September is National Chicken Month. The celebration was created by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association to promote chicken as a healthy protein choice and to encourage consumers to order chicken when eating out and to purchase chicken to prepare at home.
Chicken is a versatile meat and is a common dietary staple worldwide. It can be baked, boiled, grilled, broiled, fried, used as a base for soups, salads and casseroles. Providing that it is skinless, chicken is a low-fat protein, it is also rich in vitamin B6, phosphorous, niacin and selenium.
The scientific name for chicken is Gallus Domesticus. There are over 25 billion chickens in the world, outnumbering humans 3 to 1. Chickens outnumber other species of birds and are one of the few living creatures that can trace their ancestry to dinosaurs.
A few fun facts about chickens are:
- In 1930 the first Kentucky Fried Chicken opened in North Corbin, Kentucky.
- In 1979 McDonald's introduced us to chicken nuggets.
- The average American eats about 83 pounds of chicken per year.
- Buffalo wings are named after the city where they originated, Buffalo, New York.
- In 2004, the chicken was the first bird to have its genome sequenced. This helped determine that the chicken is the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- The earliest known printing of “Why did the chicken cross the road?” was in 1847 in a New York Magazine.
- The color of a hen egg is determined by the breed and the color of its earlobes. Chickens with red earlobes lay brown eggs while chickens with white earlobes lay white eggs. The Aracena chicken lays eggs with blue-tinted shells.