chicken

Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are commonly kept poultry to be used for the survival of the carers. The pet chicken (hereinafter abbreviated as "chicken" only) is a direct descendant of one of the subspecies of a forest chicken known as red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) or bangkiwa chicken (bankiva fowl). Cross-breeding intercross chicken has produced hundreds of superior lines or pure lines with various functions; the most common are chicken cut (for cut) and laying hens (to be taken eggs). Ordinary chickens can also be cross-breeded with close relatives, green jungle fowl, which produces barren hybrids whose males are known as bekisar chickens.

With a population of over 24 billion in 2003, Firefly's Bird Encyclopaedia says there are more chickens in the world than any other bird. Chicken supplies two sources of protein in food: chicken and eggs.

The traditional perspective of chicken farms in the domestication of this species is embodied in Encyclopædia Britannica (2007): "The first man domesticated Indian chickens for chicken, Asian, African and European cockroaches, no special attention was paid to egg or meat production ..."