All of these variants in color should be noted and celebrated, but should also be guarded by the breeders to be certain that all of them can be available to future breeders. Past breeders bequeathed this wealth of variation and adaptation to the present generation – and it is important that each generation guard the resource and present it to the next generation as a useful and viable genetic resource.
A neck bred for biting
Quick, what do you think of when I say “Transylvania”? Right. And where do vampires generally bite? Right again: on the neck. So, what are we to make of a breed of chicken called the Transylvanian Naked Neck? That is was bred to be bitten?
As for the original discussion, it ended with reference to a paper Prospects for conserving traditional poultry breeds of the Carpathian Basin in which the Transylvanian Naked Neck is just one of the breeds considered. There’s a bunch of stuff in there about why the breeds are valuable and how they’re being conserved, and lots of pictures. But not an answer to the fundamental question: What (if any) evolutionary value does a naked neck give its holder? Probably none. And if they suffer more in cold weather it could even be harmful, but at least some people, and not just photophobic immortals, find them attractive. Which is a good enough reason to conserve them. Luigi reckons they probably taste good too.
Photo by Flint-Hill, used with permission.
Fibre scans online
The International Year of Natural Fibres has a great website, and the latest thing on it is a selection of beautiful micrographs of different kinds of fibres, from abaca to yak.
Nibbles: Cacao, Profits, Biochar, Biochar, Museum, Fish, Cognac
- Take a tour around the world’s most important cacao germplasm collection.
- “[D]iversified systems were more profitable than monocropping,” but read the whole paper. You have 30 days, free.
- Open source science to measure the impact of biochar.
- “Pro-biochar activists can be as silly as these anti-biochar activists.” Well, duh. But thanks for explaining.
- Gehry builds Panama a Museum of Biodiversity, but seems to forget about agriculture.
- Kano’s fish market takes a hit.
- All about rancio.
Nouvelle cuisine
Idaho’s Treasure Valley Farmer-Chef Collaborative sounds like a really cool idea. It brings producers — including producers of some fairly unusual things for Idaho — together with the area’s top restaurateurs. The former get a lucrative market, the latter some interesting new ingredients with which to attract customers. Everybody wins. And speaking of interesting new ingredients, how about goat meat? Apparently, New Yorkers have just discovered it. Fuggedaboutit.