Gloryteller

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Still being in a festive mood, even this long after celebrating
Christ’s birth and Christmas, I’m stretching my writer-wings
to launch this new blogging year with something I hope will be
fun for you to read:

And God Created The Chicken!

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Chicken Proverbs,
Sayings,
Adages,
Expressions,
Idioms,
Phrases,
Puns,
Jokes.

First, some background –
some “fractured factoids”:

Chickens Rule!
They rule in terms of  historical significance; they have been in domestication for an estimated 7,000 years, give or take a paltry thousand years.
They rule in their abundant usefulness, which always reminds me of God’s abundant provision for our needs.
They rule in terms of sheer, overwhelming numbers; I have read that there are between 20 and 40 billion domesticated chickens alive today, depending on the reference source.  The “poultry” difference (“paltry” if you don’t like “cheep” puns – patronize me!)  of 20 billion may be due to the fact that the many free-range birds on the ground, (and in the trees) today, run very fast, hide well, and are difficult to count . . .
Observation:  I don’t know eggs-actly why, but the meat of many animals is renamed; beef, pork, veal, venison, for eggs-ample, but poultry meat is named for the bird:  chicken, duck, turkey, pheasant.  I have no eggs-planation.  Oh! that was so cheep!  (I’ve got a million of ’em)
Anyyywayyyy . . .  I have a new batch of “teenage” chickens that I raised from three-day-old chicks.  Watching them brings to mind all the chicken-related adages and idioms, yolks, and so forth, I’ve heard throughout the years. I’ve gathered several below.  (If you lose interest in reading all of these, please skip to the “meat” of this post which begins at the “~~~~~~~~~”  break.  Thank you for not giving up!),
By the way, I won’t bother to explain these.  If you’re mystified, that’s what Internet Eggsplorer is for . . .

Let’s take a peep at some Chicken Proverbs (not the Biblical kind):

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
“If you stick your neck out, you might get it chopped off.”
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
“That’s like letting a fox guard the hen house.”
“Chickens are an egg’s way of making more eggs.”
“A poor man only eats chicken when he is sick – or when the chicken is sick.”
“Birds of a feather, flock together.”
“Why did the chicken cross the road?” (“To get to the other side.”)

Some Chicken Sayings, Adages, Expressions, Idioms, Phrases, Puns, Jokes:

“What came first, the chicken, or the egg?
“Our nest egg is diminishing.”
“I really laid an egg yesterday.”
“Caught with egg on your face.”
“He’s coming out of his shell.”
“Hatch an idea.”

“He got nervous and “flew the coop”.
“Feeling too cooped up.”
“She rules the roost.”
“We feathered our nest.”

“I chickened out.”
“Cute chick.”
“I don’t want to hear a peep out of you!”
“Those chickens are coming home to roost.”
“She’s no spring chicken.”
“That ain’t chicken feed.”
“He’s chicken-hearted.”
“Playing chicken.”
“Running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”
“Going to bed with the chickens and getting up with them too.”
“His writing looks like chicken scratching.”
“It tastes like chicken.”
“Getting your hackles up.”
“Her feathers are ruffled.”
“Making it from scratch.”

“Took me under her wing.”
“Mad as a wet hen.”
“She’s like a mother hen with those kids.”
“She has a big brood.”
“He’s in his den brooding.”
“That was a real hen party last night.”
“Cackling like a bunch of hens.”
“Hen-pecked.”
“Scarce as hen’s teeth.”

“Why is everybody always picking on me?”
“Pecking order.”
“Dumb cluck.”
“Henpecked.”

A Chicken Jolk:
“If you treat a chicken badly, she will squawk on you!”

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The large arsenal of chicken-related adages and idioms is not limited to only the above.  There are more.  Can you think of any?
Yes, chickens are ingrained in our society and in our ancestral psyches, but my favorite references to chickens are Biblical.
You knew I would get around to this, didn’t you?!
You are quite clever!

There is “Peter’s ignominious rooster.”  Oh, how he must have sat all that horrible night with a fear and loathing of that bird.
That rooster’s morning song is mentioned in Matthew, Mark, Luke, AND John.  Also, at least one verse in proverbs refers to a rooster’s call.
Thus, the rooster indirectly came to be a symbol for resurrection in medieval times.

My favorites:

Luke 13:34
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings! But you were not willing!

Matthew 23:37  is better in my opinion:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

and Psalm 91:4: 
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

These verses give me a delightfully real and personal insight into God’s loving, caring, protective character, of which we are the most fortunate beneficiaries.  I have physically felt Him “gather me under His wings”. I hope you have too, for that is a large part of what a close relationship with The Highest Lord of All Creation is about!

Well, I’ve over-covered the subject, and I’ve crowed enough, so I need to get busy out at the coop.  I have to make another chicken run!   Hehehehehe . . .

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