|
Links 🔗
History through the eyes of a chicken
There’s this great thread that you should check out called the “Industrialisation of Chickens” on how the chicken we’re eating today has increased in size by 364% over the last 50 years. This week, I’m gonna take it a step further back in time and tell you how chickens got on our plates in the first place: 👇👇
Rewind Time: ⏳
The modern chicken is descended from the Red Junglefowl, native to India and Southeast Asia. The bamboo plants in that region follows a fruiting cycle where all the bamboo produces massive amounts of food all at once, once every few decades. The Junglefowl evolved according to the bamboo's trait to take advantage of the rare bamboo feasts. So, when food was abundant, Junglefowls would lay more eggs to increase their population. Humans then took advantage of the Junglefowl’s traits. We realised that by constantly giving these birds enough food, we would have basically, egg laying machines. These birds also had weak flying capabilities and limited need for space. Hence, the Junglefowls were domesticated to what we’re more familiar with – Chickens.
Going Global: 🌏
Of course, a low-maintenance egg-laying machine is awesome for any household to have. So, chickens were spread all over the world by merchants and farmers. The Egyptians found out that putting a basket of eggs over hot ash is a viable way to hatch eggs. This frees up the hen from hatching its eggs so the hen can continue laying even more eggs. The Greeks and Romans adored roosters for their fighting abilities, using them as symbols for young soldiers to look up to. In Europe, chickens even became the symbol for Christianity. In modern times, the cross-breeding of chickens contributed to research in genetic inheritance.
Chickens have played a huge role in human history. Nowadays though, chicken farming gets a bad rep for being pumped with hormones, inhumane and over-industrialised. That’s simply industrialisation of anything, be it farming monocrops for fruit, chickens for meat, or humans for economic energy. Ever wonder why you’re obese, miserable, and overworked? You’re the Chicken.
|
