Chicken

The scientific name of chicken is “Gallus Gallus Domesticus”, it is a sub-species of red jungle fowl and known as both a bird and an animal. Hens have wings like other birds but they fly in a very short distance. These birds are famous for delicious food and can be kept as pets. These animals are used for other purposes as well such as cockfighting which is popular in different parts of South Asia and people also consume chicken eggs as food.

These birds came from the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. The male bird is called cock, adult male birds are known as roosters and younger birds are cockerels. Female birds are called hens while younger female chickens can be pronounced as pullets. Baby chickens are known as chicks. Chicken is a highly-demanded bird throughout the world due to a lot of benefits.

There are around 350 breeds of chicken that come in several colors, sizes, and shapes. In 2000 BC, the chicken was used for the purpose of cockfighting. After that, these birds bred for the production of meat and eggs and have been one of the most profitable businesses.

According to one study, 8000 years ago, chicken was domesticated in different countries in Southeast Asia such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc. After that these birds spread to India and China between 2000 to 3000 years later.

According to scientists, over 5000 years ago, these birds were first domesticated in India from jungle fowl then these birds were carried by travelers and traders to different parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, and Europe.

A social hierarchy is established by a flock of chickens that dictate mates, nesting sites, and access to food, and different resources. Each flock has often two to three hens, one dominant adult cock, and three to four subdominant cocks, they all are anxiously observed by the dominant cock.

In industrial production, chickens that have the same sex, size, and age are usually kept together in one place. In groups where all male chicks stay together, always fight for dominance and authority. When a new hen or cock is put in a flock, their fights cause a high risk of injury in these birds.

The average lifespan of a hen/cock is around 5 to 10 years. If they get good care these birds can live even more than 10 years. The lifespan of this bird is longer in the backyard than wildlife. Most chickens who live in the wild have a lifespan of 3 to 7 years or can live more if they don’t face risks of predators and different challenges.

There are many breeds of these birds in the world that have different lifespans from each other. Some get good care and live for years while others can’t even live for months due to health issues and a bad environment.

Chicken Living Style	Average Lifespan
Wildlife	3 to 7 years
Backyard	10 to 15 years

Chicken is used for many purposes and is also a good source of protein which is why the production ratio of these birds is more than 102 million tons all over the world. After every year the number of production is increasing due to its popularity.

There are around 34.4 billion chickens in the world according to research of 2023. Every year, more than 300 million hens are used to lay eggs. The United Kingdom has 3.53 million organic poultry livestock, according to stats of 2019.

The United States has an estimated 9.22 billion chickens which comes first in the production of these birds. Asia produces around 15 billion chickens while 2.35 billion chickens are produced by Europe. Over 242 million chickens are produced by France and Russia produces more than 496 million chickens.

Some other countries such as Australia has around 100 million chicken, New Zealand produces 24.8 million, and China has 4.75 billion chickens. Pakistan has 1.44 billion while Indonesia contains 3.56 billion chicken.

There are many (estimated in hundreds) chicken breeds exist in the world. Each breed is famous for some purpose, like eggs, meat, or just for their appearance. Some chicken breeds are shown the the table:

