Interesting Chicken Facts and the History of Chickens
If you’re studying the history of chickens, curious about learning something new, or a chicken lover reading for fun, you’re in the right place! Chickens are actually one of the most fascinating animals. That’s why we decided to share some interesting details about their origin and a few fun chicken facts.
Where did the first chicken live? What cool animal did chickens actually come from? Keep reading to learn more!
Where did chickens originate?
It’s believed that chickens came from Southeast Asia, from a tropical bird known as the red junglefowl. That’s right, if you’ve wondered if the egg or chicken came first – well, it’s neither.
When chickens originated many years ago, they came from species of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). The red junglefowl is a tropical bird native to southern Asia countries, including Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and China. They began to spread around the world when people domesticated chickens. White patches and grayish-colored feet can distinguish the red junglefowl.
How long have chickens been around?
Thousands of years! The exact number of years chickens have been around can be debated. However, we can say they’ve been around for at least 4,000 years if we look at various accounts of chicken history. Some studies say chickens have been around for closer to 8,000 years.
When were chickens domesticated?
The history of chickens shows that domestication can be dated back to 2000 BC – over 4,000 years ago! Cockfighting influenced chicken domestication and distribution around the world. After years of specific breeding, there are now many breeds, sizes, and colors of chickens.
In 1873, The American Poultry Association was organized to adopt standards of excellence and establish a way of sorting various breeds. Today, there are hundreds of chicken breeds and over 300 combinations of physical features of fowls.
Read more: Best Backyard Chicken Breeds and How to Choose the Right One
Interesting Chicken Facts
Now that we know about the fascinating chicken origin, let’s take a look at some other fun facts about chickens!
Chickens can learn their own name.
If you’re a chicken owner wondering if your flock can learn their names, they can! Just like with people, if you call your chickens by their name, they’ll eventually start to recognize it. This really helps with raising and training chickens.
There are more chickens than there are people.
Did you know chickens outnumber people? In fact, there are 3 times as many chickens as there are humans, with less than 8 billion people in the world and almost 30 billion chickens.
Chickens bathe in dirt.
Believe it or not, backyard chickens don’t take traditional baths with water. They actually take what’s known as a ‘dust bath.’ Chickens coat themselves in dust and dirt to freshen up, and this also keeps mites and lice away.
Chicken keepers can create a dust bath for their flock. Otherwise, the chickens will find their own dirt to bathe in. Learn more about chicken dust baths here.
Some chickens are smarter than a toddler.
In this article about training chickens, we talk about how fun it is to teach chickens brain games and tricks due to how smart they are. In fact, many chickens are as intelligent as a 3 or 4-year old child. This is why chickens are able to learn their names, complete obstacle courses, and find hidden objects.
Chickens need light to produce eggs.
Light exposure is what allows chickens to release the reproductive hormone, gonadotropin, which promotes egg production. Chicken needs more than 12 hours of light per day for peak egg production. This can be natural, artificial, or a combination of light.
Some chickens even eat their own eggs. Learn more about that here!
Dinosaurs and chickens are related.
One of the most fascinating chicken facts of all – before chickens were even chickens, thousands and thousands of years ago, birds descended from dinosaurs. Scientists have studied dinosaur fossils and DNA, and they have found that chickens are more closely related to this extinct animal than any other animal is.
Chickens have better vision than many humans.
Have you ever noticed that chickens’ eyes are on the sides of their faces? This allows them to see 300 degrees around them. And, they’re even tetrachromatic, which means they can see many more colors and shades than humans can.
Not only do chickens have excellent vision, but this begins soon after they hatch. It’s believed that they can see colors, avoid obstacles, and differentiate between shallow and deep surfaces.
Chickens can recognize faces.
Last up on our list of chicken facts is something we find amazing! It’s said that chickens can recognize up to 100 human faces. Not only that, but this study shows that chickens prefer beautiful people.
We hope you enjoyed learning some chicken fun facts and history! Which chicken facts did you find the most interesting? Let us know in the comments below.
