April 30, 2026

The World's Oldest Pet Chicken

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Gerie, a pet chicken in Maine, is recognized as the world’s oldest living pet chicken at 15 years and 100 days, with owner Frank saying she became flock leader and now enjoys an indoor life and human company ahead of turning 16 in July. In Georgia, 12-year-old Macy is praised for running into her burning home to alert her two older brothers and help them escape as firefighters contained the blaze and the cause remains under investigation. In England, archaeologists surveying for a wind power project unexpectedly uncovered a Roman villa and bathhouse, an Iron Age farming estate, a bronze handle nicknamed “Norfolk Na,” plus Neolithic, Bronze Age, and medieval finds. In the UK, recycled urine from major events is processed into fertilizer to grow 4,500 trees. In New Zealand, 101-year-old Neville becomes the world’s oldest competitive croquet player.

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Kalaroka Shock Media congratulations to Gerty. Gerty is a pet

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chicken living in Maine, and Gerty has been officially recognized

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as the oldest living chicken in the world. Hello, I'm

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Johnny Mack. With five good news stories. Gerty has set

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the record at fifteen years and one hundred days, surpassing

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the previous record by more than six months. Frank said

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Gerty joined his flock as a chick back in twenty

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ten and quickly became the dominant Birdie explains her plumage

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once it fully emerged that for a few months was

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immediately stunning, and she was always the most photogenic. Despite

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some turnover over the years, Gerty always remained the leader,

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Frank says, through all those personnel changes, Gerty was the

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presumptive leader. She seems very content with her new solo

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indoor life and loves the company of humans in the

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same room with her. She replies to her name with

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the sweet pup, pup up, and we'll have conversations with

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her if you talk to her or sing to her.

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Gerty will turn sixteen in July. Meanwhile, in Georgia, a

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twelve year old girls being praised for her quick actions

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after running into a burning home to alert her brothers

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and help them escape. Macy was on her way home.

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She's on the school bus, pulls up to the family

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house and it's on fire. The flames were spreading from

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the garage across the ground floor. She began shouting, alerting

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her two older brothers who were still inside. Mom Lisa says,

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my oldest son was preparing to go to work. Who's

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in the shower. He had no idea until she started screaming.

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She's an incredible girl and I'm very proud of her.

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Firefighters were able to respond quickly to contain the fire

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before it destroyed the entire home. The cause of the

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fire remains under investigation. Lisa said, as hard as it

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is to know that we've lost almost everything, we have

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each other. Archaeologist in England made a series of unexpected

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discoveries they didn't expect to find anything. A team from

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Headland Archaeology uncovered a Roman villa and a bathouse. They

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were just doing a survey for a wind power project.

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Initial scan suggested there was nothing of interest. However, excavation

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work revealed roof tiles that led to the discovery of

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a large farming estate dating back to the Iron Age.

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Jessica from Headline Archaeology said, there's a lot of evidence

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for growing and processing food, so we think it was

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quite a large farming estate. Among the finds was a

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Bronze vessel handle shaped like a creature that earned the

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nickname Norfolk Nassy. Archaeologists also identified a large Neolithic burial

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mound containing pottery and stone tools, as well as a

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Bronze Age burial site in the remains of a medieval village.

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Here's one for you. A new environmental project in the

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UK is using recycled urine. Where do they get to

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be recycled urine? Well? From major public events and they're

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using the recycled urine to help grow a forest. NPK

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Recovery has developed a system to collect urine from portable

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toilets at festivals and concerts and stuff. The fertilizer is

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used to support the growth of forty five hundred trees

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and whales. Scientists extract key nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus, and

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potassium from the urine using a bacteria driven process. Lucy,

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the cofin founder, says, urine is a resource that we

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have an abundance, so It really is a win win

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here and good news for a man in New Zealand.

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He has been recognized as the world's oldest competitive croquet player.

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Nevill is one hundred and one years old. We should

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get a photo of him and that chicken from before.

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Neville earned the record after competing in an over eighties

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golf croquet tournament age one hundred one years at two

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hundred and sixty two days. He began playing at age

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seventy nine after his wife encouraged him to get free

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lessons at the club. He explained, sure had an advertisement

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in the newspaper that the club was giving free lessons,

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so we went along as soon as I took hold

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of a mallet and hit one ball, and it was

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for me. He joined the club and even won competitions

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his first year. He said, I remember when I started

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out as a new player. There was so much to learn.

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How to hold a mallet, how to strike the ball,

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all the rules. Who was due the endless support and

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encouragement of the club members to get me going. Without that,

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I wouldn't have gotten so much enjoyment from the sport,

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and I definitely wouldn't be celebrating this achievement. Those are

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your five good news stories for today. Have an awesome day,