April 20, 2006
APPLE'S NO. 1 HIT - RECORD BIZ MAY SING JOBS' ITUNE AFTER ALL
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe record industry may be on the verge of waving the white flag in front of Apple boss Steve Jobs, and abandoning its demand for iTunes to charge different prices...
IS THIS JURY BORED? - STATS LEAVE 'EM FLAT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amHOUSTON - "If the jury's snoozin', the prosecution is losin'." Remember when Johnnie Cochran came up with the famous line: "If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit," that helped...
DUBAI TOWER TWOFER IN DOUBT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amBoston Properties has hit a snag on its sale of Five Times Square to Dubai-based Istithmar, even though the $1.1 billion deal for 280 Park Ave. in the same package...
BLEEPING FLUKE? - FAUX 'F'-WORD ADS EMERGE SIMULTANEOUSLY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amSometimes the idea for an ad is so (bleeping) funny that it shows up in more than one place. That's the polite explanation for similar television spots for fast-food giant...
BUYOUT BIG EYES HEALTH BIZ
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amLeonard Schaeffer, the former chief of health insurance behemoth WellPoint Inc., has signed up to advise giant buyout firm Texas Pacific Group on takeovers in the healthcare sector - a...
HOME DEPOT'S BIG FIX - FIRED WORKER'S CLAIM
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Major suppliers, including Duracell and General Electric, raised concerns about the way Home Depot collects payments to cover the cost of damaged or defective merchandise, according to court...
REFCO'S PHOTO TROVE GOING TO AUCTION
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amCorporate scandals appear to be good - at least for art collectors. Refco's collapse last year is freeing up one of the world's top photo collections for the auction block....
HEDGE YOUR GAS BILL
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amOne way to beat the possibility of $4-a-gallon gas this summer is to take a long shot - betting it will jump to $5 a gallon. As oil and gas...
KING VONG - SUPER CHEF JEAN-GEORGES' APARTMENT HAS GLASS APPEAL & GREAT ROOM SERVICE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThere is something simultaneously sensual and structured about Jean-Georges Vongerichten's dishes, those winning combinations that reflect his love for the exotic and how far he's traveled from his Strasbourg, France...
HIGH 5 - THESE MANHATTAN 'HOODS HAVE GONE THROUGH THE ROOF
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFAB 5 - BUBBLE? WHAT BUBBLE? PRICES IN THESE HOT MANHATTAN AREAS SHOW NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN THE numbers are in, and the New York City housing scene seems...
BORO BOOM - BROOKLYN, THE BRONX, STATEN ISLAND AND QUEENS ALSO SEE MAJOR PRICE INCREASES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWHILE the Manhattan market continues to shine, home prices in the outer boroughs don't look too shabby, either. According to Domenick Neglia, president of Neglia Appraisals, all four outer boroughs...
GIMME SHELTER
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amStern's $600K hideaway HOWARD Stern has temporarily solved his summer home dilemma after shelling out more than $600,000 for an oceanfront rental in Southampton. The satellite shock jock and his...
RATE DEBATE - MORTGAGES RISE, BUT SO DO PRICES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amCONVENTIONAL wisdom says that when interest rates rise, housing prices go down. So why then, with fixed interest rates currently at a four-year high and creeping higher, are New York...
VOICES LIFT SLOW-PACED WAGNERIAN TALE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amIN a haze of blue light, Robert Wilson's shimmering yet controversial staging of Wagner's "Lohengrin" reappeared at the Metropolitan Opera House Monday night for the first time in seven years....
CARTOONS TAKING OVER 'SNL'
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amROBERT Smigel, the brains behind cigar-chomping Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and "TV Fun House," says his job makes watching the news a nightmare. "Everything's potential fodder," says Smigel. "You're...
SEX & RADIO CITY - R. IS FINE WITH BODY OF WORK
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amIT was all about sex at R. Kelly's R&B extravaganza at Radio City on Tuesday. The much anticipated concert opened with "Gigolo" and tripped the light sextastic with "Strip for...
'EARL' DVD: ADULTS ONLY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amON NBC, "My Name is Earl" may be a clever, family-friendly show with a witty spiritual message, but it'll have a raunchier side on DVD. The bonus features included with...
'IDOL' ACE IS OUT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWINNING "American Idol" just wasn't in the cards last night for Ace Young. It was the fourth time the 25-year-old from Colorado had found himself among the bottom three contestants...
