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 Bolivia has rejected an “offensive” donation of 100,000 chickens from Bill Gates, saying the billionaire philanthropist should apologize for not knowing that Bolivia already has enough poultry. 
 
 
 
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 “How can he think we are living 500 years ago, in the middle of the jungle not knowing how to produce?” said César Cocaric, the country’s minister of development, said about Gates’ gift. “Respectfully, he should stop talking about Bolivia and once he knows more, apologize to us.” 
 
 Gates announced the chicken initiative earlier this month, writing that “It’s pretty clear to me that just about anyone who’s living in extreme poverty is better off if they have chickens” because they’re cheap, a good investment, eggs keep kids healthy, and women can sell them. The idea was to donate 100,000 chickens to high-poverty countries. It’s certainly not the strangest of the tech billionaire’s world-saving ideas, considering he’s drunk water made from poop. 
 
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 Of course, this means the gift of the chickens saddles your country with a designation that is not exactly flattering, which might be especially hard to swallow for a leftist, anti-imperialist government like Bolivia’s. 
 
 The chickens especially could be seen as an insult since, according to a report from the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade, the poultry industry (including both eggs and chickens) grew by 35% from 2008 to 2014. The minister has a point when he says the country does know how to produce. As Cocarico said, Bolivians “do not need any gifted chicks in order to live, we have dignity.” You hear that, Bill? 
 
 [The Verge] ||||| The per capita egg consumption in Bolivia increased from 130 units to 143 units last year, meanwhile chicken meat consumption rose from 35 kilos to 38 kilos per capita. The production of both poultry products therefore has increased significantly in the last five years. 
 
 According to a study by the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE) during 2013 egg production in Bolivia exceeded 1,500 million units and recorded a growth of 11% over 2012. 
 
 The department of Santa Cruz is the largest egg producer, with 59% share in total and an offer of 881 million units for the whole country. Cochabamba followes with 522 million units and in the rest of the country 101 million units are produced. 
 
 The Cooperativa Agropecuaria Integral San Juan de Yapacaní (CAISY) focuses on the poultry, with the sector representing about 80% of the economic movement of the cooperative. The cooperative has a total of 71 poultry partners with an average production of 20 million eggs per month, which are sold in the cities of La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. This represents approximately 30% of the supply of the domestic market. 
 
 The union is concerned about the quality from the first stage of production, which is the distribution of laying pullets to their partners, so they import directly genetic line ISA Brown from Brazil. 
 
 In the period 2008-2013, broiler production reached more than 939 million birds, obtaining a peak in 2013 of 180 million, according to the report of IBCE. Half of the total supply of Bolivia comes from Santa Cruz, meanwhile Cochabamba represents 42%. 
 
 Production of broiler meat increased from 294,000 tons in 2008 to 396,000 tons in 2013, i.e. an increase of 35%. The data show that per capita consumption in six years grew by 23%. For example, until 2008, each person consumed 31 kilos per year, but in 2012 it reached 35 kilos and management passed to 38 kilos, the report said. ||||| The Small Animal That’s Making a Big Difference for Women in the Developing World 
 
 Melinda Gates Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 7, 2016 
 
 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 them. 
 
 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. 
 
 For one thing, chickens are a good source of income. In fact, chickens are known in international development circles as “the ATM of the poor,” because they are easy to sell on short notice to cover day-to-day expenses. 
 
 Furthermore, eating chickens (and eggs) is good for you. In fact, they contain seven essential micronutrients like calcium and vitamin A. 
 
 But there’s another, less intuitive way that chickens make life much better for poor people. In most developing countries, raising chickens is considered women’s work, and the money from selling chickens and eggs belongs to women to spend as they choose. 
 
 In Burkina Faso where the national dish is Poulet Bicyclette, people eat a lot of chicken and poultry is a big part of their economy. Even a single chicken can make a big difference in the life of a poor farmer. 
 
 Usually, men control a family’s income. Men take cash crops like cocoa and cotton to market. The more milk a cow produces, the more likely it is that men will sell the milk and decide what to do with the proceeds. Chickens are the exception. Many men think chickens aren’t worth their time because the income from them is small and sporadic. So women fill the gap. 
 
 Why is this such great news? Because the evidence shows that when women control money, they are more likely than men to spend it on priorities that help fight poverty, like education, health, and nutrition. I come across a lot of statistics in my line of work, and maybe the one I’ve been most impressed by is this: When a woman controls the family’s income, her children are 20 percent more likely to live past the age of 5. 
 
 Behind that abstract percentage stand millions of women who sacrifice to make sure their families have what they need. When I visit poor communities and speak with women about their lives, they tell me about the daily struggle to give their children a chance at a better life than they had. And a lot of times, one of the most powerful weapons in that struggle is a small flock of chickens. 
 
 In India, our foundation works closely with an amazing organization called Pradan, which is staffed by Indians who know intimately what life is like for the people we’re trying to help. So I put a lot of stock in the fact that Pradan is currently running a project to help women raise chickens. They’re focused on the details of the business — how to use credit to get started, organize into cooperatives to fetch better prices, and work with animal health workers to keep flocks healthy. But before they dig into these specifics of “how,” Pradan always explains the “why” of its work. The chicken business, they say, “gives the woman farmer an income from her labor while giving her the dignity and control of an owner.” 
 
 Dignity and control. These prerequisites of empowerment can be hard to come by for women in developing countries. But when women are able to express their dignity and seize control, sometimes with the help of their chickens, they transform their lives — and the lives of everyone around them. 
 
