Free Republic

Voter ID has gotten large amounts of media attention, but residents of rural areas are concerned about another identification issue that has remained largely ignored: chicken ID. ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposed rules for Animal Disease Traceability, developed in August 2011, are now in their final stages. They require identification of farm animals, such as poultry and cattle, that cross state lines. Many farmers worry the rules would send them on a literal wild goose chase, forcing them to catch and hold down each bird to attach an identification tag. Read more: http://times247.com/articles/88feds-foist-chicken-id-on-frustrated-farmers6#ixzz20XcTgF3L

The chickens that saved Western civilization were discovered, according to legend, by the side of a road in Greece in the first decade of the fifth century B.C. The Athenian general Themistocles, on his way to confront the invading Persian forces, stopped to watch two cocks fighting and summoned his troops, saying: "Behold, these do not fight for their household gods, for the monuments of their ancestors, for glory, for liberty or the safety of their children, but only because one will not give way to the other." The tale does not describe what happened to the loser, nor explain...

An explosion on Monday rocked the suburban Atlanta home of a man known for his fight to keep chickens on his property, and emergency officials say a body was found inside. Marshals had been on the scene for about two hours trying to evict Andrew Wordes, who's known as the "Chicken Man," when the explosion happened around 12:45 p.m., said Antonio Johnson of the Fulton County marshal's office. Minutes before the explosion, Wordes told them to leave the property that was in foreclosure. Other than the body found inside the house, which officials did not immediately identify, no one was...

The battle between one man and the city of Roswell that started over his keeping of chickens ended Monday afternoon in a fiery explosion. Investigators believe that rather than be evicted from his home, Andrew Wordes poured gasoline throughout the house and set it on fire. "There was an initial explosion and subsequent fire," Lt. James McGee with Roswell police said during a news briefing. A body was found inside the home, but a positive identification had not been made late Monday afternoon due to the condition of the body, Capt. Paul Piccirilli with the Roswell Fire Department said. The...

ATTENTION: BUTTERBALL TURKEYS ARE HALAL: November 14, 2011 Thanks for contacting Butterball. Our whole turkeys are certified halal. However, if you would like to know about any other Butterball products, please email us back as to which products you are interested in using and we can get that information for you. Again, thanks for your interest in Butterball. We hope you find this information helpful. Sincerely, Wendy Howze Consumer Response Representative http://mwtrainlayout.com/joesweblog/?p=4401

We just recently purchased 6 Buff Orpington hens that are getting ready to turn 8 months old and were already laying. Yesterday I noticed one of the girls has a black diarrhea. Not sure if it's a "stress" or if it's food or illness causing it. We currently give them layer crumble and have recently given them stale bread ( OMG They're like my labs with food , when it comes to stale bread lol ) and some cabbage leaves. Just was wondering if anyone has had experience with black diarrhea in your hens and could offer some tips.

"Here’s something to think about the next time you stop by the meat counter at your local grocery store – there may be drug-resistant strains of bacteria lurking in that steak or chicken...." A study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute, found that Staphylococcus aureus – a bacteria that causes most staph infections including skin infections, pneumonia and blood poisoning – are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at “unexpectedly high rates.”

EARLIMART, Calif. — A Lamont man was killed earlier this week by a chicken. Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, was stabbed by a knife attached to the leg of a fighting rooster, the Kern County coroner's office said Friday.

Elizabeth Lampert’s daughter, Siena, wanted a horse. “But that would have been expensive,” says Lampert, the owner of a public-relations agency just outside San Francisco. Instead she went to a local hay-and-feed store and bought the 10-year-old a pair of chickens. “Then Siena thought they were getting lonely, so we got three more.” Lampert pays her daughter $2 a day to feed them, herd them back into their coop every night, and collect their eggs, generally two or three a day. “The eggs are amazing,” Lampert says. “They taste rich and creamy. The yolk—it’s very orange. Siena used to ask...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-president-medvedev-russia-us-russia-business-summit Home • Briefing Room • Speeches & Remarks The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 24, 2010 Remarks by President Obama and President Medvedev of Russia at the U.S.-Russia Business Summit U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 3:08 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, good afternoon, everybody. It is a pleasure to be here with my friend and partner, President Medvedev, and I want to thank him again for his leadership, especially his vision for an innovative Russia that’s modernizing its economy, including deeper economic ties between our...

