a nutrient-rich food source. If purchasing eggs, know that they will be slightly more expensive than commercially-produced eggs. But, if you are what you eat, the decision should be an easy one.

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: