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A feral rooster on the island of Kauai A family of feral chickens, Key West, Florida. Feral chickens are derived from domestic chickens (Gallus domesticus) who have returned to the wild. Like the red junglefowl (the closest wild relative of domestic chickens), feral chickens will roost in bushes in order to avoid predators at night. [1]
Most chickens are raised for food, providing meat and eggs; others are kept as pets [1] or for cockfighting. Chickens are common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 26.5 billion as of 2023, and an annual production of more than 50 billion birds. A hen bred for laying can produce over 300 eggs per year.
Illustration of thirty-nine varieties of chicken (and one Guinea Fowl) . There are hundreds of chicken breeds in existence. [1] Domesticated for thousands of years, distinguishable breeds of chicken have been present since the combined factors of geographical isolation and selection for desired characteristics created regional types with distinct physical and behavioral traits passed on to ...
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Galliformes / ˌ ɡ æ l ɪ ˈ f ɔːr m iː z / is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl.Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often reared by humans for their meat and eggs, or hunted as game birds.
Originally, the hen presumably laid one clutch, became broody, and incubated the eggs. Selective breeding over the centuries has produced hens that lay more eggs than they can hatch. Some of this progress was ancient, but most occurred after 1900. In 1900, average egg production was 83 eggs per hen per year. In 2000, it was well over 300.
Fowl are birds belonging to one of two biological orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl (Galliformes) and the waterfowl (Anseriformes).Anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups are close evolutionary relatives; together, they form the fowl clade which is scientifically known as Galloanserae or Galloanseres (initially termed Galloanseri) (Latin gallus ("rooster") + ānser ...
Chickens were one of the domesticated animals carried with the sea-borne Austronesian migrations into Taiwan, Island Southeast Asia, Island Melanesia, Madagascar, and the Pacific Islands; starting from around 3500 to 2500 BC. [25] [26] By 2000 BC, chickens seem to have reached the Indus Valley and 250 years later, they arrived in Egypt. They ...