Backyard chicken history
For a really good writeup on the history of chickens, Chris Lesley has written an excellent article called “The Complete History Of Chickens: From Jungles To Backyards”. It is a quick, interesting read.
Humans apparently domesticated chickens around 2000 BC in the ancient Indus valley region of India (Lesley, 2020). The use and importance of chickens has changed quite dramatically throughout time, to the modern day.
Chickens have gone from fighters to special occasion food, and then mass-produced for poultry meat. Eggs have only gained popularity more recently as an excellent source of protein and nutrients. As such, there are also large commercial farms for egg production.
Now, backyard chickens have become one of the most popular urban and suburban hobbies. Chickens are not picky about what they eat and are easy to care for. Not only that, fresh eggs from your own backyard instead of the supermarket is extremely rewarding. And, you know where your eggs came from.
Chickens have even managed to go from an unknown, unappreciated animal, to a well-loved…pet.
Society comparisons
In the same period (from roughly 2000 BC to the 21st Century – that’s over 4,000 years…), societies have changed in various ways.
One of the major impacts on society through time has been the creation and use of tools and technology. Tools were important to make jobs not only easier, but possible. Technology has not always been digital bits floating through wires and fiber optics. There are many technology advances which are purely mechanical in nature.
From a modern perspective, societies are considered much more advanced than even a mere 100 years ago. The key factor is how technology has not only interconnected the world but has had a major impact on how we live our lives.
A good example is education. It has only been in recent years that students have been able to learn using technology. School of the Air correspondence schools operated in Australia from 2003 – 2009 (Wikipedia, 2020). School of the Air used shortwave radio to communicate between students and teachers. Now, all you need is an internet connection and browser to access a seemingly unlimited of educational resources for children and adults.
Backyard Chicken Technology
Backyard chicken technology has experienced a similar explosive growth in recent years.
Only recently (mid-1800s) did we begin to provide specialized shelters known as chicken coops (chicken house, hen house, etc.) to our arsenal of advances in managing and caring for backyard chickens. “A Look Back: 19th Century Coops” is a great article by Clare of Curbstone Valley Farm which shows some uniquely interesting chicken coops (circa 1800s).
Chicken feed has gone from whatever they can scratch up from the ground to highly advanced chicken feed.
More recently, chicken coops have been augmented with modern, digital technology. Anyone who has ever cared for backyard chickens knows that if you let your chickens out to free range during the day, you must close the coop door at night. Otherwise, the place your chickens believe to be safe is susceptible to nighttime predators.
A recent study by the University of Minnesota shows that nearly 80% of all cause-specific losses of chickens are associated with predation (B. Alfred, 2012).
Automatic Chicken Doors have become the high-tech advancement your chickens have been waiting for. Your chickens will not need to wait for you to open the coop door in the morning to start looking for bugs and worms. Your chickens will feel safe and secure knowing the coop door is closed securely at night, while they are roosting.
In a short period of time, chicken coop doors have gone from non-existent (early 1800s) to manually operated, and finally Fully Automatic - Internet connected Automatic Chicken Doors which can be monitored, operated, and programmed from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection and browser.
If you have backyard chickens and are considering an automatic chicken door, there are many to choose from. With so many to choose from, it could take some time to narrow your selection down to the one which will best fit your requirements. Some prominent online resources have spent the time to analyze the various features and benefits of the automatic chicken doors currently on the market. They provide a good overall summary of each automatic chicken door solution available:
Wiki.ezvid.com: The 10 Best Automatic Chicken Doors
Smart House Today: Automatic Chicken Door Comparison Results
We wish you much enjoyment with your backyard chickens.
Works Cited
Alfred, P. L. (2012, July 1). Causes of losses in free range local chickens following control of Newcastle disease in three villages in Morogoro, Tanzania. Retrieved from University Of Minnesota Research: https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/causes-of-losses-in-free-range-local-chickens-following-control-o
Lesley, C. (2020, June 23). The Complete History Of Chickens: From Jungles To Backyards. Retrieved from Chickens & More: https://www.chickensandmore.com/history-of-chickens/
Wikipedia. (2020, December 27). School of the Air. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_Air
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