Talk:Chicken

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[edit] Article sounds like a guide

“While the bulk of your pet chickens' diet should be a balanced commercial mix, for household chickens "green feed" can be as simple as poison-free, short grass clippings from lawn mowing. And if you have chickweed in your lawn every spring, your flock will be happy to consume it — directly, if you have an adequate pen that can be moved about the lawn or adequate yard fencing; chickens will happily forage for other plants, seeds, and insects for an hour or so a day. (Be sure not to leave them out in hot sun, and certainly not without water for any length of time.)”

Use of the word “your” and “be sure to do x” makes this encyclopaedia entry sound like a personal guide. It is too conversational.

“In addition to the bonuses of food and fertilizer from chickens as pets, their behaviour can be entertaining. It can also be very educational to become acquainted on a small scale with livestock husbandry and food production.”

This is personal opinion and not neutral.

I don't want to be negative; this content is enthusiastic and interesting, but I think the style is wrong. For this to be a constructive edit, I recommend the Wikipedia style manual and Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles.

Cheers.

—Chrisdone (talk) 15:08, 27 April 2008 (UTC)


Chickens are very intelligent. They can get out of any locked cage that is slightly ajar (depending on the size of the chicken). If you ever have a pet chicken be sure to feed it goat poop. It helps them with digesting food in the when it's still in the gizzard. To make the chickens eat it make sure that it's solid waste. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.126.166.58 (talk) 04:54, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How much does a chicken weigh?

This article fails to answer that fairly basic question. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)

About as much as a henway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.248.48.50 (talk) 19:22, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] References

I'm not sure why the full info on Firefly Ency of Birds seems never to have been entered. Here is the information I just grabbed online:

Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Ed. Perrins, Christopher. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books, Ltd., 2003.

Sorry, I was too tired to figure out how to plug this in. Perhaps someone who already knows will take care of it? Thanks. Australorp (talk) 06:11, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

That's footnote number 2, btw. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Australorp (talk • contribs) 14:47, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I have entered fuller info for the above cite, but do not have the page ref, which should be included. Australorp (talk) 16:47, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I did enter the info, but apparently I'm barred from doing so, as it doesn't seem to have taken. Well, if anyone is attending to this page, perhaps he/she will have the power and the willingness to effect this change. Australorp (talk) 16:58, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

General biology and habitat: I have put into text the following statement's No. 9 ref as given (URL link):

The world's oldest chicken, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, died of heart failure when she was 16. [1]

However, it seems to me the proper citation should be the Guinness Book of World Records, and not a newspaper article second-handedly referring to same. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Australorp (talk • contribs) 16:20, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Okay, okay, I'm trying to remember to sign <smile>. Australorp (talk) 23:29, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I have successfully completed the Firefly ref entry; must've done it wrong the first times. Emailed Robert Plamondon yesterday, who, I see, has fleshed out his references. Thank you Robert. Australorp (talk) 05:18, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

== Category:runescape:go to www.runescape.com and be cool

[edit] Chickens as Pets

In this section, I've rearranged, deleted, added; nothing drastic, I think. I believe it reads better. Let me know if I'm wrong. I documented the egg yolk color. Australorp (talk) 06:52, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Today, I've attempted to substantiate some declarations, added some with refs, etc. Please give feedback. Thanks. Australorp (talk) 02:24, 29 February 2008 (UTC) The name "Xavier Garza" is a form of a fat man chicken. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.90.165.168 (talk) 16:23, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Breed?

If someone can identify the breed of this chicken, please caption on the relevant Commons pages (and possibly categorize, somewhere under Commons:Category:Chicken breeds). - Jmabel | Talk 02:33, 12 March 2008 (UTC)
Looks like a "boring brown" – one of a number of commercial egg-laying strains, mostly derived from crosses such as Rhode Island Red with White Sussex (or it could be a similar backyard cross). Not sure it can be identified exactly by look alone. Can you ask the owner? It's a hen, by the way, I'd say a youngish one. (I think the one behind is a Marans...). --Richard New Forest (talk) 07:40, 12 March 2008 (UTC)
I think it may be a buff. It would help if you knew its weight, egg size, egg color, and orgins.

