So £2 million is awarded to 6 universities to study the history of human interaction with chickens. Much - as you can imagine is being made of this in the press. At first reaction  is a skin bristle until a bit of thought is applied. I braked in when I thought back to some lengthy research I did for a book on this very issue.... keeping one's characters fed can be a trial. I use material researched in Europe by scholars of note for long lists of the movement and spread of trees and edible plants over thousands of years from origins; but chickens were not included. An in depth study might make for interesting reading - and doubtless there will be adjacent knowleedge also acquired.
It is hard for historians to justify any research expense, I guess so there will be a full throttle outburst on this one - but I don't know enough to make proper comment. (Though I did  observe that both York and Leicester Unversities will benefit; room for expanding Dick 3 joke material here if ever.)

No opinion on this matter, ferv? I would be interested in what you think - you might even get on a list of people going to Ethiopia in search of this  knowledge.

After all an Ethiopian friend lef his homeland  home to do  his Phd - watching and recording activity in a rookery in NE Scotland for 2 years or more - he told us many hilarious  local jokes on this circumstance not quite pc for the most part  - not that he was bothered any.

Sounds like a tasty bit of research to me P. here's some more information for fellow fanciers.  http://www.chickenco-op.net/

That Arts & Humanities Research Council project seemed to produce very little about eggs in the end:

Why did the chicken cross the globe?

This academic, however, is a great proponent of Ethiopian eggs:

Habesha eggs

That said – it’s still Lent in the Orthodox tradition so eggs are still off the menu until next Sunday there. The Ethiopian Easter called Fasika (related to the Greek word Pascha) will arrive after a marathon 56-day vegan fast. A dish which takes a starring role during the festivities is Doro Wat - quartered chicken pieces slowly stewed in red onions, topped with eggs and served with injera bread - a sort of buckwheat pancake.

I guess that doesn't include chocolate Easter eggs, which are the main ones we consume at Easter. Although our family and the country at large isn't religious, we do have Easter closing with all shops closed on Easter Friday, though I was a bit distressed to see our favourite cafe open. (There are apparently exceptions for food outlets though not supermarkets.) I grew up in a time when shops closed Saturday and Sunday, and there was late night shopping on Friday, and I am not a shopper so don't understand why people can't manage one or two days a year without cafes and shops being open.