Happy Chinese New Year!
2017 – The Year of the Rooster

January 28, 2017 is Chinese New Year. In China, Chinese New Year is celebrated over a course of a few weeks to ring in the New Year. During the celebrations families get together with large feasts, some visit their hometown villages, and visit with friends to wish them prosperity and good luck in the coming year.

Our friend Tracy celebrating with her family

Chinese New Year follows the traditional Chinese calendar, which determines the date of the Lunar New Year. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, which means it is based on the cycle of the moon as well as on earth’s course around the sun. In a lunisolar calendar, Chinese New Year can occur any time between January and February.

2017 is the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac calendar. The Chinese Zodiac Calendar has twelve animal symbols which run on a 12-year cycle. Every twelve years the zodiac animal symbol starts over again. The last time the rooster was the zodiac sign for the year was in 2005. The Rooster is the tenth zodiac animal sign in the Chinese zodiac calendar. Chinese zodiac animal signs are in order rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

According to the web site ChinaHighlights.com in their Zodiac Calendar and Culture section: “People born on the year of the rooster are said to be very observant, hardworking, resourceful, courageous, talented, and very confident in themselves. Roosters are always active, amusing, and popular within a crowd. Roosters are talkative, outspoken, frank, open, honest, and loyal individuals. They like to be the center of attention and always appear attractive and beautiful. People born in a year of the Rooster are typically healthy people. They are active and enjoy sports, such as hiking and swimming.”

Are you a Rooster 😃? Were you born on any of these Rooster years?  1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017?

For more information on Chinese New Year celebrations, and the Chinese Zodiac Calendar check out these web sites How Chinese New Year Works  Chinese New Year on History.com The Year of the Rooster on China Highlighs.com

More About Roosters and Chickens:

Speaking of roosters, I want to share with you some cool information I researched on chickens a while back. I know, it’s the year of the rooster not the chicken, but we can’t have a rooster or chicken without both of them (that’s biology folks).  A rooster is a male chicken, and a hen is a female chicken, but chicken is used interchangeably with hen to describe a female chicken, while a rooster automatically assumes that it is a male chicken.

Though it is often difficult to tell them apart when they are young, some basic physical characteristics distinguish roosters from hens. According to web site animalcorner.co.uk roosters usually have a more vibrant plumage with long flowing tails and bright pointed feathers on their necks. They also tend to be larger and more brightly coloured than the hen, and have a larger comb on top of their head.  Roosters make very loud crowing sounds usually very early in the morning but they can crow anytime of the day. Their loud shrill is a territorial sign to other roosters. They can also be quite aggressive birds.

Back to the topic of female chickens or hens, I had been thinking last year about possibly raising chickens in my yard for some beautiful organic eggs, especially as I had an enclosed area that I could raise them in – my vegetable patch. But after doing extensive research on how to raise chickens in a home garden, I tabled the idea. It’s a lot of work!  It’s more work than having a pet, because you can’t put chickens in a pet hostel or have a pet sitter come and take care of them when you go on vacation.

What I found out is that raising chickens is an investment of time. Chickens have personalities, and just like people they get along with each other or they don’t. You have to watch for behaviors that cause distress in chickens, which can prevent them from laying eggs. You have to make sure the flock is happy and gets a good night’s sleep in a warm sheltered coop. You have to make sure their pens are cleaned so that the chickens have a clean and safe home.

There are so many other chores that are required to make sure you have a happy family of chickens. You can’t just buy chickens and let them loose and hope for a great number of beautiful eggs. Raising chickens is like having a happy family home. I try my best to do that for my family, and I have to do the same for another family too? That is definitely a lot of work.

I would like to share with you again the story on Bill and Melinda Gates blogs on the humble chicken Why I Would Raise Chickens.  This is a wonderful article on how chickens provide so much well-needed food, income and a sustainable form of business in the poorer regions of the world. Chickens really are positive  animals to have around for so many people in the world. Check out the article in its entirety Why I Would Raise Chickens 

The Small Animal That’s Making a Big Difference for Women in the Developing World This article by Melinda Gates starts off in this way: “Chickens in America have it rough. They’re the symbol of cowards. They’re the butt of corny cross-the-road jokes. Every kind of mystery meat is supposed to taste exactly like chicken. But if you ask a woman in a developing country about chickens, she’s likely to show a lot more respect. That’s because a chicken can mean the difference between a family that merely survives and one that thrives.”  This is a cool article by Melinda Gates about the great value that the humble chickens have for women in developing countries. Because chickens are small, they like to stay close to home, and in many cultures they regard chickens as a woman’s animal. However, despite their small size, chickens provide far-reaching income for women and their families in the developing world. Women who sell chickens and earn money from raising chickens are more likely to reinvest the profits in their families. This is an informative and enlightening read on chickens.  The Small Animal That’s Making a Big Difference for Women in the Developing World 

Interestingly, chickens are very similar in character to women. Unlike roosters that are loners and like to be by themself (like a guy I know 😉), chickens on the other hand just like women like to hang out together 🐓🐓🐓.  Recent research on chickens has proven that contrary to what we think of chickens, they have the ability to empathize with chicks in distress, they form strong bonds with each other, and have the ability to express emotions like grief, fear, enthusiasm, friendship, and anxiety.

Whether a rooster or a hen, chickens have been providing a source of nutrition, income, and long-term sustainability for humans for thousands of years. So let’s celebrate this humble chicken and the year of the Rooster – 2017!

Happy Chinese New Year!
2017 – The Year of the Rooster
Wishing you in 2017 the year of the Rooster providing long-term success and happiness for all.

A special thanks to my friend Iya for all the chicken photos I have in this story. She graciously agreed to take some pictures of chickens on her property and shared them with me for this article.

For more information on chickens check out these articles and research on chickens A Revolution in Our Understanding of Chicken Behavior     Chickens 101 Personality from www.backyardchickencoops.au.com    Raising chickens 101 from www.almanac.com  Chickens may be birdbrained – but they can still ‘feel’ each other’s pain from dailymail.co.uk     Despite what you make think, chickens are not stupid

Happy Chinese New Year!
The year of the rooster.