More Chicken Facts

Found this nice article over at:
http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/Chicken-facts.htm

Below is a random selection of interesting or unusual facts about chickens

Chicken is T rex's closes living relative

	There are at least two hundred breeds and variations of domestic chickens on record, most though are extinct or rare.
	There are more chickens on earth than there are people, over three billion in china alone.
	The red Jungle fowl Gallus gallus is generally believed to be the    ancestor of the modern domesticated chicken.
	Recent evidence suggests that domestication of the chicken began in  Vietnam over 10,000 years ago.
	Chickens are the closest living relative of the tyrannosaur.
	If you have a fear of chickens you may be Alektorophobic.
	A chickens' heart beats at an amazing 280-315 beats a minute.
	Studies show that chickens once thought as stupid are capable of complex thought
	Chickens enjoy dust bathing and become frustrated if they are prevented from doing so, such as in the close confinement of factory farmed battery hens.
	In their natural environment Chickens are fastidiously clean and preen their feathers everyday.
	Chickens are omnivores, this means they eat both vegetables and meat.   In the wild, chickens eat grain, seeds, fruit, other vegetation, and insects, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds and insects. Chickens like girt in their diet, which helps them to digest their food.
	In the wild Chickens may live for five to eleven years however  in the confinement of intensive farming, a meat chicken, called a broiler, generally lives only six weeks before slaughter and a hen lives only until she is spent, a term used to describe a hen who can no longer lay eggs. A free range or organic meat chicken will usually be slaughtered at about 14 weeks and also as with their factory farmed counterparts hens are slaughtered when they are spent.
	Some breeds of chickens can lay coloured eggs:  Ameraucana and Araucana can lay eggs colored in shades of green or blue, depending on the breed.
	In their natural environment Chickens live together as a flock. They have a communal approach to the incubation of eggs and raising of young.

	Chickens are good mothers In Ancient Rome  the term "You were raised by a hen", was considered a compliment. As is a similar expression  "Mother hen", which implies a chicken is a good mother as is the reference in the bible in Matthew 23:37  “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” This is a metaphor eluding to the protective nature of a mother hen who reaches out to gather her chicks under her wings to shelter them and keep them safe.
	Chickens are able to communicate with their mother whilst still in the egg and she with them. They can hear their mother's vocalisations and understand them after they are born.
	Chickens are sociable animals ,they form firm friendships preferring the company of chickens they know whilst avoiding those they do not.
	Chickens like most animals feature in religious belief and mythology. There is a delightful belief in Islam that when a cock crows it is because he has seen an angel.  In the Hadith, Muhammad commands, "When you hear the crowing of cocks, ask for Allah's Blessings for they have seen an angel.
	The chicken has a great significance during the Hindu cremation ceremony in Indonesia. A chicken is tethered by his or her leg during the duration of the ceremony so that any evil sprits may be channelled into the chicken rather than the family members who are present. After this ceremony the chicken is returned home and is not treated any differently.
	The cock has become a symbol of both vigilance and betrayal due to the account in the bible where Jesus prophesied Peter's betrayal 'I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.'"(Luke 22:34)
	In the cult of Mithras, the cock was a symbol of the divine light and a guardian against evil.
	The rooster is a real gentleman so to speak and when he finds something good to eat he often calls his hens to eat first. This considerate behaviour may be the reason the Talmud (Judaism) speaks of learning "courtesy toward one's mate" from the rooster.
	In many Central European folk tales, the devil is believed to flee at the first crowing of a cock.
	The Rooster or Cock is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The most recent year of the rooster occurred between February 9th 2005 to January 28th 2006. the next year of the rooster is 2017. Those born in the year of the rooster are said to be sociable, shrewd ,very accomplished, outspoken, boastful, courageous, practical but also dreamers, to name just a few of the personality traits which roosters are said to possess.
	Chickens are the subject of the 2002 popular film Chicken Run which is the hilarious story of a group of Chickens who escape from their coop before their owners can make them into chicken pies. Source: jbd-p4.blogspot.com