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SUPERST I T I ON S Chickens have been kept for their eggs and meat for thousands of years and during this time many superstitions have arisen about them. These are usually steeped in country folklore, some amusing, others questionable but all a rich part of our heritage. Here are a few of them.
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It was said that immediately after the death of a farmer all his chickens would roost by midday, rather than in the evening.
The setting of eggs (putting in a position where they can hatch) had fertility taboos for country people until the late 19th century. It was thought unlucky to carry fertile hens’ eggs over running water, or to position them to ‘set’ on a Sunday or in the month of May (considered to be the month of witchcraft).
A Persian superstition suggests that cock birds should crow at nine and twelve in the morning and at night. If they do this their owners can expect sudden good fortune.
Spring flowers were said to influence the number of eggs that would hatch. If a posy containing less than thirteen primroses were taken into a house, so the number of eggs that hatched would be indicated by the number of flowers in the posy.
Housewives would pass a lighted candle over set eggs, or make crosses on them, to save them from foxes and weasels.
It was considered unlucky to sell eggs or to take them indoors after sunset.
In Europe it was earlier thought to be unlucky if a hen laid an even number of eggs, and should this occur one should be removed or no chicks would hatch from them.
If all the eggs laid at a single laying happened to produce cockerels, this was thought to be lucky.
The persistent crowing of a cock bird between dusk and midnight is said to foretell a death.
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If a hen (not a cock bird) crowed, this was said to be a prelude to the coming of evil. 76
A cock bird crowing outside a back door was said to foretell a stranger visiting the housewife. 77
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CHAPTER SIX
Chickens in Slang CHICKEN S L A NG Chickens are so popular and widely kept that they have engendered a rich pageant of slang terms. Some of these are flattering, others not. But they are all a reflection of life and how, when in general use, language is corrupted. Here is a range of ‘chicken-speak’.
To swallow gudgeons ere th’are catch’d, • Bad egg – a person who is less than honest and has poor moral standards.
And count their chickens ere th’are hatch’d. SAMUEL BUTLER (1613-1680)
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• Brood over it – to worry and consider a problem thoroughly. • Chick – a young girl. • Chickabiddy – young woman. • Chickadee – North American song bird but also used to refer to pretty girls.
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All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What! all my pretty chickens and their dam, At one fell swoop. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) Macbeth
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• Chickened-out – to give up • Chickery-pockery – dishonest dealings
Chickens in Literature CHICKEN SAVA N T Literature reflects life and it is inevitable that chickens are part of this. Here are a few quotations that amuse, create thoughtful reflections on life or give an insight into history.
I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he is unable to have a chicken in his pot every Sunday. HENRY I V (1553-1610) Hardouin de Péréfixe, Histor y de Henr y le Grand (1681)
I swear, she’s no chicken; she’s on the wrong side of thirty, if she be a day. J O N AT H A N S W I F T ( 1 6 6 7 - 1 7 4 5 )
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S L A N G
• Cock and bull story – elaborate lie. • Cock-eyed – turned or twisted towards one side.
• Chicken – to be afraid.
• Cock of the walk – to be the boss.
• Chicken feed – paltry sum. • Chicken-fixing – a nautical term used by sailors in the 1880s when a name could not be remembered.
• Cock sure – to brag.
• Chicken food – naval term. • Chicken-hammed – being bandy legged. • Chicken hearted – timid and cowardly. • Chicken-livered – faint-hearted and cowardly. • Chicken nabob (1811 term) – A person who returns from the East Indies with a modest fortune of fifty or sixty thousand pounds
• Don’t cackle if you have not laid – don’t complain if you have not finished your part of an agreed arrangement.
• Chicken perch – rhyming slang for church.
• Egg on your face – caught telling an untruth 81
CHAPTER SEVEN
Breeds and Fame FAMOUS A S S O C I AT I ONS Many well known people have kept chickens as a hobby, while others originated new breeds or played significant roles in taking them from one country to another.
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FIVE
Keeping Chickens
Chickens in Sup ers titions
Range and sizes Ways to keep chickens Poultry sheds and equipment Feeding chickens Handling and inspecting chickens What are capons? Killing chickens Plucking chickens Advantages and disadvantages of keeping a cock bird Raising new chickens Keeping chickens healthy
Country-born predictions about chickens and how to look after them. C H A P T E R SI X
Chickens in Slang
A language all of its own - and highly revealing! CHAPTER SEVEN
Breeds and Fame
CHAPTER FOUR
Chickens in Literature
Cochin
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Amusing, thoughtful and meaningful quotations about chickens and their life-styles.
Many well known people have kept chickens as a hobby, while others originated new breeds or played a significant role in taking them from one country to another. Index 94
FA M O U S
B R E E D S
CONTENTS Introduction 6
CHAPTER TWO
Ge t t i ng to Know C h i ckens
C H A P T E R ON E
Whe r e d i d Ch i c ke n s Or i g i nat e ? Which came first – the chicken or the egg? Chickens are related to dinosaurs Ancestors native to jungle fowl in South-east Asia How chickens spread throughout the world Chickens in the British Isles Chickens in mainland Europe Chickens in the Americas Chickens in Asia
Identifying chickens – cock birds and hens Chicken terminology Chicken psychology A chicken’s vision A chicken’s hearing A chicken’s communication skills Feathers – their shapes and colours Colour range of chickens Types of combs and their uses Pecking order – and you! Chickens in love – and how do they do it!
Minorca • Marco Polo – Silkie Breeds
• Laurence of Arabia – especially fond of the Minorca (earlier known as the Red-faced Spanish)
• Sir John Sanders Sebright – Sebright breed
• Queen Victoria – Cochin chickens given as a gift • William Cook – Orpington breed • Major F. T. Croad – Croad Langshan • Gregor Mendel – Andulasian – genetic experiments
Sebright 85