Chicken Types, Characteristics & Uses

The body is round, the legs are unfeathered in most breeds, and the wings are short. 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”. As of 2023, the global chicken population exceeds 26.5 billion, with more than 50 billion birds produced annually for consumption.

Reproduction and life-cycle

Inbreeding of White Leghorn chickens tends to cause inbreeding depression expressed as reduced egg number and delayed sexual maturity. When eggs are placed in a hypoxic environment, chicken embryos from these populations express much more hemoglobin than embryos from other chicken populations. Under natural conditions, most birds lay only until a clutch is complete; they then incubate all the eggs.

Social hierarchy

• Chickens give different warning calls to indicate that a predator is approaching from the air or on the ground.
• As of 2023, the global chicken population exceeds 26.5 billion, with more than 50 billion birds produced annually for consumption.
• Mature males have long been used for sport (i.e., cockfighting, now outlawed in many jurisdictions) as well as for breeding.
• In some other countries, flocks are sometimes force-moulted rather than being slaughtered to re-invigorate egg-laying.
• As with all birds, reproduction is controlled by a neuroendocrine system, the Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone-I neurons in the hypothalamus.
• A male’s crowing is a loud and sometimes shrill call, serving as a territorial signal to other males, and in response to sudden disturbances within their surroundings.

These domesticated chickens spread across Southeast and South Asia where they interbred with local wild species of junglefowl, forming genetically and geographically distinct groups. Specialized breeds such as broilers and laying hens have been developed for meat and egg production, respectively. In the United States alone, more than 8 billion chickens are slaughtered each year for meat, and more than 300 million chickens are reared for egg production. More than 50 billion chickens are reared annually as a source of meat and eggs. An early study proposed that a single domestication event of the red junglefowl in present-day Thailand gave rise to the modern chicken.

Africa

Mothership Sunday roast chicken Whether it’s chicken curry, the perfect roast or an easy midweek meal, our collection of gorgeous chicken recipes has something for everyone. Add chicken to one of your lists below, or create a new one. To add chicken to a word list please sign up or log in. Mature males have long been used for sport (i.e., cockfighting, now outlawed in many jurisdictions) as well as for breeding.

As with all birds, reproduction is controlled by a neuroendocrine system, the Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone-I neurons in the hypothalamus. Sperm transfer occurs by cloacal contact between the male and female, in an action called the ‘cloacal kiss’. Chickens have been thought of primarily as providers of food, but their cognition, emotions, and sociality are comparable with other birds and mammals. Chickens are gregarious, living in flocks, and incubate eggs and raise young communally.

Chickens give different warning calls to indicate that a predator is approaching from the air or on the ground. A male’s crowing is a loud and sometimes shrill call, serving as a territorial signal to other males, and in response to sudden disturbances within their surroundings. Chickens are capable of mobbing and killing a weak or inexperienced predator, such as a young fox. Some breeds have a mutation that causes extra feathering under the face, giving the appearance of a chickenroadonline-bd.com/demo beard. 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.