Speaking of the flu, as everyone is on the news

It takes more than a village to control animal influenza. Below is a list of agencies and participants in the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Animal influenza ecology and epidemiology and research program.

• Arkansas Natural Resources Commission
• Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center
• Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
• Emiquon Nature Conservatory
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources
• Indiana State Board of Animal Health
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources
• J. Craig Venter Institute
• Maryland DNR - Fish & Wildlife Health Program
• Maryland DNR - Wildlife and Heritage Service
• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine
• Mississippi State University Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture
• Missouri Department of Conservation
• Missouri Department of Agriculture
• NIAID Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS)
• NIH - NIAID Laboratory of Infectious Diseases
• Ohio Department of Agriculture
• Ohio Department of Health
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources
• Ohio Sea Grant
• OSU Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
• OSU Extension
• OSU School of Environment and Natural Resources
• Purdue Extension
• University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
• University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine
• USDA ARS Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory
• USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
• USDA APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratorie (NVSL)
• USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
• USFWS Division of Migratory Bird Management
• USFWS Waterfowl Survey
• USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System
• USGS National Wildlife Health Center
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Unintended consequences--livestock production

Or was it? New laws in Europe regarding the caging of chickens might destroy the industry and remove a valuable food source from the table.

How to destroy an industry

"Are EU consumers to be deprived of eggs based on the misplaced perceptions of flock wellbeing by extremists intent on destroying established intensive livestock production? Will EU consumers be supplied with eggs from countries with a lower cost of production from cages or cage free systems or even eggs labeled as "cage free or free range" but derived from conventional cages? Either way consumers will be deprived of the nutritional value of eggs or will be required to pay more for their purchases.

We should carefully monitor events in the "old world" and be careful not to emulate the folly of the EU in our industry."

Beautiful chickens

Artistically speaking, poultry are beautiful animals--vibrant colors, distinct breeds, and dumb as a rock for the most part. A number of times I have passed up some great chicken art--I'm mean, unless you have a themed kitchen, what do you do with them? I remember one time I saw a huge collection of magazine or calendar art from Watt Publishing's Poultry Tribune, inside a post binder at a used book store, and unfortunately, passed it up. Another time I saw a very reasonably priced watercolor in a local gallery, but again, passed. Today I was at a tag sale at Advent Lutheran Church. Art is always overpriced at these events, but there it was. . . an original 8 x 10 oil for $1.00. The price seemed right, although I'm sure the artist is a hobbyist. It's on good quality linen canvas, not stretched and poorly framed. It's sort of folk art, with a great deal of attention to the feathers. I just love it. The artist, P. Julian, either had a good grasp of the beauty of chickens or copied a 19th century print. Isn't it beautiful?