Aggressive chickens get more sex? Don't talk cock!

[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignnone" width="300"] Source: Myself[/caption]

 

Ok I wrote this blog entry for a school assignment, but I decided it wasn't good enough so I went to do an entirely new topic. Rather than just delete this, I decided to post it here. So. Tahdah.

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We eat chicken so often, but how much do we actually know about them? Off the top of my head, I know that roosters crow every morning, hens lay eggs, and breast meat is really delicious. As you can see, my chicken knowledge is quite limited, so I thought it would be interesting to find out more about them.

Some animals have harems where a single dominant male has sexual relations with multiple females, and this harem master will protect his harem from other competing males. The most dominant male is usually the most aggressive/strongest one, as he is able to fight off other competitors. As a result, he is likely to be the most sexually active as well, given his control over the harem. The case is slightly different for the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus).

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="275"] The Brown Leghorn, a breed of chicken. (Source: Bullitt from Backyardchickens)[/caption]

Firstly, the proportion of males/females is artificially determined by the farmer/chicken-handler, usually harem-like with a few cocks and more hens. Next, Wood-gush (1957) found that aggressive behavior in the Brown Leghorn cock (a breed of the domestic fowl) was actually uncorrelated with sexual activity! In other words, the most aggressive cock did not want the most sex, despite winning the most fights. Wood-gush proposes that these two drives (aggression and sex) are stimulated by different hormones and thus operate independently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxWwrRO7oII

A video of a cockfight in the Philippines, where cockfighting is very popular.  

 

This leads to the question - if cocks do not have more sex despite being the dominant male, why do they expend so much energy to win fights to become the dominant male? I suppose the benefit is that they have 'first pick' at the hens of their choice, and it's their instinctive nature to want to ensure the reproductive success of themselves by dominating the social hierarchy, despite not actually having or wanting to have more sex.

 

 

Word Count: 299 words

References: Wood-Gush, D. G. M. (1957). Aggression and sexual activity in the Brown Leghorn cock. The British Journal of Animal Behavior, 5(1): 1-6.

I s...stutter.

I have a psychological stutter. I think this definition of stutter best captures what I have: "Stuttering is caused by not being able to get out what we are trying to say". It is psychological, meaning it is all in my mind. It has no physiological causes, such as a short tongue or any physical defect. While the bulk of the first half of this post will be about my past and my stutter, the main message I want to convey has to do with how to be a confident person.  How are the two related? Read on to find out.

God is in control.

Today in church, my friend Gabriel shared his testimony and I thought it was pretty awesome and well-written. For some context, he got news at the start of this year that there was a benign cyst growing in his brain that was affecting his vision, so he had to go for an operation to remove it. The delicate and risky operation went successfully, and today he shared his experience.

What I thought was really good was this part of his sharing:

"...the most difficult part was not the operation itself, but the period of uncertainty when I first found out that I had a growth in my head, and not knowing what kind of growth it was. It was difficult to ask questions like 'Would this growth be cancerous?' and because it was affecting my vision, 'Would I eventually go blind?', 'Would I require a major operation?'

... And as I prayed, 4 comforting truths came to mind, and I would like to share it with you.

Firstly, I was reminded that God who created me knows whatever is in my head better than anyone else can know.

Since he is in control, I do not have to worry.

Secondly, God who is willing to give his Son up for me loves me more than anyone else can love me.

Since he is in control, I do not have to worry.

Thirdly, God who cured me of my worst possible disease, which is sin, through Christ Jesus, is able to cure me of any other disease.

Since he is in control, I do not have to worry.

Lastly, even if God allowed the worst possible scenario to occur, I know that this life is not all that is, in Christ I have everything from now to eternity, and nothing can change that. Therefore, God is still in control, I do not have to worry."

I transcribed his full testimony which you can read here. Alternatively, you can download the audio file here. It's just a short 5 mins, so have a listen! (I did get his permission first before posting this!)

Indeed, God is in control of our lives. I do not have to worry. Amen to that.