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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]
There is a long-standing controversy over the basic need for a chicken coop. One philosophy, known as the "fresh air school", holds that chickens are mostly hardy but can be brought low by confinement, poor air quality and darkness, hence the need for a highly ventilated or open-sided coop with conditions more like the outdoors, even in winter. [8]
On average, a chicken lays one egg a day, but not on every day of the year. This varies with the breed and time of year. In 1900, average egg production was 83 eggs per hen per year. In 2000, it was well over 300. In the United States, laying hens are butchered after their second egg laying season.
Since then, the keeping of chickens has spread around the world for the production of food with the domestic fowl being a valuable source of both eggs and meat. [28] Since their domestication, a large number of breeds of chickens have been established, but with the exception of the white Leghorn, most commercial birds are of hybrid origin. [18]
One-day-old chicks arriving to be unpacked and placed in shed Young birds being reared in a closed broiler house. Artificial selection has led to a great increase in the speed with which broilers develop and reach slaughter-weight. The time required to reach 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) live-weight decreased from 120 days to 30 days between 1925 and 2005.
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Chickens are relatively large birds, active by day. The body is round, the legs are unfeathered in most breeds, and the wings are short. [19] Wild junglefowl can fly; chickens and their flight muscles are too heavy to allow them to fly more than a short distance. [20] Size and coloration vary widely between breeds. [19]
In the air, wild turkeys can fly and have a top-flight speed of about 55 miles per hour, which is about as fast as a car on a highway. Selective breeding diminished the domestic turkey’s ability ...