STARR REPORT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amNatalie now 'national' NBC's Natalie Morales, a candidate to replace Katie Couric on "Today" before Meredith Vieira got the job, will remain with the show, but with a new title:...
FACE OF 'HORROR' - AFTER 31 YEARS, THE AMITYVILLE KILLER SPEAKS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amIT was the crime that launched a dozen movies and turned the name of a small, south-shore town in Suffolk County into a synonym for mass murder - Amityville. And...
'WILL' BE DONE - PIONEERING COMEDY'S FINALE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amHERE'S your first look at the cast of "Will & Grace" taping their emotionally charged farewell episode last week in Hollywood. The NBC sitcom ended its eight-season run amid tears,...
DJ DYLAN - WITH BOB, YOU WON'T BE A-CHANGIN' THE STATION
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amTHE answers may be blowing in the wind, but not on Bob Dylan's new radio show, which will debut May 3 on XM Satellite Radio. The Post got a sneak...
HE ROLLS WITH THE PUNCHES - TOO SOON FOR A 9/11 MOVIE? 'UNITED 93' DIRECTOR SAYS NO
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amIS America ready for "United 93," an intense re-creation of the "Let's Roll" flight that crashed in a Pennsylvania field after heroic passengers revolted against hijackers on 9/11? After all,...
SHIFTING IN FLIGHT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00am"UNITED 93" pulled a last-minute title change, swapping out the original "Flight 93" just last month after Universal Studios deemed the move legally sound. The new title, more specific and...
FACES BEHIND THE VOICE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amIN a world where movie trailers all sound alike, one man has nowhere to hide. That man is the legendary Don LaFontaine, voice of more than 4,500 trailers and a...
9/11 FIGURES PLAY THEMSELVES IN '93'
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amTHERE are no stars in "United 93." Instead, the doomed passengers and hijackers are played by mostly low-profile theater and TV actors. Todd Beamer - whose rallying cry of "Let's...
B'KLYN TEARS FOR 6 SLAIN PA. KIN
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amSix members of a Brooklyn family who fled to Pennsylvania for a simpler life - only to be senselessly slaughtered by another relative - were mourned at an emotional service...
JULIA'S 3 DULL DAYS OF RAIN A SOGGY ETERNITY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amHATED the play. To be sadly honest, even hated her. At least I liked the rain - even if three days of it can seem an eternity. Why, for heaven's...
L.I. SLAY FIEND GETS LIFE - COP IMPOSTER SHOT BANKER
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amCombative to the end, the cold-blooded fiend who shot and killed a beloved Long Island father while posing as a cop during a robbery attempt was sentenced yesterday to life...
YOU LOOKIN' AT ME? - BX. BOY'S ITALIAN BIT A WEB HIT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amHe's been kicked off MySpace three times. He's got a mouth as filthy as Andrew Dice Clay's. He's cuter than the Gotti boys. And he charges upwards of $5,000 for...
QUEENS HOSP WAR SETTLED
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA showdown in Queens Supreme Court yesterday between Jamaica Hospital and the Oxford Health Plan fizzled down to a friendly compromise even before getting in front of a judge when...
SCHUMER BACKS 'JACKIE' STADIUM
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Jackie Robinson's name should grace the Mets' new stadium, Sen. Charles Schumer urged team owner Fred Wilpon yesterday. "There is no better way to honor Jackie Robinson's achievements...
JAPAN SUFFERS SEX HEX
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amCan't get no satisfaction? You probably live in Japan. And you're probably a woman. The Land of the Rising Sun ranked lowest in sexual satisfaction in an international study of...
OHIO STREAK IN MILLIONS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWant to win Mega Millions? Move to Ohio. For the fifth time since last June, the winning ticket in a Mega Millions lottery drawing was sold in the Buckeye State....
HOLD THOSE 2006 GOP OBITUARIES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amALL OF a sudden, Republicans have jumped ahead in some of the top 2006 election contests - although President Bush's poll slide is supposed to have his party quaking. California...
AUTISTIC KID'S MAGIC-AL FILM
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe most storied streak-shooter in high school hoops history is teaming up with the NBA's greatest point guard for a Hollywood tearjerker about the autistic kid's inspiring off-the-bench performance. Hall...
FIEND WITHHELD 9/11 INFO: FEDS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA San Diego student from Jordan who knew two of the 9/11 hijackers told lies to a grand jury less than one month after the terror attacks - a time...
