Chicken

Chicken the chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated subspecies of the red jungle fowl originally from Southeastern Asia and belongs to the genus Gallus of the family Phasianidae. A rooster or cock is an adult male chicken with coarse skin, toughened and darkened meat, and hardened breastbone tip, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen, and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. A broiler is a young chicken, usually up to 4-5 weeks of age of either sex, that is tender meat with soft, pliable, smooth, textured skin and flexible breastbone cartilage suitable for broiling exposing food to direct radiant heat, either on a grill over the live coals or below a gas burner or electric coil. Chickens are permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner, and they must have daytime access to open-air runs during at least half of their life, known as scavenging chicken.

Originally raised for cock fighting or special ceremonies, chickens were not kept for food until the Hellenistic period (4th–2nd centuries BC). Humans now keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) and as pets. Mature female chicken, which has been kept for egg-laying purposes, especially in current egg production, is called Layer. Chickens are among the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion as of 2018, up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world. They are owing to the relative ease and low cost of raising chickens compared to mammals such as cattle or hogs. [Quazi M Emdadul Haque]