Recently in poultry Category

This made me smile. It's a Haynes Manual - for chickens.

I remember Haynes Manuals fondly from when I was a teenager. They were statutory reading for anyone who needed tips on maintaining their first car (mine was a Triumph Dolomite). Didn't realise they covered chickens, too.

Heard the one about the chicken and the giant eggs? Looks painful.

I received an email this morning titled 'Frizzle cock'.

I was immediately worried (as any man would be) and readied myself to issue a denial, then I saw the content. It was this picture. Apparently, that's the breed: a Frizzle.

This is what happens when you know someone who works on Poultry World. You get sent pictures of strange birds. That said, it's a beauty, isn't it.

It prompted another one of those moments - as the gun-toting baddie did - when I though: I didn't go into journalism for this.

Then I thought: Actually, this stuff is great.

Anyone else seen the new Bernard Matthews TV ad? I rather like it. You can watch it here.

The company's obviously decided it was time for a change of image because there's no sign of the big fella himself on the ad. And no mention of the word 'bootiful', either.

And if you don't want to hypnotise your chickens, you could always play music to them.

Presumably they'd like The Birdie Song.

Watch out - bird thieves are roaming the countryside.

My pal Richard (who knows eveything there is to know about poultry) tells me the bird pictured above is a Satsumadori.

In terms of sheer unadulteratde cuteness when it comes to poultry, though, I reckon you'd have to go a long way to beat the little beauty below. It's a magpie duck.

First it's the giant ostrich egg, now news reaches me of a chicken egg that's four times as big as normal.

I bet laying it made the poor hen's eyes water!

Can't help but feel this blog is turning into Have I Got News For You - but seeing as we've been talking about obscure mags, here's another poultry-related one a colleague of mine drew my attention to.

I'm sure it's fascinating. If you're interested in poultry. And understand French. Neither, sadly, of which I do.

Ever wondered how far the average hen walks in its lifetime?

OK, so it’s not the sort of question that keeps most of us awake at night, but I can tell you the answer. 1460 miles.

The figure was calculated by the guys at Clarence Court, the free-range egg producer.

The experiment involved attaching a tiny counter to the hen’s leg and monitoring the results (guys, you’ve really got to get out more!)

We all like listening to music when we're working, right.

Well it's not just us. Chickens do, too.

Yes, quirky goings-on in the Cotswolds where one farmer has decided to install radios in his hen houses because he reckons chickens are more relaxed - and so lay better eggs - when listening to music.

As for which songs Philip Lee-Woolf will be playing, I reckon Crazy Chick by Charlotte Church might be popular, as will be Come Fly with Me by Frank Sinatra.

It's not the first time that theories about farm animals and cds have been put forward. Scientists at Leicester University have claimed that cows produce more milk when music is played in the parlour.

Not content with playing music to the birds, Mr Lee-Woolf has also installed a webcam (they call it a hencam) allowing live coverage of the birds to be broadcast on the internet. This could, to steal a Wimbledon expression, spark widespread hen-mania!

Customers at Harrods, which is one of the stockists of the free-range eggs, can also watch the chickens as they shop in the top London store on a large screen.