# Throwing salt at a chicken **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2000, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467 "2000-09-25T15:33:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/1 "2000-09-25T15:33:45Z")
Last week in a restaurant I came across a carton of salt — a Belgian brand called, IIRC, Cérébus — which was illustrated with a picture of a little boy throwing salt at a fleeing chicken. I pointed this peculiar picture to my companion, who suggested that throwing salt at chickens was supposed to produce some particular result (other than causing them to flee), but she could not remember whether it was — (a) superstitious (e.g. throwing salt at a chicken brings good luck); (b) for the benefit of the chicken (e.g. stops it getting ticks or something); or © for amusement (e.g. causes it to do a funny dance or something). I have never heard anything of the kind, though my own feeling is that the fact that it’s a small boy throwing salt at the chicken militates in favour of © over the other two. Does anybody know anything about this? Is throwing salt at a chicken supposed to have any particular effect? Needless to say, internet searches involving “salt” and “chicken” bring up endless recipes and little else. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/2 "2000-09-25T15:58:19Z")
All I know about this I learned from watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons in my tender years, but I think this may be a valid answer nonetheless. There is a folk belief that if you put salt on a birds tail it will be unable to move. People believe this mainly due to lack of contrary evidence: they don’t know anyone who’s successfully gotten that close to a bird with salt shaker in hand, so they’ve never seen it proved wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/3 "2000-09-25T16:12:32Z")
Isn’t this one of the demonstration events at the Sydney Olympics? Sua ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/4 "2000-09-25T16:18:26Z")
I’ve always heard this as if you want to catch a bird, sprinkle salt on its tail. I never heard that it had the effect of immobilizing the bird; I just assumed the implication was, “Look, if you can get close enough to a bird to sprinkle salt on a bird, you’re close enough to catch it.” Although what this has to do with a chicken I _don’t_ know; any drunk 6-year-old can catch a chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Aglarond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Aglarond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglarond)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/5 "2000-09-25T19:40:25Z")
Ahhh. Nothing like a drunken 1st grader chasing chickens. Brings back memories. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/6 "2000-09-25T20:10:11Z")
Aglarond, young member of the Olympic chicken-salting squad. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-salt-at-a-chicken/34467/7 "2000-09-25T22:18:30Z")
It works for me. Every time I take a chicken out of the oven and set it on the table i put some salt on it and _not one_ has run away! I think lissener is closest to the mark and the intended meaning is that to put the salt on the tail you pretty much have to catch it first. Along the same reasoning: Being a sailor and being around people who are seasick I have often heard (and repeated) that the only real cure for seasickness is to go sit under a tree. I can attest it works every time.