Chicken
Conservation status: Domesticated |
A Bantam rooster
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Scientific classification |
| Kingdom: |
Animalia
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| Phylum: |
Chordata
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| Class: |
Aves
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| Order: |
Galliformes
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| Family: |
Phasianidae
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| Genus: |
Gallus
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| Species: |
G. gallus
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| Subspecies: |
G. g. domesticus
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|
|
Trinomial name |
Gallus gallus domesticus
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A chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a
type of
domesticated
bird which is often raised as a type of
poultry. It is believed to be descended from the wild
Indian and south-east Asian
Red Junglefowl.
With a population of more than 24 billion in 2003
(according to the Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds),
there are more chickens in the world than any other bird.
They provide two sources of food frequently consumed by
humans: their
meat, also known as chicken, and
eggs.
General biology and habitat
Chicken
eggs vary in color depending on the hen,
typically ranging from bright white to shades of
brown and even blue, green, and recently
reported purple (found in South Asia) (Araucana
varieties).
Rooster crowing during daylight hours
Male chickens are known as roosters (in the U.S., Canada
and Australia), cocks, or cockerels if they are young.
Female chickens are known as hens, or 'chooks' in
Australasian English. Young females are known as pullets. Roosters can usually be differentiated from
hens by their striking plumage, marked by long flowing tails
and bright pointed feathers on their necks.
However, in some breeds, such as the Sebright, the cock
only has slightly pointed neck feathers, and the
identification must be made by looking at the comb. Chickens
have a fleshy crest on their heads called a comb, and a
fleshy piece of hanging skin under their beak called a
wattle. These organs help to cool the bird by redirecting
bloodflow to the skin. Both the male and female have
distinctive wattles and combs. In males, the combs are often
more prominent, though this is not the case in all
varieties.
Domestic chickens are typically fed commercially prepared
feed that includes a
protein source as well as grains. Chickens often scratch at
the soil to get at adult insects and larvae or seed.
Incidents of cannibalism can occur when a curious bird pecks at a
pre-existing wound or during fighting (even among female
birds). This is exacerbated in close quarters. In commercial
egg production this is controlled by trimming the beak
(removal of ⅔ of the top half and occasionally ⅓ of the
lower half of the beak).
Domestic chickens are not capable of flying for long
distances, although they are generally capable of flying for
short distances such as over fences. Chickens will sometimes
fly simply in order to explore their surroundings, but will
especially fly in an attempt to flee when they perceive
danger. Because of the risk of flight, chickens raised in
the open air generally have one of their wings clipped by
the breeder — the tips of the longest feathers on one of the
wings are cut, resulting in unbalanced flight which the bird
cannot sustain for more than a few meters (more
on wing clipping).
Chickens are gregarious birds and live together as a
flock. They have a communal approach to the incubation of
eggs and raising of young. Individual chickens in a flock
will dominate others, establishing a "pecking order", with dominant individuals having priority for
access to food and nesting locations. Removing hens or
roosters from a flock causes a temporary disruption to this
social order until a new pecking order is established.
Chickens will try to lay in nests that already contain
eggs, and have been known to move eggs from neighbouring
nests into their own. Some farmers use fake eggs made from
plastic or stone to encourage hens to lay in a particular
location. The result of this behavior is that a flock will
use only a few preferred locations, rather than having a
different nest for every bird.
Hens can also be extremely stubborn about always laying
in the same location. It is not unknown for two (or more)
hens to try to share the same nest at the same time. If the
nest is small, or one of the hens is particularly
determined, this may result in chickens trying to lay on top
of each other.
Contrary to popular belief, roosters may crow at any time
of the day or night. Their crowing - a loud and sometimes
shrill call - is a territorial signal to other roosters.
However, crowing may also result from sudden disturbances
within their surroundings.
Chickens are domesticated descendants of the
red junglefowl, which is biologically classified as the
same species.
Recent studies
[1] have shown that chickens (and possibly other bird
species) still retain the genetic blueprints to produce
teeth in the jaws, although these are dormant in living
animals. These are a holdover from primitive birds such as
Archaeopteryx, which were descended from theropod dinosaurs.
Courting
When a rooster finds food he may call the other chickens
to eat it first. He does this by clucking in a high pitch as
well as picking up and dropping the food. This behavior can
also be observed in mother hens, calling their chicks. In
some cases the rooster will drag the wing opposite the hen
on the ground, while circling her. This is part of chicken
courting ritual. When a hen is used to coming to his "call"
the rooster may mount the hen and proceed with the
fertilization.
Going broody
A broody hen guarding her eggs
Sometimes a hen will stop laying and instead will focus
on the incubation of eggs, a state that is commonly known as
going broody. A broody chicken will sit fast on the
nest, and protest or peck in defense if disturbed or
removed, and will rarely leave the nest to eat, drink, or
dust bathe. While broody, the hen keeps the eggs at a
constant temperature and humidity, as well as turning the
eggs regularly.
