Wow. I just found the book on Alibris. Arthur Godfrey “Stories I Like To Tell” published January 1952. Makes our parrot joke at least 69 years old.
Surprised I haven’t seen this one yet:
A woman looking around a pet shop spies a parrot on sale for $5000. She asks the clerk why it costs so much.
The clerk says “That’s a Japanese Karate Bird, ma’am. It can smash anything with its wings.”
The woman says “I don’t believe it.”
The clerk says “Watch: Japanese Karate Bird! Table!”
The bird flies off its perch and smashes a table standing in the corner.
“Japanese Karate Bird! Counter!”
The bird flies over to the counter and bashes it with his wing.
“Japanese Karate Bird! Cash register!”
The bird flies over to the register and gives it a good whack before returning to his perch.
The woman is ecstatic. “I’ll take it!” she says enthusiastically.
The clerk says “It is rather expensive, ma’am.”
“I don’t care!” says the woman. “Here’s my bank card.”
The clerk rings up the sale. As the woman is going out, he says “Excuse me, ma’am, but would you mind telling me why you want that bird so badly?”
The woman says “When my husband comes home drunk tonight and starts yelling at me and asking why his dinner isn’t ready, I’ll say ‘Look, dear. I bought a Japanese Karate Bird today!’ And he’ll say ‘Japanese Karate Bird, BALLS!’” 
Well, how about that?! Thanks for the find.
Maybe because it’s 2 AM here, my brain isn’t processing, but what’s the joke here? I don’t get the chicken part.
Frozen chicken,
I think the joke is just in the absurdity of a parakeet dying by falling off a ladder. Either the height of the drop would not be sufficient to harm the parakeet, or if it were, it could simply take flight.
To expand on this, the parrot thinks the chicken must have said something so foul, the owner beheaded it and froze it. The parrot wishes to avoid the same fate.
Here’s another one I remembered-- didn’t know I had so many old corny parrot jokes in me:
A very religious woman invites her priest over for dinner. Mid-meal, her parrot loudly says “I’m so horny! I need some lovin’ and I need it NOW!”
The woman is very embarrassed and says, “I’m SO sorry Father-- she says that all the time. She must have picked that phrase up from her former owner-- I certainly didn’t teach her that!”.
The priest says “not to worry, I happen to have a parrot at home who is very devout; all day long he works a rosary in his claws and recites prayers. Bring your parrot over to spend the day with him and he will set her on the right path.”
So the next day the woman brings her parrot over to spend the day with the priest’s parrot. As soon as she gets her parrot in the door her parrot says “I’m so horny! I need some lovin’ and I need it NOW!”
The priest’s parrot throws the rosary away and says “hot damn, my prayers have finally been answered!”
Also, I’m not usually one of those guys who says “great username / post combo!!”, but someone with the handle “crowmanyclouds” and a crow avatar responding to a question about the punchline of a parrot joke with a picture of a frozen chicken is too amusing to me not to go uncommented on.
From the Russian cartoon series Prostokvashino:
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Pechkin the Mailman. I’ve brought a notice about your boy!”