Breed Name	Origin	Average Lifespan
Silkie	Asia	7 to 9 years
Brahma	United States	5 to 8 years
Plymouth rock	New England	9 to 12 years
Light Sussex	United Kingdom	8 to 10 years
Ayam cemani	Indonesia	6 to 8 years
Ameraucana	United States	7 to 8 years
Leghorn	Italy	4 to 6 years
Polish	Netherland	4 to 7 years
Ayam kampong	Malaysia	5 to 8 years
Red Rhode island	United States	6 to 9 years
Orpington	England	5 to 8 years
Indian game	United Kingdom	5 to 10 years
Marans	France	7 to 9 years
Asil	India	6 to 10 years
ISA Brown	France	3 to 5 years
Wyandotte	United States	6 to 12 years
Araucana	Chile	7 to 8 years
Naked chicken	Transylvania	8 to 10 years
Japanese bantam	South china	10 to 15 years
Australorp	Australia	6 to 8 years
Shamo	Japan	6 to 9 years
Cochin	China	8 to 10 years
Frizzle	Asia	6 to 8 years
Padovana	Padua	8 to 10 years
Lohmann brown	Germany	7 to 10 years
Kadaknath	India	10 to 12 years
Kuroiler	South India	5 to 8 years
New Hampshire red	New Hampshire	7 to 8 years
Dang tao	Vietnam	5 to 7 years
Scots dumpy	United Kingdom	6 to 8 years
Serama	Malaysia	6 to 7 years
Jersey giant	Burlington	6 to 12 years
Naked neck	Transylvania	8 to 10 years
Welsummer	Netherland	6 to 9 years
Legbar	United Kingdom	5 to 10 years
Sasso	France	4 to 6 years
Ga noi	Vietnam	5 to 8 years
Barnevelder	Netherland	6 to 12 years
Bielefelder kennhuhn	Germany	7 to 10 years
Indian giant	Brazil	5 to 7 years
Fayoumi	Egypt	3 to 5 years
Vorwerk	Germany	5 to 10 years
Faverolles	France	5 to 7 years
Amrock	United States	6 to 8 years
Sebright	United Kingdom	8 to 12 years
Hyline	United States	3 to 6 years
Booted Bantam	United Kingdom	8 to 10 years
Sundheimer	Germany	4 to 6 years
Lakenvelder	Netherland	6 to 8 years
Sulmtaler	Austria	10 to 15 years

Keeping chickens as pets is very popular in Asian countries such as Pakistan and India. Most of the rural area families own at least 1 bird in their house. These birds can live with any other animal, including cats and dogs. Their hens lay eggs almost every day so they eat eggs and also sell those eggs in the market. Brown people prefer them over any other pets because they get so many benefits from these astonishing birds.

These birds are easy to care for and can easily be kept in a medium-sized coop that’s why they are one of the most popular and convenient pets. Their vocalization might be loud but people who are used to them do not get bothered. They are fast so chasing them would be fun when they are out of the coop. There are many of advantages and disadvantages of keeping these birds in the house. Here we have discussed some points.

In poultry farming, different types of domesticated birds are raised for eggs and meat such as chicken, geese, ducks, and turkeys. Chicken poultry farming is one of the most popular and profitable farming businesses all over the world. Chicken farming for eggs is called layer, while farming for the meat of this bird is known as boilers.

Poultry farming doesn’t need spacious space, the land of 90 to 150 square yards is enough to start a poultry farming business. Most people in South Asian countries do poultry farming on their roofs, or in their home gardens, so they don’t have to invest money on buying a land.

Every day, a chicken lays an egg and 5 to 6 eggs weekly, but some weeks it lays 7 eggs as well, it depends on the breed of bird and how healthy your bird is. After that, eggs take around 21 days to hatch. When a chick is born, it takes around 26 to 27 weeks to grow.

There is a high demand for chicken eggs and meat in the market which means a person can earn money within a month after starting a poultry farming business. If you want to make a good profit, make sure to choose the right breed of these birds.

Different breeds of chicken are there to start poultry farming but here you will see some best breeds of these birds that are highly profitable.

Brahma is famous and easily available in different parts of the world for the poultry farming business. It is one of the large breeds and convenient to start to make a good profit through its meat and eggs. To get a complete advantage from this breed you need to manage everything rightly.

In the 1850s, the Cochin breed originated from China and is one of the most beautiful breeds of these birds but I am sure for business purposes no one is looking to get a beautiful bird, so apart from their looks these birds are also highly profitable breeds that can help you to earn a good amount of money.

This breed is not a genuine breed and developed from the Rhode Island Red breed in 1950 but now New Hampshire red is ahead in producing more eggs and meat than the Rhode Island Red breed. It is popular for the production of eggs and meat and often people start poultry farming with this breed.

