I guess I was asleep at the switch when this talk about poultry was started.
My Mom and I raised over 500 white Leghorn chickens during the 
depression just to survive. (Broken home, single Mom) We also raised 
turkeys and Guineas (?). The Guineas were for burglar alarms. We 
delivered chickens (whole or cut up) and eggs three times a week to 
folks in the city in order to make a living. Tim Rowe and his "Dirty 
Job" crew would have a ball today following us around the chicken 
yard. We got hit by chicken pox one year and nearly got wiped out. 
Vet told us to remove the pox from each chicken by hand. We did and 
we lost only a few birds and one of the two roosters. The remaining 
rooster lost an eye to the pox so we called him "Ole One-eye". So 
what else could we call him. We had  fried, baked, roasted, boiled 
and bar-B-qued chicken darn near every day. Today I can't stand the 
idea of white meat but love the dark meat. Dearly love chicken and 
dumplings especially the drop dumplings. No I do not make a  chicken 
and dumpling soup!!!
DTP



At 06:50 PM 8/29/2007, you wrote:
>Sometimes I think you all are on a different planet.  Historically, 
>folks have always relied on eggs and fried or boiled chicken as a 
>major part of their diet. Just ask your great-grandmother (if you 
>were born before 1950) or consult Fanny Farmer.  And, yes, we did 
>raise our chickens "on-site," as a number of families in our 
>neighborhood still do.
>
>
>Morgan
>
>---- Original Message -----
>   From: Ed Otter<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>   To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>   Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 5:07 AM
>   Subject: Re: poultry consumption
>
>
>   Meli,
>
>   The issues you mention are exactly the things I deal with in my 
> dissertation "The Interpretation of Late Nineteenth Century Faunal 
> Remains Through the Analysis of Written Texts" 
> (http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/search<http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/search> 
> number 3047153).  There you will find loads of information on 
> chicken use, marketing, etc. and references.  One of my conclusions 
> was that the use of fowl can be an indicator of status, especially 
> when related to pork consumption.  Along with that is the cost of 
> chickens as compared to other forms of meat and packaging for 
> market (which did include heads and feet so they are NOT an 
> indicator of on-site raising).
>
>   Be happy to have discussions with you on these topics
>
>   Edward Otter
>
>
>
>   -------------- Original message --------------
>   From: Meli Diamanti <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
>
>   > 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]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>   >
>   > Meli Diamanti
>   > Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.