Vintage Chicken & Poultry Films

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Vintage Chicken & Poultry Films

These 4 vintage chicken and poultry films from 1937-1960 show Americas favorite meat from the viewpoint of scientific agriculture. You cant find this DVD compilation anywhere else! Table Of Contents: (1) The Chicken of Tomorrow (1948) – This 1948 film is, in many ways, a prelude to genetic modification of food and shows the early stages of modern scientific agriculture. According to the narrative, poultry was the third largest crop in the United States at this time – 17 Minutes (2) Poultry on the Farm (1937) – Turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks and all types of other poultry are discussed at length. This film includes great footage of incubation machinery and embryo hatchings – 11 Minutes (3) Protecting Poultry Profits (1952) – Warning: this films has footage of sick chickens, including necropsies. It shows how chicken diseases can wipe out your chicken farms and lead to lee money. It also shows how they treat the sick chickens – 24 Minutes (4) Carving Magic (1960) – Wow – this film shows how to properly cut almost any type of meat using the correct knives and utensils. Turkey, steaks, chicken, lamb, etc. This is an excellent film with tons of useful information and brilliant color photography – 21 Minutes

Included Films:

Poultry on the Farm

Produced: 1930s

Length: 11 Minutes

Poultry on the Farm provides an excellent overview of the development and care of chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. Each type of bird has its own section in the film and different stages of growth are shown for each type. The film documents chicken eggs in incubation machinery, including several views of the different stages of embryonic development. Then, the newly hatched chicks go to live in the brooder house. Mother ducks and geese are shown with their chicks as well. There is some discussion about the birds different beak shapes and how theyve evolved to fit various environments. This film is an enriching historical look at livestock farming techniques as well as all the processing and industry that comes with it.

Carving Magic

Produced: 1960s

Length: 21 Minutes

Carving Magic, a strangely comedic video, explains how to correctly carve any type of meat using the right type of knife. But the entertainment value comes not from the instructional aspects, but from the highly regarded comedic actors (namely the great Harvey Korman!) who chide one another for not being able to carve well! The absurd dialogue and behavior continues, clearly being played for laughs though subtly, making this a funky and funny old movie. Carving Magic is stuff full of delicious culture and characters, all centered around the basics of proper meat carving.

Protecting Poultry Profits

Produced: 1952

Length: 21 Minutes

Protecting Poultry Profits features discussion and footage of diseases that can wipe out flocks of chickens. There are many good shots of poultry as eggs, chicks, and full grown free range birds in various activities and settings on the farm. The film shows sick, dying, and dead chickens in order to illustrate the effect of deadly chicken diseases. There are several shots of dead chickens being dissected and inspected for signs of disease, including specific shots of diseased veins and intestines. The film also shows how proper care, cleaning, and medication of poultry can protect farmers flocks. A detailed and engaging film full of penetrating footage, Protecting Poultry Profits is a great vintage movie.

The Chicken of Tomorrow

Produced: 1948

Length: 17 Minutes

Producing better quality meat has lead farmers down many paths that are still being explored today. Chicken production has been no exception. Narrated by Lowell Thomas, Chicken of Tomorrow, explains what the industry was doing to improve the quality of meat in the 1950s, including competitions, high standards of production, and even early forms of genetic modification. At a time when chicken production was at its largest we are shown a world of high standards and the best in the world of meat production, along the way learning about the science of agriculture and the importance of farming to the American way of life.