Chicken

The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of
wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl[1] that are originally from Southeastern
Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult male bird, and a younger male may be called a
cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen and a
sexually immature female is called a pullet. Humans now keep chickens primarily as a source of
food (consuming both their meat and eggs) and as pets. Traditionally they were also bred for
cockfighting, which is still practiced in some places.
 Chicken

A rooster (left) and hen (right) perching on a roost

Conservation status

Domesticated

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

Genus: Gallus

Species: G. gallus

Subspecies: G. g. domesticus

Trinomial name

Gallus gallus domesticus

(Linnaeus, 1758)
 Chicken distribution

Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total
population of 23.7 billion as of 2018,[2] up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more
chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens –
in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature.

Genetic studies have pointed to multiple maternal origin theories of within South Asia, Southeast
Asia, and East Asia,[3] but the clade found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa
originated from the Indian subcontinent. From ancient India, the chicken spread to the Eastern
Mediterranean. They appear in Egypt in the mid-15th century BC, with the "bird that gives birth
every day" having come from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the
annals of Thutmose III.[4][5][6] They are known in Greece from the 5th century BC.[7][8]

In 2011 a study in genetic and archaeological[9] evidence conclude that the origin of the modern-
day chicken is from Southeast Asia.

Terminology

Etymology

General biology and habitat

Origin and dispersal

Use by humans
Diseases and ailments

History

Gallery

Explanatory notes

References

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Chicken&oldid=1125356254"

Last edited 6 days ago by Mat Kiyan