Old English breed is used to bred for cockfighting but now this breed is only used for the production of meat and eggs after cockfighting became illegal in the 1850s. Although the old English game breed is naturally strong and healthy, still you need to get quality and disease-free birds of this breed.

Wyandotte breed is not a genuine breed, it was developed from the Cochin and Sebright breeds. In 1870, it was originated in the United States. Wyandotte is a very common breed in different countries, especially the United States. This breed is also popular because of its gorgeous appearance. Wyandotte is convenient for both meat and egg production and can be a highly profitable breed.

Most of the egg-laying process happens when the hens are sleeping. They lay one egg daily when they are healthy and at their peak. The hens take around 24 to 29 hours to produce an egg. The hen creates the eggshell that saves the egg yolk from injurious germs. Every hen has thousands of yolks that are called chicken ova, when the hen reaches the age of one and a half years, those ova start to establish into yolks.

When yolks are selected to establish, they spend around 9 to 10 days to grow after that when it is time to be released, yolks break out from their protective membrane and drop into the starting of the oviduct. After that, the egg white is created when the egg yolk enters the magnum.

• Yolk is released into the oviduct in between 1 to 2 hours
• It takes 3 hours to form egg whites around the egg yolk.
• In 1 hour of time, shell membranes are added and an egg shape is formed.
• It takes 20 hours to form a shell in a shell gland.
• At last, the bloom is added and the egg emerges.

There are many common health issues that can be found in your pet, be sure to stay conscious about your bird’s health because some common problems can be life-threatening and can kill your chicken.

The symptoms of avian influenza include diarrhea, coughing, swelling, nasal discharge, and sneezing. Due to type A orthomyxo viruses, this disease is caused in these birds. Avian influenza disease is spread from wild aquatic birds that infect poultry birds such as chickens, turkeys, and geese. Take your bird to a veterinarian if you find any of the symptoms otherwise, this disease can be deadly.

Salmonellosis disease symptoms include ruffled feathers, diarrhea, fever and headache, loss of appetite, vomiting, and thirst. Young hens or cock and mostly chicks get infected by that disease. It is a bacterial disease and could be spread widely by rodents.

Fowl cholera disease affects the sinuses, joints, and wattles. This disease is mostly caused in older hens and in cocks due to Pasteurella multocida. The common symptoms of fowl cholera include nasal discharge, ruffled feathers, loss of appetite, swollen comb, diarrhea, swollen joints, and ocular discharge.

This health problem can spread quickly in poultry farms because it is an acute respiratory disease. Common symptoms of Newcastle disease include coughing, paralysis, watery eyes, convulsions, loss of appetite, and nasal discharge. After finding these symptoms in your pet bird, contact your veterinarian regarding your bird’s health.

It cannot be easy to take care of chickens for one man especially when you have a poultry farm in your home, so obviously you would have a minimum of 10 to 15 birds which will be difficult to handle and take care of. You must have a large space where these birds can live freely in the daytime and a spacious coop to keep them safe at night. There are different things that come into the care routine of these birds such as water, food, and coop cleaning.

Don’t forget to put a bowl of water every day into your bird coop. These birds get thirsty and become dehydrated after 1 to 2 hours so it is essential to provide them a big bowl of water. Make sure to give them fresh water on a daily basis because they can’t stand drinking dirty water.

The diet of hen is not expensive like other pets, you can add grains, seeds, and pearl millet into your bird diet. You can also give them some amount of protein for the better growth of their muscle. All these foods are cheaper and easy to available in every place.

These birds poop a lot that’s why it is essential to clean their coop after 2 to 3 days to avoid bad smells. Remove everything from the coop and use vinegar and water to clean your bird coop. Their bowl of water and the pot in which you put food for them should be changed every day.

Chicken is convenient for business purposes and food as well. You can make a good amount of money through its business or can eat it as delicious food. It’s not only tasty but also provides a good amount of protein.  People who go to the gym, eat chicken breast daily because it helps in building muscle. This bird is less expensive than any other bird in the market, and they can be great pets too.