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All chickens lay eggs, have edible meat, and possess a unique appearance. However, distinct breeds are the result of selective breeding to emphasize certain traits. Any breed may be used for general agricultural purposes, and all breeds are shown to some degree. But each chicken breed is known for a primary use.
Other breeds are grouped in this class, which has three subclasses: Game, Oriental, and Miscellaneous. The Game subclass includes the non-oriental game birds, the Oriental subclass includes mainly birds from Asia; the Cubalaya, however, is from Cuba. The Miscellaneous subclass holds the remaining breeds. [3]
Poultry breeding has produced breeds and strains to fulfil different needs; light-framed, egg-laying birds that can produce 300 eggs a year; fast-growing, fleshy birds destined for consumption at a young age, and utility birds which produce both an acceptable number of eggs and a well-fleshed carcase.
Modern breeding of chickens is selective toward "fat thighs and large breast muscles," BBC Wildlife Magazine reports. These traits add extra weight to the bird, making it harder to fly.
The red junglefowl was the primary species to give rise to today's many breeds of domesticated chicken (G. g. domesticus); additionally, the related grey junglefowl (G. sonneratii), Sri Lankan junglefowl (G. lafayettii) and the Javanese green junglefowl (G. varius) have also contributed genetic material to the gene pool of the modern chicken ...
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]
The Rhode Island Red is an American breed of domestic chicken. It is the state bird of Rhode Island. [2]: 70 It was developed there and in Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century, by cross-breeding birds of Oriental origin such as the Malay with brown Leghorn birds from Italy. It was a dual-purpose breed, raised both for meat and for eggs ...
Breeding for increased breast muscle affects the way chickens walk and puts additional stresses on their hips and legs. [14] There is a high frequency of skeletal problems in broilers, mainly in the locomotory system. [2] These leg abnormalities impair the locomotor abilities of the birds, and lame birds spend more time lying and sleeping. [22]
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