At the end of the incubation period, which is an average
of 21 days, the eggs (if fertilized) will hatch, and the
broody hen will take care of her young. Since individual
eggs do not all hatch at exactly the same time (the chicken
can only lay one egg approximately every 25 hours), the hen
will usually stay on the nest for about two days after the
first egg hatches. During this time, the newly-hatched
chicks live off the egg yolk they absorb just before
hatching. The hen can hear the chicks peeping inside the
eggs, and will gently cluck to encourage them to break out
of their shells. If the eggs are not fertilized and do not
hatch, the hen will eventually grow tired of being broody
and leave the nest.
Modern egg-laying breeds rarely go broody, and those that
do often stop part-way through the incubation cycle. Some
breeds, such as the
Cochin, Cornish and Silkie, regularly go broody and make excellent mothers.
Artificial incubation
Chicken egg incubation can successfully occur
artificially as well. Nearly all chicken eggs will hatch
after 21 days of good conditions - 99.5° fahrenheit (37.5°C)
and around 55% relative humidity (increase to 70% in the last three
days of incubation to help soften egg shell). Many
commercial incubators are industrial-sized with shelves
holding tens of thousands of eggs at a time, with rotation
of the eggs a fully automated process.
Home incubators are usually small boxes (styrofoam
incubators are popular) and hold a few to 50 eggs. Eggs must
be turned three to five times each day, rotating at least 90
degrees. If eggs aren't turned, the embryo inside will stick to the shell and likely will be
hatched with physical defects. This process is natural; hens
will stand up three to five times a day and shift the eggs
around with their
beak.
Chickens as pets
pair of day old chicks
Chickens can make loving and gentle companion animals,
but sometimes can turn nasty. It is not suggested you keep a
chicken as a pet if you have young children, as they can be
very territorial and violent. In Asia, chickens with
striking plumage have long been kept for ornamental
purposes, including feather-footed varieties such as the
Cochin and Silkie from China and the extremely long-tailed
Phoenix from Japan. Asian ornamental varieties were imported
into the United States and Great Britain in the late 1800s. Poultry fanciers then
began keeping these ornamental birds for exhibition, a
practice that continues today. From these Asian breeds,
distinctive American varieties of chickens have been
developed.
Today, some cities in the United States still allow
residents to keep chickens as pets, although the practice is
quickly disappearing. Individuals in rural communities
commonly keep chickens for both ornamental and practical
value. Some communities ban only roosters, allowing the
quieter hens. Many zoos use chickens instead of
insecticides to control insect populations.
Keeping a few chickens as backyard pets is surprisingly
easy to do. The major challenge is protecting the birds from
predators, both domestic predators such as dogs and wild
predators such as racoons in North America and foxes in
Europe. The birds will need a secure place to sleep at
night. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you like.
For only a few birds which are allowed to free roam during
the day, a large dog house type structure with a locking
door will serve just fine. Some kind of bedding such as
straw or wood shaving should be provided on the floor. Nest
boxes will make egg collection easier. If the birds are left
in the structure during the day, a larger more elaborate
structure would be necessary.
Chicken naturally return to the same spot to roost
everynight. That means on most occasions they will put
themselves to bed and your only job is to make sure the door
is shut and locked before nightfall. It is best to count the
birds each night as sometimes a bird will not find her way
back into the coop. A bird left out at night is likely to be
taken by a racoon or other nocturnal predator.
Most chickens cannot fly well and are easily contained
with 3-4' fencing. Birds which are allowed to roam the yard
during the day are quite effective at controlling insects of
all types. The birds will pick at plants and grass and may
cause some damage to ground-covers with their scratching.
Areas of bare dirt will benefit from the weed control and
soil cultivation provided by the birds in their never ending
search for food. Also chickens will eat most any kind of
food scraps. It can be quite satisfying to see unusable food
items turned into eggs by these able recyclers.
The eggs themselves can be quite different from the store
purchased variety. Fresh yolks are quite "perky" and stand
tall above the white. The yolk color is frequently a deeper
color than the pale yellow of commercially raised eggs and
can at time be almost a dark orange. The pleasure of picking
up a freshly laid egg still warm to the touch is not to be
overlooked.
Growing chickens can easily be tamed by feeding them a
special treat such as
mealworms in the palm of one's hand, and by being with
them for at least ten minutes daily when they are young.
However even older birds can be tamed considerably by hand
feeding leftover table scraps to the birds. It can be fun to
help the birds forage by turning rocks over and watching
them grab worms and bugs that typically can be found in
these dark, moist areas. The chickens quickly associate you
with a source of food and will become your constant
companion when you are both in the yard.
A former recurring
skit on the weekly comedy show
Saturday Night Live featured a chicken
pet store with the Chinese owner (as played by
Dana Carvey) not wishing to sell to customers on the
basis that "Chickens make lousy house pets
Chickens in agriculture
Free Range Chickens Drinking from a tire
In the United States, chickens were once raised primarily
on family farms. Prior to about 1930, chicken was served
primarily on special occasions or on Sunday, as the birds
were typically more valued for their eggs than meat. Excess
roosters or non-productive hens would be culled from the
flock first for butchering. As cities developed and markets
sprung up across the nation, live chickens from local farms
could often be seen for sale in crates outside the market to
be butchered and cleaned onsite by the
butcher.
With the advent of vertical integration and selective
breeding of efficient meat-type birds, poultry production
changed dramatically. Large farms and packing plants emerged
that could grow birds by the thousands. Chickens could be
sent to slaughterhouses for butchering and processing into
pre-packaged commercial products to be frozen or shipped
fresh to markets or wholesalers. Meat-type chickens
currently grow to market weight in 6-7 weeks whereas only
fifty years ago it took three times as long (reference:
Havenstein, G.B., P.R. Ferket, and M.A. Qureshi, 2003a.
Growth, livability, and feed conversion of 1957 versus 2001
broilers when feed representative 1957 and 2001 broiler
diets. Poult. Sci. 82:1500-1508). This is due exclusively to
genetic selection and nutritional advances (and not to use
of growth hormones, which are illegal for use in poultry in
the US and many other countries). Once a meat consumed only
occasionally, the common availability and lower cost has
made chicken a common and significant meat product within
developed nations. Growing concerns over the cholesterol content of red meat in the 1980s and 1990s
further resulted in increased consumption of chicken.
Another breed of chicken, the Leghorn, was further
developed to be efficient layers of eggs. Egg production and
consumption changed with the development of automation and
refrigeration. Large farms were devoted solely to egg
production and packaging. Today, eggs are produced on large
egg ranches on which environmental parameters are well
controlled. Chickens are exposed to artificial light cycles
to stimulate egg production year-round. In addition, it is a
common practice to induce molt through careful manipulation of light and the
amount of food they receive in order to further increase egg
size and production.
Often, people in developing countries keep chickens for
their eggs and meat.
Issues with mass production
Battery cages, which measure 18 by 20 inches and
hold 5 to 11 hens each.
Many animal rights advocates object to killing chickens
for food or to the "factory farm conditions" under which
they are raised. They contend that commercial chicken
production often involves raising the birds in large,
crowded rearing sheds that prevent the chickens from engaging in
many of their natural behaviors. Contrary to popular belief,
however, meat-type chickens are not raised in cages and are
instead raised on the floor on litter such as rice hulls.
They are slaughtered prior to sexual maturity, and thus many
of the aggressive behaviors seen in adult chickens
(fighting, cannibalism) are seldom seen in meat-type
chickens. In 2004, 8.9 billion chickens were slaughtered in
the United States[2].
Although many would argue that the birds are not
intelligent and thus not a high priority for humane
treatment on farms, a woman once brought a chicken on The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno where it played "Mary Had A
Little Lamb" on a toy piano and bowled 3 strikes. Animal
rights groups such as PETA see this and other "amazing" trained chickens as
evidence that they are intelligent and sentient and should
not be killed or eaten
[3].
Another
animal welfare issue is the use of selective breeding to create heavy, large-breasted
birds, which can lead to crippling leg disorders and heart
failure for some of the birds. In addition, many scientists
have raised concerns that companies growing one variety of
bird for eggs or meat are causing them to become much more
susceptible to disease. For this reason, many scientists are
promoting the conservation of heritage breeds to retain
genetic diversity in the species.
Chicken diseases
Hen with newly hatched chicks
Day old chick
Baby chicks in a box
- Aspergillosis
Avian influenza (bird flu) - most well-known
chicken-related disease
Blackhead disease
Botulism
Cage Layer Fatigue
Coccidiosis
Colds
Crop bound
Egg bound
Erysipelas
Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome
Fowl Cholera
Fowl pox
Fowl Typhoid
Gallid herpesvirus 1 Also known as Infectious
Laryngotracheitis or LT
Gapeworms
Infectious Bronchitis
Infectious Bursal Disease (Gumboro)
Infectious Coryza
Lymphoid Leucosis
Marek's disease
Moniliasis
Mycoplasmas
Newcastle disease
Necrotic Enteritis
Omphalitis (Mushy chick disease)
Prolapse (in egg layers)
Psittacosis
Pullorum (Salmonella)
Scaly leg
Squamous cell carcinoma
Tibial dyschondroplasia
Toxoplasmosis
Ulcerative Enteritis
Chickens are also susceptible to parasites, including
lice, mites, ticks, fleas, and intestinal Worms.
