Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated bird kept across the world primarily for food and agricultural purposes. It belongs to the broader category of poultry, and people commonly raise chickens for their meat and for eggs. In many settings they are managed as livestock and bred into a wide variety of breeds with different sizes, colours and temperaments.
Names and reproduction
Adult birds are identified by sex: a male is usually called a rooster or cock (also cockerel for a young male), while a female is called a hen. Young birds are commonly known as chicks. Like other birds, hens lay eggs, and under suitable conditions those eggs can hatch into new chicks.
Some facts about roosters and hens differ from many mammals; for example, roosters do not possess penises in the way some other animals do, and fertilisation occurs through different reproductive anatomy and behaviour.
Keeping chickens
People who keep chickens provide a sheltered structure (a coop) where birds can roost and sleep, and an enclosed outdoor area where they can move, forage and dust bathe. Good husbandry includes protecting birds from common predators. Fencing and secure housing help reduce losses to animals such as foxes and other local predators.
Production systems
Chickens are raised in many systems, ranging from small backyard flocks to large-scale operations. In industrial settings, birds may be farmed intensively to produce large quantities of meat and eggs for the market. Smallholders and hobby keepers typically use lower-density setups focused on welfare and local supply.
- Poultry—the group that includes chickens and other domesticated birds.
- Uses: meat and eggs.
- Animals kept as livestock worldwide.
- Sex terms: male (rooster) and female (hen).
- Hens produce eggs; young are chicks.
- Reproductive anatomy note: roosters lack a typical penis.
- Protect birds from predators such as foxes.
- Production range includes intensive methods (farmed intensively).