---~Piney (talk) 18:14, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

It could be anything: Rhode Island Red (though I doubt it, usually these are much darker), New Hampshire Red, Sussex, a cross. I'd leave it as breed unknown. VanTucky 19:51, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling/grammar

Why are all the words 'chicken' in this article capitalized? Was this done on purpose, by accident, or as a result of vandalism? -- Ynhockey (Talk) 21:58, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I have tranced most of the capitalization to this edit. Looks like it should be completely undone to me (notice also what he did with the dashes, etc.) -- Ynhockey (Talk) 22:01, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

yeah, that's me. just bringing it up to date as per Wikiproject Birds, accepted common names of species in caps when used as a proper noun. you know how birders are  ;-) - Metanoid (talk, email) 03:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC) oh, and as far as the hyphenated words go, i don't really care either way. personally i think it looks cleaner without, but i dunno if that's convention or not. if it bothers you too much, you go ahead and chg it, i won't mind. - Metanoid (talk, email) 03:41, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Cocks only in the UK?

I noticed this sentence in the article- "In the U.S.A., Canada and Australia, adult male chickens are known as roosters; in the UK they are known as cocks." Since it is protected, I can't add a   to it- is there some sort of proof as to the national distinguishes of the name of the male chicken? From what I know, the term "rooster" and "cock" are interchangeable regardless of whether in the US, Canada, Australia or the UK. 76.28.138.83 (talk) 04:26, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

I've added {{cn}} to that line. Where I am in the US cock is certainly known but rooster is much more common in everyday usage, particularly outside breeding/showing circles. I have no cites and have no idea about anywhere else.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 08:26, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm from the UK and I've always referred to them as "cockerals", not "cocks" or "roosters". Beanrobot (talk) 17:19, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
However, looking at the Compact Oxford English Dictionary it appears I'm wrong and that I should be using "cock" as "cockerel" is a juvenile male. To quote the COED: "rooster: noun, chiefly N. Amer. a male domestic fowl" so I think the article is right to say that "rooster" is from the USA etc. Beanrobot (talk) 17:23, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
As a UK person from a farming area, we definately call male chickens "cocks". "Rooster" was never used and has the twinge of Americanism to it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.35.134.122 (talk) 08:34, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
In non-technical circles I rarely hear the word "cockerel" in my part of the US, "rooster" serving for anything old enough to crow and in some cases even have a full comb. I find the technical terms for many juvenile animals are often uncommon everywhere, particularly the names for the males.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 01:09, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

When someone in the U.S. says "cock," they're usually refering to something else. ;) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.208.120.38 (talk) 02:31, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes – I think the use of "cockerel" (and perhaps "rooster") is probably prudishness, like the widespread British use of "turf" instead of "sod". In my part of Britain, to farmers, cock is the adult bird and cockerel is a young male. However many non-farming types will use "cockerel" for both, I think because they feel unsure of the proper word, and are reluctant to come right out with a "cock" in mixed company... --Richard New Forest (talk) 09:05, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Fuzzy nutz —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.53.104.83 (talk) 22:58, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] easter island reference is suspect

article says chickens introduced to easter island 12th century bce, but 'history of easter island' article says humans reached easter island around 300 ce at the very earliest. i'm not an expert on chickens or easter island but i suspect the 12th century bce reference is wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bryndlefly (talk • contribs) 10:45, 30 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Oldest chicken 16 years

Was the Guinness record for oldest chicken 16 years or 16 months? Thank you. 76.240.228.226 (talk) 14:21, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Years! 76.240.228.226 (talk) 14:44, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, why is this article locked? I see no discussion of a dispute or any other reason. Did a late-night comedian suggest editing it? 76.240.228.226 (talk) 14:23, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

This article has been that target of a great deal of vandalism. There is even a website, that I won't mention here, that is devoted entirely on vandalizing the chicken article.Danny (talk) 20:34, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

{{editprotected}}

Please add "years" after "16" in the sentence about the oldest chicken. Please also use a padlock icon template to denote the protection status of this article. Is it semi or full protection? If full, please also modify my notice at the top of this talk page. 76.240.228.226 (talk) 19:58, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Y Done. Article is semi-protected, for reasons stated. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 20:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC)