About Chickens

Domesticated chickens have been around a long long time. They are thought to have come from China originally around 5300 BC from the wild Red Jungle Fowl. This has been confirmed by DNA analysis. A millennia of domestication has altered the species.

Domesticated chickens appear in Pakistan about 2500 BC. Domesticated chickens appeared in Chile in the Americas around 1350 AD – which was long before the Spanish were there. It is believed they came from the Polynesian Islands about 3300 years ago.
Many archaeologists believe that chickens were first domesticated not for eating but for cock fighting. Cockfighting was legal in Louisiana (the last state to ban it ) until 2008. Chickens were and still are a sacred animal in some cultures. Chickens accompanied Roman soldiers into battle and watched – a good apatite of the chicken insured a victorious battle was at hand. If the chickens did not eat then the Romans were sure to lose the battle.
Chickens now of course are bred to be sold to us in the supermarket. Today chickens have increased body weight and increased large egg production. They are also about 25% fat. These are “broilers” – breeds that are plump and meaty.
Today there has been arsenic found in chicken feed and a lot of today’s domesticated chickens have a high degree of bacterial contamination according to Men’s Health magazine. People today eat these chickens. Another problem is the cooking of the chicken itself. Many food establishments simply do not cook the chicken well enough. A pink color of the cooked chicken is bad – except, if it is smoked chicken and then that is okay.
Yes, you can get food poisoning from under cooked or raw chicken from a bacteria called “Salmonella, Campylobacter or Staphylococcus aureus” – this can be fatalSalmonella typhi bacteria, can be passed from human handler to human handler and causes typhoid fever. Campylobacter can cause temporary paralysis.
I have wanted to provide a little history here of the domesticated chicken. Eating red meat has more perils – but eating chicken has perils also. What we eat is each of our own individual decisions and what has been passed down to us. Many believe that eating chicken is not necessary and bad is for you, and unhealthy. The statement ” if it had a mama and a papa ” you should not be eating it has meaning to many.
Chicken and turkey is served at a lot of the county and state fairs and festivals around the country via concession booths. Before you eat it maybe you should sit down and think about what you are eating.