Chickens

Furthering the consolidation of California's agriculture sector, Foster Farms, the state's largest chicken producer, has agreed to purchase the chicken business of its largest rival, El Monte-based Zacky Farms. The deal would give Livingston-based Foster a dominant position in the poultry aisles of California supermarkets, and analysts expect it to be subject to intense antitrust scrutiny. Terms of the deal between the two privately held companies were not disclosed.

Pam King's San Marino home has solar panels, a drought-resistant yard and an urban farm. Now she'd like some chickens to go with it. The city known as the wealthiest, quietest suburban enclave in the San Gabriel Valley doesn't allow residents to keep farm animals, but that may soon change. This month King asked the San Marino City Council to allow chickens on residential properties, and council members ordered a staff report. If San Marino goes to the birds, it would join Pasadena, South Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, which allow residents to keep fowl under strict guidelines.

Re "The Chickens Came First . . . ," June 12. It is always interesting to learn about the different people who populate our San Fernando Valley. However, sometimes it is just as important to point out there is a history behind our actions. I was amused to learn that Ken Arno and Doreen Radogna of Van Nuys raise chickens in order to sell their "organic" eggs. In the late 1940s and the 1950s there were over 100 chicken farmers raising chickens for eggs. They were very innovative (as opposed to the way chickens were raised in New Jersey)

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest hamburger chain, keeps churning out profit — this time because of unexpectedly balmy weather and new products such as Chicken McBites. The Oak Brook, Ill., company Friday posted a profit of $1.27 billion, or $1.23 a share, in its first quarter. That's a 5% increase from the $1.21 billion, or $1.15, it earned during the same period in 2011. McDonald's revenue jumped 7.1% to $6.5 billion. Even though the chain is feeling pressure from rising food costs, it so far has managed to sustain a strong sales pace.

Four years ago, Andrew Meeks literally bet the farm on chickens. Now he fears he made a losing bet. His three massive chicken houses are empty, and a "For Sale" sign has sprouted out front. Meeks, a contract chicken farmer, borrowed nearly half a million dollars to refurbish his 25-acre farm, putting up as collateral his home, the farm and virtually everything else he owns. But the company that provided his chickens and paid him to raise the birds canceled his contract.

Jen Lynch and her family live in the heart of the city but roll out of bed to the sound of clucking chickens. Their day starts with cleaning coops, scooping out feed and hunting for eggs for morning omelets. Eight families in a three-block radius and an estimated 150 families citywide do the same. "It's our slice of rural life, minus the barns," said Jen Lynch, 35, as Flicka the chicken pecked at her backyard lawn.

I saw the headline "Wood-Chipped Chickens Fuel Outrage" (Nov. 22) out of the corner of my eye while reading another story. My mind struggled to translate ... was it a new way of preparing poultry? Then it hit me: 30,000 live chickens had been subjected to a wood chipper. I'm still nauseated by the hideous cruelty. I realize there is horror all over the paper, and I'm not asking you to filter it. I just want to be on the record as someone who finds this act, sanctioned by a vet, disgusting, evil and wrong.

One evening last spring, Chris Cunningham was sitting on his patio enjoying a cocktail and observing the state bird of Georgia, the brown thrasher. It was out in the yard doing whatever it is that thrashers do when Cunningham was seized by a thought. "The brown thrasher hasn't really done anything for Georgia," he said to his wife. "But the chicken is huge." It has certainly been good to Cunningham. He is the owner of Wife Saver Inc., a regional chain of family restaurants whose claim to fame -- aside from a name that is either chauvinistic or chivalric, depending on your perspective -- is its fried chicken box, a beloved culinary staple of football tailgaters and post-church suppers in this part of Georgia since the 1960s.

Pam King's San Marino home has solar panels, a drought-resistant yard and an urban farm. Now she'd like some chickens to go with it. The city known as the wealthiest, quietest suburban enclave in the San Gabriel Valley doesn't allow residents to keep farm animals, but that may soon change. This month King asked the San Marino City Council to allow chickens on residential properties, and council members ordered a staff report. If San Marino goes to the birds, it would join Pasadena, South Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, which allow residents to keep fowl under strict guidelines.

Fluffy, white broiler chickens pecked around the backyard while a group of two dozen people — a set of knives laid out before them — eyed them warily. Jordan Dawdy, his arm bearing tattoos of chickens and other farm animals, gave the crowd the run-down: Snap the neck, cut off the head, drain the blood, pluck, gut, done. He has the whole process down to seven minutes. The group shifted uneasily and prepared to dive in. Dawdy's "Yard to Skillet" workshops are booked full in this college town of 100,000.

