# "Jugging" chickens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 29, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289 "2024-02-29T17:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/1 "2024-02-29T17:56:02Z")
According to a 1936 newspaper I just read folks in Texas would place a peep in a glass jug and raise them for awhile and sell them as novelties. The cops got wind of one who was 6 weeks old and barely able to fit so they freed the hapless cluck. Them ol’ boys sure had lots of fun back then. Beck, have you ever heard of this? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/2 "2024-02-29T18:05:13Z")
Never heard of this, but when I was a kid the flea market/Farmer’s market/auction market at Easter used to sell chicks whose eggs had been injected with dye, so that when they hatched they were brightly colored. At least for a while. Report and picture: [Do people really dye baby chicks for Easter? - MyNorthwest.com](https://mynorthwest.com/36243/do-people-really-dye-baby-chicks-for-easter/#:~:text=The%20New%20York%20Times%20reports,their%20baby%20fluff%20molts%20away). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/3 "2024-02-29T18:08:24Z")
Sounds similar to the “bonsai kitten” hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/4 "2024-02-29T18:34:04Z")
How about jugged fish? Mother: Whaddaya want with yer jugged fish? Klaus: 'Alibut. M: The jugged fish IS 'alibut! K: Well, what fish 'ave you got that isn’t jugged? M: Rabbit. K: What, rabbit fish? M: Uuh, yes, it’s got fins. K: Is it dead? M: Well, it was coughin’ up blood last night. K: All right, I’ll have the dead unjugged rabbit fish. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/5 "2024-02-29T18:52:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Never heard of this, but when I was a kid the flea market/Farmer’s market/auction market at Easter used to sell chicks whose eggs had been injected with dye, so that when they hatched they were brightly colored. By odd coincidence, I ran across a Wikihow about that a few days ago. > **[How to Color Chickens: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow](https://www.wikihow.com/Color-Chickens)** > > You might already know that you can dye feathers, but did you know that you can actually dye a live chicken? Some hatcheries inject dye into eggs to tell chicks apart when they hatch, while some people sell dyed chicks around Easter. This... ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/6 "2024-02-29T21:13:50Z")
Huh, I thought this was going to be about recipes for a particular style of cooking chicken, similar to [jugged hare.](https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/jugged-hare-recipe) > [@](#): > > The term ‘jugging’ comes from the traditional practice of cooking an animal inside a jug which is placed in a pan of hot water - like a sort of meaty bain marie. But the results are tantamount to stewing the hare in a casserole dish at a low heat for a long amount of time. I never heard of this version referring to putting a live animal in a jug. Yeesh, that sounds cruel. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/7 "2024-02-29T21:42:18Z")
Well, my ol’ grandma ‘jugged’ hens. That was what she called preserving a whole chicken in a large canning jar. It was a cleaned hen, vinegar and salt, and processed in a pressure cooker. I really hate to tell this next part, but here goes: my Gramps, between making and drinking his own wine he ran a large pullet concern. 2 very long chicken houses. A big named chicken corporation would bring chicks. He would tend to the houses and chicks, with help from his not-so-smart hired men. Every morning the dead were cleared out. My granny had first dibs. Yeah. I know it’s gross. But she did it. She had 13 children. They hadda eat something. Any thing left after her daily need was ‘jugged’ for hard times. They ate chicken 3 times a day. Chicken and waffles or biscuits was invented somewhere, folks. Gramps apparently had lots of success in his farming activities. He left loads of land in his will…it was cut up in so many pieces amongst his children that no one had much. But enough in prime area. Around Hot springs, Ar , that some were able to sell big. Jugging live chicks doesn’t surprise me at all. I did the same keeping beetles and small lizards in jars as pets til I learned how mean it was to do so. Isn’t it similar to keeping snakes and geckos, mice and rats or other small creatures in your home? I assume they’re kept in some cage or aquarium (jug?). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/8 "2024-02-29T21:54:34Z")
Just a quick perusal thru newspaper archives I found references in 1936 to a man in Dallas and another in Denver who had bottled a hen and rooster, respectively–and independently to control their diet (so they said). Didn’t find any obvious stories about bottled chicken novelties. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/9 "2024-02-29T22:02:49Z")
How did they clean the feces away? Have you ever seen how messily a chicken feeds? Leaving the cruelty aside for the sake of the argument, it sounds disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/10 "2024-02-29T22:29:16Z")
