Posted on 11/04/2006 8:04:33 PM PST by Dallas59
Did you know that chickens worry about the future? I'm worried about chickens worrying. But what worries me the most is that most people do not worry about chickens at all.
A recent sobering sight on the freeway brought the truth home to me. I noticed a smell outside the bus I was on and looked over to see flatbed truck passing on the left. It was stacked high and long with crates of chickens. But these chickens weren’t happily pecking about in their boxes. They were trussed, lying on their sides, with their feet sticking outside the crates.
Directly outside my window, I could inside the crates, only a few feet away. The chickens were on their sides…they were not sleeping, but in fact were wide awake, with panicked, staring eyes…I knew that they KNEW trouble was on its way. It was a horrible sight, but I couldn’t look away. My eyes stayed glued to that truck as it moved down the highway, and my last memory of it was a view of all those little yellow legs sticking out from the sides, and those little yellows legs bumping away on a road that lead them to a certain death.
“Slave ship,” the thought popped into my mind as I watched the truck exit the highway, “that’s nothing but a slave ship.” And indeed, those animals with their legs tied together, being carried to a destiny they had no control over, truly reminded me of all the first-person accounts I had read of slave ships.
Although I don’t consider myself an animal rights activist, the term “animal slaves” that is used so often by animal rights organizations certainly seemed appropriate in this instance…and that appropriateness was numbing in its implications after I read a recent publication in the journal Animal Behavior.
A research team from the Biophysics Group at Silsoe Research Institute in England has determined that chickens have a concept of the future. Prior to this publication, scientists believed only humans and other primates had the concept of time existing beyond the present moment. But not so any longer…we now know that chickens can anticipate the future.
Researchers used a simple method of food reward to ascertain this truth. If a hen pecked on a colored button, they received a food reward. If the hen waited a couple of seconds, they received a small amount of food. But if they waited for 22 seconds, they received a much larger amount. Over 90% of the hens held out for the big reward.
The anatomical structure of the chicken brain is much more complex than most people think. Previous studies show that the organization of the neurons in the chicken brain is highly structured. This sophisticated arrangement of the brain implies that, like humans, a high level of intelligence has evolved--an intelligence that helps them survive.
Although we don’t know the exact thoughts of chickens, the concept of the future and the complex brain structure suggests that chickens are intelligent enough to worry.
More than 40 billion birds worldwide are raised for human consumption…and if chickens can worry about what happens to them, that’s something to consider before you bite into a drumstick.
The choice to eat or not to eat chicken is, of course, a personal one. But for me, there’s no question. The slave ship of yellow legs, and the thought of contributing to it, has stopped me from eating chicken in any form…and although I always bought eggs laid by cage-free hens, eggs have also made the I-won’t-eat-it list.
Yes, I’m worried about chickens worrying…and it worries me that more people won’t be worrying about it as well.
Source: Animal Behaviour
I live in East Texas, and I know the smell of chicken ranches.... smells like money.
"Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants."
And a bit later this was modified to include only animals that chew the cud and fish that have scales. Cant remember whether they should or should not have a cloven hoof. Also, no blood because there is life in the blood.
A Bible verse popped into my mind.
Proverbs 12:10
"A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel."
It certainly behooves us to make sure our ways are not cruel.
I guess Theodosia Burr will have to make do with breast milk for the rest of his/her life. Oh well. With a name like Theodosia he/she never stood a chance anyway.
LOL... Damn that's funny!
We better damned well hope they don't sue demanding reparations. 40,000,000,000 x $1 x say 30 years, is a bunch of money. Time to choke that chicken.
"I had came across a manuscript of Le Viander de Taillevent. He was the chef to the Palais Royal in Paris. I think it was the 14th century.. . .And in there was this wonderful — wonderful? fascinating as opposed to wonderful; it's not the right word — recipe for how to roast a chicken. You take the chicken, and you pluck the chicken while it's still alive, and you baste the skin with a mixture of soya, wheat germ and dripping, I think it was. And apparently this makes it look like the skin's been roasted. You then put the head of this live chicken under its tummy and rock it to sleep. Then you get two other chickens and you roast them. And you bring these three chickens out on a tray to the table. You start carving one of the roasted chickens. And. . .the one that is still alive but sleeping goes sort of 'Wha!' — head pops up — and it runs off down the table..."
Perfect.
first of all, this lady is obviously nuts.
second, is this really a credible study? does inaction on the part of a chicken constitute evidence of thinking about the future, or something else (like maybe their mind is on something else and then 22 seconds later, boom)?
Not trying to belabor the subject, just as response - -
Leviticus 11 lists the dietary restrictions God gave to the nation of Israel. The dietary rules were never intended to apply to anyone other than Israel.
Jesus later declares all foods clean (Mark 7:19). God gave the apostle Peter a vision in which He declares concerning formerly unclean animals, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15).
http://www.gotquestions.org/foods.html
From the article..." But what worries me the most is that most people do not worry about chickens at all. "
I worry about chickens. I worry if they are cooked well. I worry if they are too dry. I worry if I should use BBQ sauce. I worry if they should be baked or fried.
I worry if I get chicken juice on my shirt.
I worry about eating those rubber bands the store puts around the ends of the Chicken legs to hold em together while they cook em....Nasty tasting..
Geese are evil, especially those big honking farm geese that God seems to have put on earth to assault children and fishermen.
Soon the mighty Chicken Resistance Army will form to liberate themselves from the shackles of tyranny...
Soon the day will come when the evil Colonel Sanders will pay for his evil, evil ways.
CLUCK!
:-P
Well, about 5 years ago, and in the morning, a truck full of chickens happened to overturn. On the 405 freeway. Going southbound towards L.A. Around Nordhoff St. 10 lanes of traffic stopped at rush hour because of a thousand chickens running around the freeway. The traffic and police helicopters buzzing around didn't help much. And about 50,000 people blowing their horns didn't help much either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.