Domestic Fowl
(Chicken)
Gallus gallus domesticus
Where is it found?
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Found in farms across the globe
Diet and foraging method
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Pecking at the ground and picking up food from soil surface layers.
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Key adaptations
Roosters (male chickens) have spurs on their legs to aid in battles with other males over females.
Hens (female chickens) cluck after laying an egg, a call that is later used to gather their chicks together so the mother can protect them.
Hens (female chickens) cluck after laying an egg, a call that is later used to gather their chicks together so the mother can protect them.
Social organisation and mating system
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Chickens live in flock and breed polygamously. Communal incubation of eggs and rearing of young occurs.
Did you know that...?
The number of chickens on planet earth is greater than any other bird species.
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken
http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/domestic-chicken
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
Rooster04 adjusted" by User:Fir0002 - Uploaded by Didactohedron. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rooster04_adjusted.jpg#/media/File:Rooster04_adjusted.jpg
"Hen chicken" by Thegreenj - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hen_chicken.jpg#/media/File:Hen_chicken.jpg
"Take five" by HerbertT (original); edit by Waugsberg - Eigenproduktion. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Take_five.jpg#/media/File:Take_five.jpg
"Hen with chickens in native breeding" by Ervín Pospíšil - gallery mine of other photographs find on legacy Ervín Pospíšil. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hen_with_chickens_in_native_breeding.jpg#/media/File:Hen_with_chickens_in_native_breeding.jpg
http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/domestic-chicken
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
Rooster04 adjusted" by User:Fir0002 - Uploaded by Didactohedron. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rooster04_adjusted.jpg#/media/File:Rooster04_adjusted.jpg
"Hen chicken" by Thegreenj - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hen_chicken.jpg#/media/File:Hen_chicken.jpg
"Take five" by HerbertT (original); edit by Waugsberg - Eigenproduktion. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Take_five.jpg#/media/File:Take_five.jpg
"Hen with chickens in native breeding" by Ervín Pospíšil - gallery mine of other photographs find on legacy Ervín Pospíšil. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hen_with_chickens_in_native_breeding.jpg#/media/File:Hen_with_chickens_in_native_breeding.jpg