I’m thinking they didn’t live long enough to worry about too much poop. ETA have you ever been in a chicken house. Lots and lots of poop? Sorta just goes with the territory. Chickens don’t care. As a novelty, I’m assuming most Moms wouldn’t allow the jug thing in the house. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/11 "2024-02-29T22:34:14Z")
There is always Jugged Hare. "First catch your hare: > **[Jugged hare recipe](https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/jugged-hare-recipe)** > > 'The Glorious Twelfth' was the start of grouse season. But did you know that hare season also starts in early August? Rachel went on a hare shoot in Scotland and made some very economical jugged hare with her bounty. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/12 "2024-02-29T23:16:04Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > my Gramps, between making and drinking his own wine he ran a large pullet concern. 2 very long chicken houses. We flew over a pullet farm one day; it startled them. The newspaper wrote an award-winning article about it - Pullet surprised ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/13 "2024-03-01T01:02:31Z")
Appalling! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/14 "2024-03-01T01:32:52Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > There is always Jugged Hare. "First catch your hare: [Ahem.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/6) (Same exact link, even.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/15 "2024-03-01T01:55:55Z")
Cute! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/16 "2024-03-01T17:08:02Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > ETA have you ever been in a chicken house. Lots and lots of poop? Sorta just goes with the territory. Chickens don’t care. In huge commercial chicken houses all the manure falls through into a pit. Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and ammonia and hydrogen sulfide builds up over time. It’s a thing for a workman to be working in the pit when the ventilation system fails. Deaths happen. > **[Recent fatalities in Ohio a tragic reminder of manure storage dangers | Penn...](https://www.psu.edu/news/impact/story/recent-fatalities-ohio-tragic-reminder-manure-storage-dangers/)** > > The recent tragic deaths of three adult brothers — all in their 30s — who reportedly lost consciousness while performing maintenance in a manure pit, is a grim reminder of the dangers associated with manure handling, according to an extension... ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/17 "2024-03-02T18:51:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > In huge commercial chicken houses all the manure falls through into a pit. Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and ammonia and hydrogen sulfide builds up over time. It’s a thing for a workman to be working in the pit when the ventilation system fails. Deaths happen. The worst job I ever, ever did, bar none, none even close, even slopping out horse and cattle stalls in the muckiest of spring weather, was moving egg laying hens past their prime on the semis to be made into soup. > [@Were there any weird or stupid things that were fads specific to your school/area growing up?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-weird-or-stupid-things-that-were-fads-specific-to-your-school-area-growing-up/950330/25): > > The worst ag job I ever had was working at the egg ranch to move the “old” hens into the rolling cages and onto the semi so they could be turned into soup. The scene in Napoleon Dynamite undersells how disgusting that job was. Those of us on the lower level (two-level barn) were constantly rained upon by the shit of thousands of excited hens above us. Horrible job and I cannot stress how horrible. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/18 "2024-03-03T13:23:49Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > moving egg laying hens past their prime on the semis to be made into soup. I’ve seen the semis unloaded and the birds fed onto the assembly line (late 80s). They didn’t even look like chickens! The process was so horrific I stopped eating chicken for a year or two. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/19 "2024-03-03T13:37:45Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m thinking they didn’t live long enough to worry about too much poop. Well, to the extent I understand the point, they’d have to live long enough (and eat enough) to grow significantly in size. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289/20 "2024-03-03T15:30:07Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > The worst job I ever, ever did, bar none, none even close, even slopping out horse and cattle stalls in the muckiest of spring weather, was moving egg laying hens past their prime on the semis to be made into soup. I did the job regularly from the time I was able to carry a couple of chickens in each hand (around 9 or so) until our family got out of the chicken business when was 14. Getting rid of manure wasn’t that big of a deal; there was a thing that pushed it to an augur the took it to the manure spreader outside. We had a pretty small operation, with only 5000 hens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jugging-chickens/998289.md?page=2)