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest hamburger chain, keeps churning out a profit - this time due to unexpectedly balmy weather and new products such as oatmeal and Chicken McBites. The company netted $1.27 billion in income, or $1.23 per share, in its first quarter. That's a 5% increase from the $1.21 billion, or $1.15 per share, it earned during the same period in 2011. Note the absence of one-time, game-changing accounting charges  that have been seemingly omnipresent this earnings season.

Actors Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott have listed their house in Malibu for sale at $2.675 million. The recently renovated 2,300-square-foot house sits on 1.73 acres covered in native plants and fruit trees. The single-story home, built in the 1960s, features 100-year-old French oak floors, three bedrooms and 21/2 bathrooms. Custom-built sliding doors lead outside to multiple decks and sitting areas. There is a chicken coop and a small horse corral. Spelling, 38, played Donna Martin in "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990-2000)

  Total time: 3½ hours Servings: 6 to 8 Note: It is best to make the soup a day or two ahead and to refrigerate it, so that skimming the fat is easier. The soup is served with herb-flecked kneidelach (matzo balls) and zehug (a chile-garlic relish); separate recipes for these are included with the story. 2 pounds chicken pieces, preferably legs and thighs 2 carrots (½ carrot cut in 2 chunks, the rest quartered lengthwise and sliced about ¼-inch thick)

David Novak calls himself a “pretty informal guy.” He used to hand out employee recognition awards in the form of rubber chickens. He loves to teach. He's also the multimillionaire chief executive of Yum Brands Inc., the fast food company with the most stores in the world. This week, Novak, 59, swung through Los Angeles and briefly talked about leadership lessons, international expansion for brands such as KFC and Pizza Hut and why he thinks struggling Taco Bell will “go down in history” this year.  Novak's new book dropped in January, its bright red back cover plastered with praise from the likes of Alan Mulally (chief executive of Ford Motor Co.)

The  House on Thursday approved a three-month extension of federal highway spending, daring the Senate to act before the government's authority to collect gas taxes lapses Saturday at midnight and disrupts transportation projects. Transportation officials are hopeful the Senate will follow suit rather than risk losing $110 million a day in gas tax revenues, slowing down projects and forcing the furlough of thousands of federal highway and transit workers. The measure, which passed the House 266-158, could come before the Senate later Thursday.

A Chicken McNugget bearing a striking resemblance to founding father George Washington is still on the auction block and can be yours -- assuming you have about $8,000 lying around. Rebekah Speight of Dakota City, Neb., made headlines this week when she nearly sold the McDonald's favorite for $8,100 on Ebay . But the winning bidder -- who is either a devoted fan of the country's first president, a devotee of chicken McNuggets, or both -- chickened out.  Perhaps more surprising?

In what some claim is the result of a lethal mixture of poultry and politics, 400,000 baby chicks have been put to death this week at a central Russian farm, an additional 600,000 have died of malnutrition and the lives of 3 million more chickens remain imperiled. Farm owner Alexander Chetverikov, a Russian parliament member, says political foes have "targeted my company," forcing it into bankruptcy over a $190,000 tax debt. "We can't afford to feed the chickens any more, as we have no money, and we will continue to eliminate the remaining 3 million chickens if the unfair bankruptcy situation is not eased and the state doesn't come to our rescue," said Dmitry Noskov, spokesman for the Krasnaya Polyana poultry farm in the Kursk region.

Influenza has for years ravaged domesticated chickens. Now scientists suggest that a small piece of duck DNA might protect the farm birds against the virus -- saving commercial flocks and lessening the possibility that humans could be exposed to dangerous strains of the disease. In a study published online last month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers said they had found that a key influenza-fighting gene in wild ducks is absent in chickens. Genetically modifying chickens with a copy of that gene might render them resistant to influenza A, the most common flu infecting humans, the authors said.

Romney marches on Re "Romney averts disaster," Feb. 29 By no measure do Mitt Romney's primary victories in Michigan and Arizona make him the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. In the 11 contests so far he has averaged about 36% of the votes cast in each state. That means nearly two-thirds of the GOP votes were cast for someone other than Romney - hardly a ringing endorsement. In his home state of Michigan, he outspent all the other candidates by a huge margin yet barely managed to eek out a victory.

There's an unmistakable old-time twang in Triple Chicken Foot's rapid-fire fiddle and banjo-picking style, the sort of knee-slapping, square dance-friendly music that has drawn veteran mountain music fans to the annual Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival for more than 50 years. Only this isn't Topanga. It's around the Lincoln Heights bend and down by the Los Angeles River. Nor will you find a single petticoat among the tattoo-covered crowd gathered on a recent Saturday night behind HM 157, a Victorian house turned alternative art and performance space.