A 23-year-old woman died when a truck trailer detached, throwing 10 tons of live chickens in crates on top of her, Krugersdorp police said today. The truck belonging to Early Bird was travelling on the R563 between Krugersdorp and Hekpoort when the accident happened at 10am on Tuesday, said Inspector Dennis Jones. "A bakkie that was driving in front of the truck was about to turn left but allegedly failed to indicate, causing the truck to swerve to the right as it was too late to slow down," said Jones. As the truck returned to its lane, its trailer detached...

BEIJING, Feb 5 (Reuters) - China will levy heavy anti-dumping duties on U.S. chicken products, its Commerce Ministry said on Friday, a move likely to aggravate trade relations and antagonise one of the few U.S. industries that profitably exports to China. The ministry's initial investigation showed that U.S. companies had dumped chicken products into the Chinese market, according to the ministry's website (www.mofcom.gov.cn). The tariffs were announced a day after China requested a World Trade Organisation ruling on European Union duties on shoes made in China. That was the most recent of many cases demonstrating China's embrace of the WTO...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28, 2010 – U.S. soldiers joined U.S. Agriculture Department representatives to witness the reopening of a poultry processing plant southwest of here Jan. 10. Juan Alsace, team leader of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s embedded provincial reconstruction team, attaches the first chicken to go through the newly reopened Al Kanz poultry processing plant, southwest of Baghdad, Jan. 10, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel Schneider  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Al Kanz poultry processing plant in Yusifiyah, near Contingency Operating Station Falcon, closed in 2004 due to the poor condition of its facilities and the lack...

BAGHDAD — A chicken processing plant here recently received aid from U.S. Soldiers who lent their agriculture and engineering expertise to help open the doors. North Carolina Guardsmen with 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, who have agribusiness and engineering backgrounds, visited the al-Kien plant near Mahmudiyah to offer advice and seek ways to help the plant begin operations. Capt. Bobby Lumsden, the battalion's operations officer, walked through the plant with owner Rafea Abass Ali to inspect the plant's machinery and the massive coolers that will help keep poultry fresh. Getting the plant up and running...

And now some welcome news for a change: In a little-noticed move, the U.S. Congress tore down a barrier to imports of chicken from China last week. It's a victory for free trade and for a more rational approach to safety standards. President Obama signed an appropriations bill Wednesday that clears the way for the imports by allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct in China the safety inspections U.S. law requires for any country exporting food to America. The congressional move in 2007 to block funding for those regulatory steps amounted to an import ban. Now USDA will...

Continued concerns about Chinese products being sold in the U.S. now include poultry. Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor was recognized in Washington today for his work on an agriculture appropriations bill that focuses on the use of appropriated funds from the Department of Agriculture for potential imports of poultry products from China. "Food safety and trade are not mutually exclusive, and are in fact very important to the economy of Arkansas. We can have both as long as the USDA can do its job of policing imports to make sure they meet our food safety standards. Our agreement enables the government...

Troutville, Va. (AP) - An animal rights group wants to rent a prison building the state plans to close and turn it into the nation's first chicken empathy museum. A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals official sent a letter Monday to Gov. Tim Kaine asking to rent the Botetourt Correctional Center building in Troutville. Kaine spokeswoman Lynda Tran said the state doesn't lease to private entities except for cases grandfathered in when it purchases buildings.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 21, 2009 – The Women’s Poultry Project in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province is a giant leap forward for the women who call the Panjshir River valley their home. The project is designed to empower women in the valley by assisting them in providing food and income for families. Greg Schlenz of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agricultural advisor to the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, said the project began last spring in the Anaba district with about 200 families and now includes more than 1,200 Panjshir families in the Anaba, Rhoka, Bazarak, Dara and Khenj districts. In...

Chile detected the H1N1 swine flu virus in turkeys, authorities said, the first time the virus has been found outside humans and pigs, but said there was no indication the disease had spread to other parts of Chile. The country's farming and livestock agency SAG said yesterday the flu outbreak had been controlled at the two farms 120 km west of the capital Santiago and notified the World Organization for Animal Health. "We call on the public to consume turkey products with confidence," a SAG statement said. It added that laboratory results ruled out the presence of H5N1 or bird...

This spring we wanted chicken manure spread on the pastures because it is incredibly rich in nutrients, the best “natural” fertilizer known to man, and quite inexpensive, comparatively speaking. So I asked one of my truck driver friends, who cleans out houses for Sanderson Farms affiliates, to bring me several dump truck loads. “No can do, because they aren’t having it done, this year,” quoth he. How odd. I mulled that over off and on for months, and today I got the answer. The greenies are at it again! THIS time they are claiming that litter (sawdust and, ah, processed...