SUNNY DAYS WASHED UP
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amMother Nature is saving the worst weather of the week for the weekend. After balmy breezes and a cloudless sky yesterday, we're looking at a good soaking from a rainstorm...
DUKE KID HAS A 'RAPE' ALIBI - ATM, CABBY PROVE HE WASN'T THERE: LAWYER
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA Duke University lacrosse player from New Jersey, charged in the rape of a stripper at a team party, has a rock-solid alibi and documents to prove it, lawyers close...
SWINDLER-SLAY E-SHOCK - KISSEL WIFE SAID SHE WISHED TO KILL HIM
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amConnecticut developer Andrew Kissel's wife fantasized about viciously beating the millionaire swindler to death and destroying his luxury cars, nearly a year before he was found mysteriously murdered in his...
SOCCER 'KILLER' BUSTED
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amPolice say they've picked up a suspect in the shooting death of a soccer opponent earlier this month. Haxhia Bledar, 24, of Briggs Avenue in The Bronx, has been charged...
$QUEEZE PLAY ON METS PARK
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amSeveral Queens lawmakers are hoping that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn delays a vote scheduled for next week on the financing of a new Mets stadium. Representatives of the Mets...
GOLDEN GRANNY'S $10M JACKPOT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe heck with a dollar - apparently all you need is a nickel and a dream. An 84-year-old New Jersey great-grandmother recounted yesterday how she took a gamble on a...
TWU GETS A WAY OUT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amTransit boss Roger Toussaint can bail his union out with five words: "We will not strike again." The Brooklyn judge who slapped the Transport Workers Union with massive fines indicated...
DOUBTS ON TEACHER INCENTIVES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amEducators across the country said yesterday New York City is right on track with new housing incentives for hard-to-find teachers - but doubted that longtime veteran instructors would be swayed...
TRANNY'S MOM, 84, IS GRILLED - JOUSTS WITH LAWYER
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA transsexual who allegedly manhandled her South African heiress mom had her lawyer rough up the 84-year-old woman yesterday. Diane Wells' lawyer, Mel Sachs, has grilled Constance Joyce Cheney for...
PERSONAL ASSISTANT DENIES SLAYING BOSS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe main suspect in Andrew Kissel's murder - his personal assistant - yesterday proclaimed his innocence even as cops searched for evidence in a storage space he rented. "I did...
BUSH'S MAC OUT AS FLACK - 3 TOP TV HANDS ON SHORT LIST
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - White House press secretary Scott McClellan yesterday walked the plank and resigned his high-profile post, as President Bush pressed ahead with a big staff shakeup in hopes of...
PART & PARCEL OF TIFF - DOORMEN VS. DELIVERY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFedEx, UPS and grocery delivery services were planning yesterday how to get packages past picket lines as contract talks between apartment building workers and management plodded on. Delivery companies don't...
NO BAIL FOR 'TOT KILLER'
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA steely-eyed suspect was held without bail on murder charges yesterday as a prosecutor told of a videotaped police statement in which he denied tragically shooting a Bronx toddler on...
TOMKAT IN FRISKY BUSINESS - USE DECOY CARS TO SNEAK OUT OF HOSP
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amTeam TomKat yesterday created subterfuge worthy of a "Mission: Impossible" movie to keep their newborn daughter under wraps. Katie Holmes gave birth to baby Suri at about 3 a.m. Tuesday...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amMANHATTAN * Police yesterday were searching for a mentally ill man who disappeared from his Harlem apartment over the weekend. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Alexander Pagan Marte (above), 33, a...
NEW SLAY CLUES SEND NATALEE SEARCHERS TO SEA
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe Aruban coast guard has been quietly searching offshore for signs of missing Alabama honor student Natalee Holloway as investigators continue developing evidence against the new teen suspect in the...
HOSPITALS OVERWORK INTERNS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amState health officials rapped 11 city hospitals yesterday for having their medical interns work too many hours. The state bars medical residents - doctors in training - from working more...
LARRY GETS $300M OFFER FOR WTC SITE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe ball was tossed into Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein's court yesterday with a new proposal that would give him a single, $250 million tower and $50 million in cash...
PRISON FOR 'PRINCESS'
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amYour cell, your highness. Pretend princess Antoinette Millard, who had claimed to be a Saudi royal, was locked up in the real Rikers Island yesterday after prosecutors revealed she's been...
BIG NAMES HELP LIGHT UP STAR'S DEBUT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe red carpet was runneth over with bold-faced names last night as Julia Roberts opened on Broadway. Oprah Winfrey, Diane Sawyer, Mike Nichols, Dave Matthews, Rosie Perez, Mayor Bloomberg and...
