I'm looking for information on poultry consumption, or the chicken 
equivalent of "where's the beef?"

I've seen comparisons of beef/motton/pork consumption between households 
or sites in historic faunal analyses, but where is the discussion of 
chicken?  Was chicken not commonly consumed historically?  I read that 
it really increased in relation to the shortages of meat during World 
War II (Wikipedia got this from a History Channel web page), but where 
can I find information on consumption before World War I?
I'm working on analyzing domestic sites from the Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania area c. 1900-1920's.  there is a wonderfully detailed study 
of butcher shops and meat consumption patterns in various Pittsburgh 
neighborhoods from 1932 (John Cover), but it does not include chicken or 
other poultry.  Was poultry sold by separate shops? Was it sold along 
with farm produce from hucksters' wagons?  Or what?
We are finding some poultry bones in the faunal sample, but very 
little.  So I'm wondering whether that was common for the time & place - 
to be eating so little chicken as opposed to beef/mutton/pork, or is it 
a reflection of status.  None of these are wealthy hosueholds.  But they 
are households of several different ethnic groups, so I thought the lack 
of chicken would not be common among them if it was a matter of ethnic 
food preferences.
I see that poultry was first listed in the Federal Agricultural Census 
of 1880, and that poultry raising was not really successful as a 
business until c. 1900, but that is the period I'm looking at, so i 
would expect to see it.  Was chicken more expensive or scarce, or a 
specialty item like fish? (Fish seems to be missing from my samples, 
even from a convent of parochial school teachers).

I would appreciate any leads on this subject, either information on 
general historic trends in dietary change, or informaiton from specific 
sites or other sources.  If you want to reply off list, I can be reached 
at [log in to unmask]

Meli Diamanti
Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.