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The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a large and round short-winged bird, domesticated from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia around 8,000 years ago. Most chickens are raised for food, providing meat and eggs; others are kept as pets [1] or for cockfighting.
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]
Chicken can be prepared in a vast range of ways, including baking, grilling, barbecuing, frying, boiling, and roasting. Since the latter half of the 20th century, prepared chicken has become a staple of fast food. Chicken is sometimes cited as being more healthful than red meat, with lower concentrations of cholesterol and saturated fat. [4]
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 ...
The culling and slaughter of non-egg laying chickens created a source of poultry meat. However, poultry meat supply continued to lag demand, and poultry was expensive. Prior to about 1910, chicken was served primarily on special occasions or Sunday dinner.
Meat chickens, commonly called broilers, are floor-raised on litter such as wood shavings, peanut shells, and rice hulls, indoors in climate-controlled housing. Under modern farming methods, meat chickens reared indoors reach slaughter weight at 5 to 9 weeks of age, as they have been selectively bred to do so. In the first week of a broiler's ...
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The poet Cratinus calls the chicken "the Persian alarm". In Aristophanes's comedy The Birds (414 BC) a chicken is called "the Median bird", which points to an introduction from the East. Pictures of chickens are found on Greek red figure and black-figure pottery. In Ancient Greece, chickens were still rare and were rather prestigious food for ...