Of Humans and Chickens

by Herman Lensing

“A cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note ... Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.” The quote for JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” is one of most vivid images from the story. In a book fi lled with wizards, warriors, weird creatures and some terrifying villains, the image of a common rooster signaling all is not lost just stands out. You can’t argue that roosters crow at sunrise. If you are near a fl ock of

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chickens or even pheasants and there is a rooster in the mix, sunrise is accompanied by the crowing. It is something people have observed for a long time. With the exception of dogs, there may not have been any animal more associated with humans than chickens. Chickens were a sign of settlement in human history. Nomadic people rarely had them, but most cultures that settled and worked the land did. The bird has been developed as a food source, for its eggs and decoration. It is the most common bird in the world, about 25 billion of them, according to Smithsonian Magazine. There are at least 72 recognized breeds of chickens. Because of preferences for size, use and taste of different regions, they might be smaller or larger and more colored, but most of them look like chickens. Before chickens became part of a stable diet, they were used for insect control, fi ghting, egg production and living lawn ornaments. The latter led to some less-than-typical-looking chickens. The Houdan, a French chicken, can have a hood of feathers; the Modern Game, an English breed, looks like a skeleton with feathers; The Polish, with connections to Spain and Holland, gets its name from its crest, which looks like military hats used in Poland; and the Silkie looks like it has fur. So much a part of human history has been with chickens that folklore wisdom developed around them. We’ve all heard “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” and “don’t run around like a chicken with its head cut off.” Sauk Centre’s native son, Sinclair Lewis, apparently got some guidance from chickens. According to one source, his description of one woman as “this brainless little fl uffy chick” in “Elmer Gantry” brought the word “chick” into American slang when referring to a young woman. It had been used before, but after his use, it became part of the vocabulary. It is interesting that, despite having been originally bred for fi ghting, the word “chicken” is also used to describe someone who is afraid. That was not always the case. The ancient Greeks used chickens to provide lessons in fi ghting spirits. They were not the only ones to use the birds for lessons. The Romans saw chickens as a source of omens; in the Chinese Zodiac, those born in the year of the rooster are said to be observant, hardworking and brave. Most of us view chickens as a meat source. That view started in about the 10th Century when a series of religious reforms included avoiding meat from fourlegged animals on fast days (at that time, about 130 days a year). This resulted in people looking to the chicken as an alternate source of meat. It wasn’t the only time religion and chickens were tied together. A Hindu practice calls for tying a chicken in the house of a deceased person in order to trap evil spirits that would want to torment the deceased family. After a few days the bird is released back to its fl ock. A Jewish tradition used chickens as sacrifi ces for sin. Rooster ornaments on church steeples and domes were said to remind people of St. Peter and his denying Christ; and the egg symbolizes the empty tomb of Jesus. In some voodoo practices, the chicken is a key element to ceremonies. Still, for all the attention of access to divinity or portents, about the only magic chickens display naturally is always knowing when the sun is rising. They, like Tolkien’s rooster, remind any who hear that it is a new day, and a new hope.

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