Chicken 'Cull'ture

"Mmmmmmm........!!!!! Tasty.......Just delicious...........", exclaimed Sid. He was quite evidently relishing every bit of it. Understandably so. After all, it had been many days since he last bit into a juicy piece of meat. The very sight of him savoring chicken lolly-pop made everyone long for one of that kind. The golden brown fry, spices and the lime spread over it only helped to intensify the onlooker's desire. And someone who had thought of giving up chicken and turn to a new vegetarian leaf had to reassess his thoughts and allow himself to let free. It isn't an edifying thought, it's nasty actually. But one can understand the rationale and the drama behind such circumstances, barring a few hard-nosed-right-from-birth-vegetarians.

Chicken are always associated with humans, from a considerable eon of age-line. The very first pictures of chicken is Europe are found on the Corinthian pottery dating as back as 7th century BC. A famous bard named Cratinus,in 5th century BC, christened chicken as "The Persian Alarm". Chickens, along with dogs and pigs were the most common domestic animals to have served the people living during the Lapita culture, the very first of the Neolithic kind, in Oceania. More of chicken, on a mythological and religious note, they are considered as the the channels of evil spirits during Hindu cremations at Indonesia. The hens and cocks are very deeply respected in Greek mythology and traditions too, because of their valor, exotic nature and charm. One might feel surprised that, in many European folk tales, the unlucky and evil spirits just flee at the first crowing of a cock.

The early man dwelled on chicken on a considerable extent for his living. These were the most commonly found meat in the Middle Ages. It was observed that chicken tasted good, was neutral and quite healthy, more so as it was digestible easily, without any fuss. Muscle tissues like breast, legs and thigh are the most favored pieces when one chooses chicken, with eggs being his/her more occasional diet. Coming with a very good nutrient value, these foods supplement us with a host of proteins and vitamins, so vital for our food consumption for stronger bones and cell synthesis.

Cornish, White Rock, Cochien, Silkie may be easily mistook for some fairy-tale names appearing in poetry or literature. But interestingly, these are some of the hybrid versions and breeds of chicken, as in U.S, Europe and Australasia. They have been in such good demand, that man probably found it too very long to wait for a hen to lay an egg and then eat it. Instead, he came up with an ingenious idea of artificial incubation. The process is accelerated, and luckily, a good breed of new chicken has been obtained. That really must have doused his hunger fires. Seemingly though. And with this came a new practice called Poultry and chicken were fed and artificially incubated and a novel business emerged. Perhaps that was some sort of a reward for the germinal ideas of the innovators.

Fried Chicken, Chicken Soup, Tandoori Chicken and Chicken Rice have been the most savored foods across the world. And where on earth can someone ever find the likes of KFC, McDonalds and Burger King making big cash without selling chicken? There have been many such eat-outs like Subway etc. but the one who first came up with such a novel idea of catering to the taste buds of many, deserves behemoth amounts of praise. A good way of making money indeed. A policy drafted straight from the book "Few Fast Earning Strategies", assuming there was one such book.......!!!! Chicken have been fairly successful in driving lucre to a businessman's pocket.

While the tiny birds have been helpful in ways aplenty, to the mankind, the latter is not exactly the same to them. Agreed, he does look after them carefully, but not without any solid reason. After all, he's not so obtuse in his approach, is he? That perhaps, is what sets off being the most distinguishing feature between a four-legged creature and someone with two legs and a gifted little brain.

He's shown the height of cruelty when it actually required him to be mature, realistic and kind in his approach. The poor hens, like we humans, are prone to a variety of diseases with Red Mite, Thrush, Mushy Chick Disease, Bird Flu, Salmonella, BlackHead disease and Gumboro to name a few. Recently, Bird Flu has been on a rampage in India, with West Bengal being the most hapless of the regions to suffer, already crippled by the vehement protests and strikes. The symptoms have been discouraging and panic-causing. More than 90% of the hen collapsed to death and a few more casualties occurring later. The government found itself aghast at the very first reports and ordered culling straightaway, making every attempt to keep the rest of them unaffected and disallowing it to grow rapid-fire and run haywire. But by then, the infected number had swollen to a whopping 378000. Birbhum district was the worst-hit, alone accounting for 350000. Meat-vendors ran frustrated as they tried their best, pulling out all stops and leaving no stones unturned in their bid to sell off the meat at prices less than half the earlier ones and found it increasingly difficult to have a word with the buyers. Egg sales reached a nadir at the market. The H5N1 strain of bird flu had telling effects on the state affairs and economy, leaving a dark trail on the ministers of affairs and those at helm. They were instead bothered about deciding the compensation figure. After severe round of discussions and formal ratification, they came up with a number 1 million, for Birbhum district. The culling operations and itinerary was decided soon after.

It was strikingly disappointing of the big league to come up with an ordinary thought. They never bothered to check whether the hens due for culling were affected or not. Some ignorant farmers arrived at the culling stage with few plump, hale and hearty hens and completely unaffected. Veterinary doctors were busy in their supporting operations and were worried of reaching the planned target and off took the culling. It was disheartening to see those little birds die, some of them, for no reason at all. The operations picked up good speed and the farmers were asked to stay far from their poultries. Similar operations were put in effect in Bihar too, as there were some cases reported in that region too.

There is a need for technology and wise men to come up with something better than culling operations. Agreed, that was the first measure everyone tends to take when in crisis but what of all those measures required to prevent the cause of such a pandemic disease. There are various factors based upon the cleanliness and safety standards which have an effect in helping prevent such diseases and those measures have to be legally implemented. Conditions at the affected districts like Birbhum were verified and it was found that the hen were allowed to grow in sub-standard poultry conditions and treated in an unhygienic way. Necessary steps had to be taken before-hand and poultries which lack the required facilities and cleanliness must have been not sanctioned. Had the authorities come up with a strict code of regulations, the results would have been much different altogether. It's not only for the people of PETA to care for animals but it's our collective, implicit and foremost duty to care for animals and protect them. We need them and they need us. Perhaps Man has forgot that he lives in a world where the nature supports symbiosis.

Chicken have served us from the long past. And they have done so in a very fruitful way, catering to his needs and serving our appetite and taste.

Was this the sort of 'Cull'mination the little birds deserved??