For the culinary use of chickens, see Chicken as food. Male and female chicken chicken marinade using balsamic vinegar together.

Chickens are one of 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. In 2011 a study in genetic and archaeological evidence conclude that the origin of the modern-day chicken is from Southeast Asia. Dunghill fowl: a chicken with mixed parentage from different domestic varieties. Pullet: a young female chicken less than a year old. In the poultry industry, a pullet is a sexually immature chicken less than 22 weeks of age.

In fact, chicken was originally a term only for an immature, or at least young, bird. In older sources, chicken as a species were typically referred to as common fowl or domestic fowl. Chick is then rarely used to mean chicken, but is mainly used in Merriam-Webster’s “Sense 1b” viz. This section needs expansion with: the origin of the term ‘chicken’ in general. You can help by adding to it. In most breeds the adult rooster can be distinguished from the hen by his larger comb.

For the nursery rhyme, see Cock a doodle doo. Long-crowing chickens have a longer crow. Roosters almost always start crowing before four months of age. Rooster crowing contests, also known as crowing contests, are a traditional sport in several countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, Indonesia and Japan. The oldest contests are held with longcrowers. The dance triggers a response in the hen and when she responds to his ‘call’, the rooster may mount the hen and proceed with the mating. Hens will often try to lay in nests that already contain eggs and have been known to move eggs from neighbouring nests into their own.

The result of this behaviour is that a flock will use only a few preferred locations, rather than having a different nest for every bird. Hens will often express a preference to lay in the same location. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Under natural conditions, most birds lay only until a clutch is complete, and they will then incubate all the eggs.