BLUNDERS A TRAM SHAME - 2 BACKUPS USELESS FOR STUCK CARS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe high-altitude ordeal for 69 stuck passengers on the Roosevelt Island trams was prolonged for hours by a series of foul-ups, including the failure of the cable car's primary backup...
STUDENT 'LIED' ON HIJACKERS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA San Diego student from Jordan who knew two of the 9/11 hijackers lied to a grand jury less than one month after the terror attacks - a time when...
COPS AT SEA IN SEARCH FOR NATALEE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe Aruban coast guard has been quietly searching offshore for signs of missing U.S. teen Natalee Holloway as investigators continue developing evidence against a new suspect in the 11-month-old case....
HERO'S KIN JOINS BRAVEST
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFirefighter John Bellew died last January when he jumped from a burning Bronx building on what has become known as Black Sunday - but his family name will live on...
GPS TO SPEED FDNY & EMTS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amAmbulances and firetrucks will get to New Yorkers in need of help more quickly now - thanks to a $50 million, high-tech tracking system. By the end of the summer,...
QNS. INSURE WAR SETTLED
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA showdown in Queens Supreme Court yesterday between Jamaica Hospital and the Oxford Health Plan fizzled down to a compromise before reaching a judge when the insurer agreed to continue...
SMILING STABBER - PREGNANT GAL, PAL KNIFED IN SUBWAY NIGHTMARE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA knife-wielding psycho who stabbed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend on a crowded Manhattan subway train last night because she had gotten into a "staring contest" with him later...
HERO'S NEPHEW JOINS BRAVEST
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFirefighter John Bellew died last January when he was forced to jump from a burning Bronx building on what has become known as "Black Sunday" - but his family name...
GOLDEN GRANNY'S COUP - HITS $10M ON NICKEL SLOTS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe heck with a dollar - apparently all you need is a nickel and a dream. An 84-year-old New Jersey great-grandmother recounted yesterday how she took a gamble on a...
'CANE & SANE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amDaryn Katz said being stuck on the tram was pretty horrible, but it's not the most famous disaster in her tale-telling repertoire. True, she hated using a bedpan for a...
'THANKS' A LOT
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amKavindra Jagnanan (below), the operator of one of the ill-fated trams, is a really nice guy. Much to the dismay of two ladies stuck with him during the commute from...
HIGH ANXIETY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amWanda Rivera is so afraid of heights, she refused to take the tram to her job on Roosevelt Island for six years. "In all that time I said, 'One day,...
RUSH HOUR STAB - SUBWAY NIGHTMARE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amA knife-wielding psycho stabbed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend on a crowded uptown A train in Manhattan last night because she had gotten into a "staring contest" with him,...
HEIR TO THE HAIR - FIRST PIC OF BARRON TRUMP
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThis is the first photograph of Donald Trump's latest acquisition - who's worth more to the real-estate mogul than all the skyscrapers in the Big Apple. In this exclusive People...
DEVILS KNOW: SHADOW JAGR
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFor these amazing Devils to finally win a playoff series from the Rangers, the recipe is to keep Jaromir in a Jar, all bottled up. The Shadow is an old,...
HEY, RANGERS! YOU CAN'T WIN!
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amAS always, I am prepared to do my part for the Rangers, who, come to think of it, owe me a share of their playoff money for having given them...
BETTER WATCH OUT FOR SUPER MARIO
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFirst in a series If you're looking for a defensive tackle, your options are limited in Saturday's NFL Draft. But if you're looking for a defensive end, plunge right in....
KNICKS COULD TARGET JEFFRIES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amKNICK NOTES The Knicks plan to heed the advice of Ben Wallace and try to add more role players onto the roster during the offseason. One free-agent small forward Larry...
STERN PUTS HAPPY FACE ON KNICK NIGHTMARE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amDon't laugh - David Stern says the Knicks are no laughingstock. When asked yesterday if he's concerned about The Disaster on West 33rd Street, the NBA Commissioner claimed he wasn't...
TECH VALLEY TAKES OPENER
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFIRST RACE: Tech Valley, C.C. Lopez up, claimed last out by Scott Lake from Keith O'Brien when beaten head for 15G, stepped up to 25G, tracked pace set by Statesman...
