The Egg is the Best Part

Most of us regard the chicken as a mainstay of our diet, but it used to be different in the 1920s. Chickens were primarily raised for their eggs and not their meat. The chicken meat was expensive and not considered very tasty. It was also available only seasonally, as chickens were slaughtered in the fall after they were no longer needed for laying eggs.

Journalist Mary McKenna uncovered how chickens became big business that started with a mistake. Apparently in 1923 a farmer in Delaware accidentally placed an order for too many hatchling chickens, so they were …read more