 My husband agrees with me when it comes to chickens. That’s why Bill has launched a campaign to get the message out. Follow the link to learn more. ||||| Brahma Chicken 
 
 Often referred to as the “King of All Poultry,” the Brahma chicken is appreciated for its great size, strength, and vigor. By 1901 some individual birds were documented to have reached the incredible weights of 13-14 pounds for hens and 17 to 18.25 pounds for cocks – though 10 pound hens and 12 pounds cocks were the rule. This breed, together with the Cochin, fueled what became known as “Hen Fever” – a national obsession for poultry that hit both America and England around 1850. 
 
 
 
 Brahmas are large chickens with feathers on shanks and toes, pea comb, smooth fitting plumage with dense down in all sections, and broad, wide head with skull projecting over the eyes – termed “beetle brow.” They come in three color varieties – the Light, the Dark, and the Buff. Both the Light and the Dark Brahma were accepted to the American Standard of Perfection in its first printing in 1874. Though from the beginning some buff specimens were produced periodically, it was not until 1924 that the Buff Brahma was accepted as standardized as well. 
 
 
 
 Few breeds have as much controversy as to their origins as does the Brahma chicken. While many varied claims were originally accepted as fact by early authors, the truth of the matter is that this breed was developed in America from very large fowls imported from China via the port of Shanghai. It also seems clear that Chittigong fowls from India (now Bangladesh) were used to a very small degree and stamped head and comb characteristics onto the breed – differentiating it from the Shanghai breed (now known as the Cochin). In those early days it should be remembered there were no written standards, no poultry associations, and no registries. Since what became known as the Brahma chicken was being presented under at least twelve names, there was much confusion. The credit for shortening the name to Brahma goes to T.B. Miner, publisher of The Northern Farmer, who in 1853 or 1854 did so for very practical reasons – saving space on the printed page! 
 
 
 
 In December 1852, to promote his stock, Mr. George Burnham shipped nine of his finest as a gift to H.M.G. Majesty Queen Victoria of England – making sure the gift was much publicized. Prices jumped from $12-15 per pair to $100-150. Burnham’s stock proved of quality and formed the basis for the Dark Brahma variety – which was developed in England and later shipped back to America. Dark Brahmas tended to be about one pound lighter in weight than the Light Brahma. 
 
 
 
 From the beginning Brahmas have been recognized not only for their unusual appearance and size, but also for their practical qualities. First and foremost Brahmas are found to be extremely hardy chickens. They are also good egg-layers for their size. Considered a superior winter-layer, they produce the bulk of their eggs from October to May. The eggs of the Brahma are large and uniformly medium brown in color. The hens tend to go broody in early summer and will sit devotedly on their nests. But because of the size of the hen, trampling of the chicks must be guarded against for the first few days after hatch. 
 
 
 
 The Brahma was generally considered the leading meat breed for the period of time from the mid-1850’s through about 1930 – some 70 plus years. As broilers, Brahma chicks were killed quite young, about 8-10 weeks of age. They made a most profitable roaster at 8 months, later than many breeds, but it was found that virgin cockerels were still tender as roasters at 12-13 months – making them competitive against capons. As a family fowl they were unequaled, and a large Brahma could feed a moderate-sized family. Brahmas thrive best on dry, well-drained soils and moist, cool climates. The feathering of their shanks and toes is a negative where the ground is damp and muddy – the mud clinging to the feathers and frostbite then being possible for their toes. The breed is easy to contain, not being able to fly low fences very easily. They also stand confinement extremely well – having calm and docile personalities. Like the Cochins, Brahmas are not wide ranging fowl or as active in scratching as the Mediterranean breeds. The Brahma is an ideal fowl for northern climates. It was popularly known as the least susceptible chicken to cold and exposure – owing this strength to its pea comb and tight feathering with down through all sections. It is not an ideal fowl for southern climates. 
 
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– Bill Gates recently offered to donate 100,000 hens to poor countries around the world, but one South American nation looked his gift chickens in the mouth and began squawking. "How can he think we are living 500 years ago, in the middle of the jungle not knowing how to produce?" Cesar Cocarico, Bolivia's development minister, told reporters, per Reuters. "Respectfully, he should stop talking about Bolivia." Cocarico also described Gates' poultry philanthropy—mainly extended to impoverished nations in sub-Saharan Africa—as "offensive," saying Gates should "apologize" once he's done a little more research into how well Bolivia does on the chicken front by itself, the Financial Times reports, via the Verge. He has a point: The country produces about 197 million chickens annually, with the ability to ship about 36 million of them to other nations, a local poultry group says. And data from the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade notes the country saw a significant increase in the production of chicken meat and eggs from 2008 to 2013. Gates announced his "Coop Dreams" program earlier this month, noting he'd met, through his work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, plenty of poor people who raised the birds and that "it's pretty clear to me that just about anyone who's living in extreme poverty is better off if they have chickens." He goes on to say that chickens are a cheap investment with easy maintenance and decent ROI, the eggs they pop out help keep kids healthy, and they "empower women" (a belief his wife apparently shares). "It sounds funny, but I mean it when I say that I am excited about chickens," his post concludes. An enthusiasm obviously not shared (at least when it comes to his donation) by what Gizmodo labels Bolivia's "leftist, anti-imperialist government." Bolivians "do not need any gifted chicks in order to live—we have dignity," Cocarico sniffed. (But what about chickens with dinosaur legs?)