The annals of Ancient Egyptian king Thutmose III described a marvelous foreign bird that “gives birth daily.” Zoroastrians viewed them as spirits whose cries told of the cosmic struggle between darkness and light. Romans brought them on their military campaigns to foretell the success of future battles. And today, this bird still occupies an important, though much less honorable position – on our dinner plates.
Anali staroegipatskog kralja Tutmosa III opisivali su divnu stranu pticu koja se „porađa svakog dana“. Zoroastrijanci su ih smatrali duhovima čiji vapaji govore o kosmičkoj borbi između svetlosti i tame. Rimljani su ih vodili u vojne pohode da bi im predvidele uspeh predstojećih bitaka. A danas ova ptica i dalje zauzima važno, mada znatno manje časno mesto - na našem tanjiru.
The modern chicken is descended primarily from the Red Junglefowl, and partially from three other closely related species, all native to India and Southeast Asia. The region’s bamboo plants produce massive amounts of fruit just once every few decades. Junglefowls’ ability to lay eggs daily may have evolved to take advantage of these rare feasts, increasing their population when food was abundant. This was something humans could exploit on a consistent basis, and the birds’ weak flight capabilities and limited need for space made them easy to capture and contain.
Današnja kokoška vodi poreklo prvenstveno od crvene divlje kokoške i delom od tri druge srodne vrste koje potiču iz Indije i jugoistočne Azije. Stabljike bambusa u ovoj oblasti proizvode ogromne količine voća samo jednom u nekoliko decenija. Sposobnost crvene divlje kokoške da svakog dana polaže jaja možda se razvila vremenom da bi se iskoristile te retke gozbe, čime bi se populacija povećala kada bi hrane bilo u izobilju. To je bilo nešto što su ljudi mogli da neprekidno koriste, a usled slabih sposobnosti ovih ptica da lete i ograničene potrebe za prostorom, bilo ih je lako uhvatiti i čuvati.
The earliest domesticated chickens, dating at least back to 7,000 years ago, weren’t bred for food, but for something considered less savory today. The aggressiveness of breeding males, armed with natural leg spurs, made cockfighting a popular entertainment.
Prve kokoške koje su pripitomljene, pre najmanje 7 000 godina, nisu uzgajane radi hrane, već zbog nečega što se danas smatra manje moralno prihvatljivim. Zbog agresivnosti priplodnih mužjaka naoružanih prirodnim ostrugama na nogama, borba petlova je postala popularna zabava.
By the second millennium BCE, chickens had spread from the Indus Valley to China and the Middle East to occupy royal menageries and to be used in religious rituals. But it was in Egypt where the next chapter in the bird’s history began.
Do drugog milenijuma pre nove ere, kokoške su se proširile iz doline Inda u Kinu i Srednji Istok da bi zauzele kraljevske menažerije i da bi se koristile u religijskim ritualima. Ali tek u Egiptu počinje naredno poglavlje u istoriji ove ptice.
When a hen naturally incubates eggs, she will stop laying new ones and sit on a “clutch” of 6 or more eggs for 21 days. By the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, the Egyptians had learned to artificially incubate chicken eggs by placing them in baskets over hot ashes. That freed up hens to continue laying daily, and what had been a royal delicacy or religious offering became a common meal. Around the same time as Egyptians were incubating eggs, Phoenician merchants introduced chickens to Europe, where they quickly became an essential part of European livestock.
Kada kokoška prirodno izlegne jaja, prestaće da leže nova i sedeće 21 dan na leglu od šest ili više jaja. Do sredine prvog milenijuma pre nove ere, Egipćani su naučili da veštački inkubiraju kokošja jaja tako što bi ih stavili u korpe iznad vrelog pepela. To je oslobodilo kokoške tako da su mogle da nastave sa svakodnevnim izleganjem, i ono što je bilo kraljevska poslastica ili prineti dar u religiji postalo je običan obrok. Otprilike u isto vreme kada su Egipćani inkubirali jaja, feničanski trgovci su doveli kokoške u Evropu, gde su ubrzo postale važan deo evropskog inventara životinja.
