The topic for Day 3 – Mon. Nov. 17 of the 2014 30 (40) Days of Blogging Challenge is
THE MIGHTY CHICKEN
Don’t laugh! Allow me to demonstrate the value of these amazing creatures.
Chickens provide the following value to any farm, ranch or permaculture system;
and one other thing: ENTERTAINMENT
In the past, I’ve had a brood of chickens in the past (I want to call them a herd, but that’s not proper English), and I enjoyed it immensely. She-who-must-be-obeyed enjoyed the fresh eggs, as did the whole family, and a good portion of our parish. It was useful, good for me as a city boy, relaxing and just plain fun. I cannot wait until I am in a place where I can have them again.
Some fun chicken facts:
- The chicken was the first bird to have its genome sequenced, in 2004.
- The ancient name of France is Gaul, a name given by the Romans. Why? From the Latin gallia – chicken. France had a lot of chickens, evidently. Chicken-land!
- There are more of them than any other bird species (25 billion).
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The average hen lays 300 eggs a year
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The record for multiple egg yolks in one egg is nine.
- If a chicken has red ear lobes, it will lay brown eggs if it has white earlobes it will lay white eggs.
- Chickens can interbreed with turkeys (who knew!)
and my favorite…
- The chicken is the closest living relative to the great Tyrannosaurus-Rex.
All hail the mighty chicken – a true gift from God.
