Chicken recipes

Phoenicians spread chickens along the Mediterranean coasts as far as Iberia. These chickens may have been introduced during pre-Columbian times to South America via Polynesian seafarers, but this is disputed. Skeletons of birds in the Gallus genus were used as grave goods at the site, confirming domestication. The chicks imprint on the hen and subsequently follow her continually. Eggs of chickens from the high-altitude region of Tibet have special physiological adaptations that result in a higher hatching rate in low oxygen environments.

Social hierarchy

• Domesticated chickens freely interbreed with populations of red junglefowl.
• In older sources, and still often in trade and scientific contexts, chickens as a species are described as common fowl or domestic fowl.
• Skeletons of birds in the Gallus genus were used as grave goods at the site, confirming domestication.
• Strongly inbred Langshan chickens display obvious inbreeding depression in reproduction, particularly for traits such as age when the first egg is laid and egg number.

Individual chickens dominate others, establishing a pecking order; dominant individuals take priority for access to food and nest sites. Chickens are primarily kept for খেলা88 their meat and eggs, though they are also kept as pets. In situations where one adult bird challenges another—which happens most often when a new bird is introduced into the flock—fights involving males risk injury and death more often than fights involving females. In groups of male chicks, however, fights for dominance may continue into adulthood.

Leftover chicken broth with grains 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.

Females (mature hens and younger chickens, called pullets) are raised for meat and for their edible eggs. In domesticating the chicken, humans took advantage of the red junglefowl’s ability to reproduce prolifically when exposed to a surge in its food supply. The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated form of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), originally native to Southeast Asia. The chicken is perhaps the most widely domesticated fowl, raised worldwide for its meat and eggs. 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.

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. Farmers have developed numerous breeds and varieties to fulfill commercial requirements. Descendants of those domestications have spread throughout the world in several waves for at least the last 2,000 years. Chickens belonging to the same age cohort and sex are often kept together in industrial production settings.

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 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.

Domesticated chickens freely interbreed with populations of red junglefowl. Strongly inbred Langshan chickens display obvious inbreeding depression in reproduction, particularly for traits such as age when the first egg is laid and egg number. Only hens that could no longer produce enough eggs were killed and sold for meat. Only in the early 20th century, however, did chicken meat and eggs become mass-production commodities.

Farming

Exactly when and where the chicken was domesticated was controversial. 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. Adult chickens of both sexes have a fleshy crest on their heads called a comb or cockscomb, and hanging flaps of skin on either side under their beaks called wattles; combs and wattles are more prominent in males. In older sources, and still often in trade and scientific contexts, chickens as a species are described as common fowl or domestic fowl.

Farming

Subsequent ovulations may occur within an hour after the previous egg was laid, allowing some hens to produce as many as 300 eggs per year. Egg laying is stimulated by the long stretches of daylight that occur during the warmer months; however, artificial lights placed in chicken coops can trigger a hen’s egg laying response throughout the year. Males (called cocks or roosters) and females (hens) are known for their fleshy combs, lobed wattles hanging below the bill, and high-arched tails. In the process of domestication, chickens were apparently kept initially for cockfighting, and only later used for food. Many people obtain chickens for their egg production but often name them and treat them as any other pet like cats or dogs.

Chickens have been featured in art in farmyard scenes such as Adriaen van Utrecht’s 1646 Turkeys and Chickens and Walter Osborne’s 1885 Feeding the Chickens. The pseudo-riddle “Why did the chicken cross the road?” dates to 1847, or earlier. This involves the sacrifice of a sacred rooster, often during a ritual cockfight, used as a form of communication with the gods. Chickens are featured widely in folklore, religion, literature, and popular culture. The chicken was the first bird species to have its genome sequenced.