However, for a long time, the chicken’s revered status continued to exist alongside its culinary one. The Ancient Greeks used fighting roosters as inspirational examples for young soldiers. The Romans consulted chickens as oracles. And as late as the 7th Century, the chicken was considered a symbol for Christianity.
Međutim, dugo vremena poštovani status kokošaka je nastavio da postoji uporedo sa kulinarskim. Stari Grci su koristili borbene petlove kao inspirativne primere za mlade vojnike. Rimljani su konsultovali kokoške radi proročanstava. A tek u sedmom veku, kokoška je smatrana simbolom hrišćanstva.
Over the next few centuries, chickens accompanied humans wherever they went, spreading throughout the world through trade, conquest, and colonization. After the Opium Wars, Chinese breeds were brought to England and crossed with local chickens. This gave rise to a phenomenon called “Hen Fever” or “The Fancy”, with farmers all over Europe striving to breed new varieties with particular combinations of traits. This trend also caught the attention of a certain Charles Darwin, who wondered if a similar selective breeding process occurred in nature. Darwin would observe hundreds of chickens while finalizing his historic work introducing the theory of Evolution.
Narednih nekoliko vekova, kokoške su sledile ljude gde god da su išli, širile se svetom kroz trgovinu, osvajanja i kolonizaciju. Nakon Opijumskih ratova, kineske rase su donete u Englesku i ukrštane sa lokalnim kokoškama. To je dovelo do pojave zvane „kokošja groznica“ ili „fensi“, kada su farmeri širom Evrope težili da uzgajaju nove sorte sa naročitim kombinacijama osobina. Ovaj trend je privukao pažnju izvesnog Čarlsa Darvina, koji se pitao da li se sličan proces selektivnog razvoja dešava u prirodi. Darvin je posmatrao stotine kokošaka dok je završavao svoje istorijsko delo kojim je predstavio teoriju evolucije.
But the chicken’s greatest contribution to science was yet to come. In the early 20th century, a trio of British scientists conducted extensive crossbreeding of chickens, building on Gregor Mendel’s studies of genetic inheritance. With their high genetic diversity, many distinct traits, and only 7 months between generations, chickens were the perfect subject. This work resulted in the famous Punnett Square, used to show the genotypes that would result from breeding a given pairing.
Ali, najveći doprinos kokošaka nauci tek je usledio. Početkom 20. veka, trio britanskih naučnika sproveo je veliko ukrštanje kokošaka, nadovezujući se na istraživanja genetskog nasleđivanja Gregora Mendela. Sa svojom velikom genetskom raznolikošću, mnogo različitih osobina i samo sedam meseci razlike između generacija, kokoške su bile savršeni subjekat. Ovo je imalo za rezultat čuveni Panetov kvadrat, koji se koristio da pokaže koji bi genotipovi nastali ukrštanjem datog para.
Since then, numerous breeding initiatives have made chickens bigger and meatier, and allowed them to lay more eggs than ever. Meanwhile, chicken production has shifted to an industrial, factory-like model, with birds raised in spaces with a footprint no larger than a sheet of paper. And while there’s been a shift towards free-range farming due to animal rights and environmental concerns, most of the world’s more than 22 billion chickens today are factory farmed.
Od tada, mnoge inicijative ukrštanja učinile su kokoške većim i mesnatijim i omogućile su im da polažu više jaja nego ikada. Za to vreme, proizvodnja pilića je prešla na industrijski model sličan fabričkom, pri čemu su ptice uzgajane u prostorima površine ne veće od lista papira. Mada je bilo pomaka ka slobodnom uzgoju zbog brige o pravima životinja i životnoj sredini, većina od preko 22 milijarde pilića u svetu danas uzgaja se fabrički.
From gladiators and gifts to the gods, to traveling companions and research subjects, chickens have played many roles over the centuries. And though they may not have come before the proverbial egg, chickens’ fascinating history tells us a great deal about our own.
Od gladijatora i prinošenja darova bogovima do saputnika i istraživačkih subjekata, kokoške su kroz vekove igrale mnogo uloga. Mada možda nisu nastale pre jajeta, kao u izreci, fascinantna istorija kokošaka nam mnogo toga govori i o našoj istoriji.