Chicken Wikipedia

Adult chickens of both sexes have a krikya-online.com fleshy crest on their heads called a comb or cockscomb, and hanging flaps of skin on either side under their beaks called wattles; combs and wattles are more prominent in males. Modern varieties however grow much faster; by day 35 a Ross 708 broiler may weigh 1.8 kg (4.0 lb) as against the 1.05 kg (2.3 lb) of a heritage chicken of the same age. Newly hatched chicks of both modern and heritage varieties weigh the same, about 37 g (1.3 oz). Chicken can mean a chick, and this was historically the meaning of the word chicken, as in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, where Macduff laments the death of «all my pretty chickens and their dam».

Chickens have a well-developed gizzard (a part of the stomach that contains tiny stones) that grinds up their food. © 2026 Al-Fatah All Rights Reserved – Powered By Tech Andaz Best chicken price in pakistan. Discover high-quality fresh chicken at Alfatah.pk. Mature males have long been used for sport (i.e., cockfighting, now outlawed in many jurisdictions) as well as for breeding.

Some common breeds include Rhode Island Red, Cornish Cross, and Leghorns. Some physical features that distinguish these breeds include size, skin color, comb type, and plumage color. Some physical characteristics of chickens include combs, wattles, and earlobes. Improved breeds can weigh up to 4kg when they are a couple of weeks old.

• In groups of male chicks, however, fights for dominance may continue into adulthood.
• Modern high-volume poultry farms, with rows of cages stacked indoors for control of heat, light, and humidity, began to proliferate in Great Britain about 1920 and in the United States after World War II.
• When eggs are placed in a hypoxic environment, chicken embryos from these populations express much more hemoglobin than embryos from other chicken populations.
• Skeletons of birds in the Gallus genus were used as grave goods at the site, confirming domestication.

An early study proposed that a single domestication event of the red junglefowl in present-day Thailand gave rise to the modern chicken. It is estimated that chickens share between 71 and 79% of their genome with red junglefowl. The domestic chicken has subsequently hybridised with grey junglefowl, Sri Lankan junglefowl and green junglefowl; a gene for yellow skin, for instance, was incorporated into domestic birds from the grey junglefowl (G. sonneratii). Inbreeding of White Leghorn chickens tends to cause inbreeding depression expressed as reduced egg number and delayed sexual maturity. Wild junglefowl can fly, whereas domestic chickens and their flight muscles are too heavy to allow them to fly more than a short distance.

What is a Chicken? A Look at the Bird We Love to Eat

Although chickens are flightless birds, they do have a tendency to attempt flight. Hens lay eggs that range in color from white to pale brown and other pale colors depending on the breed. There are over 150 different breeds of chicken that come in various colors, patterns and sizes. The market for chicken meat has grown dramatically since then, with worldwide exports reaching nearly 12.5 million metric tons (about 13.8 million tons) by the early 21st century. By the mid-20th century, however, meat production had outstripped egg production as a specialized industry. Farmers have developed numerous breeds and varieties to fulfill commercial requirements.

Social hierarchy

Chicken, (Gallus gallus), any of more than 60 breeds of medium-sized poultry that are primarily descended from the wild red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus, family Phasianidae, order Galliformes) of India. These domesticated chickens spread across Southeast and South Asia where they interbred with local wild species of junglefowl, forming genetically and geographically distinct groups. In domesticating the chicken, humans took advantage of the red junglefowl’s ability to reproduce prolifically when exposed to a surge in its food supply. Strongly inbred Langshan chickens display obvious inbreeding depression in reproduction, particularly for traits such as age when the first egg is laid and egg number.

You can detect a chicken’s variety from its feather color, feather pattern, and comb type. Chickens with the same size, physical characteristics, and shape belong to the same class and breed. Chicken domestication has existed for 7,000 to 10,000 years, specifically in Southeast Asia. Chickens with the same physical features, size, and shape belong to the same breed. Learning about the different chicken classifications is vital for successful chicken farming. These birds live for around three to seven years.

The possibility that domestic chickens were in the Americas before Western contact is debated by researchers, but blue-egged chickens, found only in the Americas and Asia, suggest an Asian origin for early American chickens. Analysis of the most popular commercial breed shows that the White Leghorn breed possesses a mosaic of divergent ancestries inherited from different subspecies of red junglefowl. Archaeological evidence appeared to support domestic chickens in Southeast Asia well before 6000 BC, China by 6000 BC and India by 2000 BC. Exactly when and where the chicken was domesticated was controversial. The red junglefowl is well adapted to take advantage of the vast quantities of seed produced during the end of the multi-decade bamboo seeding cycle, to boost its own reproduction.

Chickens will sometimes attempt flight simply to explore their surroundings, however, they will especially fly in an attempt to flee when they perceive danger or pursued by a predator. The rooster is larger and more brightly colored than the hen, he also has a larger comb on top of his head. Roosters can usually be differentiated from hens by their striking plumage, marked by long flowing tails and bright pointed feathers on their necks. There are many different breeds that come in a variety of colors. With a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other bird. The chicken is believed to have descended from the wild Indian and south-east Asian Red Junglefowl which is biologically classified as the same species.