LB SHORT REJOINS GIANTS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe Giants yesterday reunited with linebacker Brandon Short. After two seasons with the Panthers, Short rejoins the Giants, with whom he spent his first four NFL seasons. After starting 15...
RICE STAR: YES, I CONN.
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amCurtis Kelly has heard the rumors that many people don't expect him to go to UConn next year. But the 6-foot-9 star center from Rice High School said yesterday he...
GUT INSTINCT - BROWN EXPECTED BACK NEXT YEAR
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amKnicks president Isiah Thomas and coach Larry Brown will sit side by side in a conference room inside their training facility in Westchester today to meet with beat writers and...
BROWN SAGA SINKS INTO THE ABSURD
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amIF YOU really wanted to calculate just how precipitous a fall it's been for Larry Brown, it was useful to consult a calendar and an NBA record book first. If...
POSTSEASON PACE - NETS FACE INDY IN 1ST ROUND
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe last time the Nets went to the playoffs, they were four-and-out. The last time they went to the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, it was a series for the...
STOMACH ACHE - AFTER PLAYING GAMES, BROWN COACHES KNICKS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amKNICKS 90 - NETS 83 With last night's season-finale coaching fiasco out of the way, Knicks president Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown today will sit side-by-side in a conference room...
THERE'S AN INTEREST IN JEFFRIES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amKNICK NOTES The Knicks plan to heed the advice of Ben Wallace and will try to add more role players to their roster during the offseason. One free-agent small forward...
DOUBY WINS HAGGERTY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amAt every turn, Quincy Douby has heard he's made the wrong decision. He shouldn't have gone to Grady because he hadn't been playing basketball long enough to survive the PSAL...
WHAT ELSE IS NEW? METS CAN'T STAVE OFF THE BRAVES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amBRIAN Jordan was sitting in front of his locker in the Braves clubhouse with towels draped around his showered body. A 2-1 victory over the Mets yesterday afternoon was Atlanta's...
UNIT IS OK AFTER ROUGH OUTING
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES TORONTO - One day after the Blue Jays spanked Randy Johnson, the party line coming from the Yankees is that Johnson wasn't ailing Tuesday night when he flushed...
SHEA MATINEE SLIPS AWAY - BOLD BRAVES OUTLAST GLAVINE, TAKE SERIES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amBraves 2 - Mets 1 The Mets officially failed their first big test of the season yesterday. When do Washington and Florida come back to town? Because of an undermanned...
GOLDEN MOOSE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amYankees 3 - Blue Jays 1 TORONTO - This is the Yankees' version of "Blueprint for Victory." The starter, Mike Mussina yesterday against the Blue Jays, hurls brilliantly and pitches...
BROWN SAGA KEEPS YOU ON YOUR TOES
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amFOR those who have taken a deep snooze during Larry Brown's first 30 years as a head coach, he spent the final day of his most desultory season giving everyone...
GO CANADA! - IT'LL BE OTTAWA VS. CALGARY IN STANLEY CUP FINALS
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThe Hurricanes are party-crashers, no doubt about that; the Sabres took a step forward; the Predators' upward evolution accelerated; and then, of course, there are the Rangers, an entirely other...
PETERSON: HUDSON WAS A ROCK
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amRick Peterson had seen this act before. As Tim Hudson's pitching coach from 1999-2003 in Oakland, Peterson watched the right-hander pitch many games like he did yesterday at Shea Stadium....
PIAZZA, METS GET CHANCE TO CATCH UP
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThere are still days when Tom Glavine walks into the Mets clubhouse expecting to see Mike Piazza. For three years, Glavine and Piazza were batterymates, and their lockers were near...
HERNANDEZ' BACK PUTS KAZ BACK IN LINEUP
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amMET NOTES More bad news for Mets fans: Anderson Hernandez is on the DL, and Kaz Matsui is returning tonight. Hernandez, who was out with back spasms, underwent an MRI...
TRAGEDY STRIKES YANKEE FAMILY
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amTragedy ripped through the Yankees' organization last night when Oscar Acosta and Humberto Trejo were killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic. The 49-year-old Acosta, who was the...
WAITING FOR SUNDAY - NETS NOT SURE OF PLAYOFF FOE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amLast year, the feeling around the Nets at playoff time was one of happiness and gratitude. They got in after their chances appeared slightly south of legally dead. This year,...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
April 20, 2006 | 4:00amThere are going to be some ruffled feathers in Key West, Fla., where officials have voted to evict their free-roaming chickens. For decades, the plucky critters - now numbering close...