Chickenpox is a disease of humans, not chickens.
Chickens in religion
Chickens,
Indonesia
In
Indonesia the chicken has great significance during the
Hindu cremation ceremony. A chicken is a channel for evil
spirits which may be present during the ceremony. A chicken
is tethered by the leg and kept present at the ceremony for
the duration to ensure that any evil spirits present during
the ceremony go into the chicken and not the family members
present. The chicken is then taken home and returns to its
normal life. It is not treated in any special way or
slaughtered after the ceremony.
In
ancient Greece, the chicken was not normally used for
sacrifices, perhaps because it was still considered an
exotic animal. Because of its valour, cocks are found as
attributes of Ares, Heracles and Athena. The Greeks believed
that even lions were afraid of cocks. Several of Aesop's
Fables reference this belief.
In the cult of
Mithras, the cock was a symbol of the divine light and a
guardian against evil.
In the
Bible,
Jesus prophesied the betrayal by Peter: "And he said, I tell
thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that
thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." (Luke
22:43) Thus it happened (Luke 22:61), and Peter cried
bitterly. This made the cock a symbol for both vigilance and
betrayal.
Earlier, Jesus compares himself to a mother hen, when
talking about
Jerusalem: "How often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37; also Luke 13:34).
In many Central European folk tales, the
devil is believed to flee at the first crowing of a
cock.
In some sects of
Orthodox Judaism a chicken is slaughtered on the afternoon
before Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) in a ritual called
kapparos. Although not actually a sacrifice in the
biblical sense, the death of the chicken reminds the
penitent sinner that his or her life is in God's hands. A
woman brings a hen to be slaughtered, a man brings a
rooster. The meat is donated to the poor.
The
Talmud speaks of learning "courtesy toward one's mate"
from the rooster. This might refer to the fact that, when a
rooster finds something good to eat, he calls his hens to
eat first.
The chicken is one of the Zodiac symbols of the Chinese
calendar. Also in Chinese religion, a cooked chicken as a
religious offering is usually limited to ancestor veneration
and worship of village deities. Vegetarian deities such as
Buddha are not one of the recipients of such offerings.
Under some observations, an offering of chicken is present
with "serious" prayer (while roasted pork is offered during
a joyous celebration). In some old Confucian Chinese Wedding a chicken can be used as a substitute of that
person if they are seriously ill or not available (e.g
sudden death) to attend during the ceremony. They will put a
red silk scarf on the chickens head and a close relative of
the absent bride/groom will be holding the chicken to
continue with the ceremony. However this occurrence happens
rarely in modern time and usually better to avoid.
History
The first pictures of chickens in Europe are found on
Corinthian pottery of the 7th century BC. The poet Cratinus
(mid-5th century BC, according to the later Greek author
Athenaeus) calls the chicken "the Persian alarm". In
Aristophanes's comedy The Birds (414 BC) a chicken is called
"the Median bird", which points to an introduction from the
East. Pictures of chickens are found on Greek red figure and
black-figure pottery.
In ancient Greece, chickens were still rare and were a
rather prestigious food for symposia. Delos seems to have been a centre of chicken breeding.
An early domestication of chickens in
Southeast Asia is probable, since the word for domestic
chicken (*manuk) is part of the reconstructed Proto-Austronesian
language (see Austronesian languages). Chickens, together with
dogs
and pigs, were the domestic animals of the Lapita culture,
the first Neolithic culture of Oceania.
Chickens were spread by Polynesian seafarers and reached
Easter Island in the 12th century AD, where they were the
only domestic animal, with the possible exception of the
Polynesian Rat (Rattus exulans). They were housed
in extremely solid chicken coops built from stone. Traveling
as cargo on trading boats, they reached the Asian continent
via the islands of Indonesia and from there spread west to
Europe and western Asia.
Chickens in ancient Rome
The
Romans used chickens for oracles, both when flying ("ex
avibus") and when feeding ("auspicium ex tripudiis"). The
hen ("gallina") gave a favourable omen ("auspicium ratum"),
when appearing from the left (Cic.,de Div. ii.26), like the
crow and the owl.
For the oracle "ex tripudiis" according to
Cicero (Cic. de Div. ii.34), any bird could be used, but
normally only chickens ("pulli") were consulted. The
chickens were cared for by the pullarius, who opened their
cage and fed them pulses or a special kind of soft cake when
an augury was needed. If the chickens stayed in their cage,
made noises ("occinerent"), beat their wings or flew away,
the omen was bad; if they ate greedily, the omen was good.
In
249 BC, the Roman general Publius Claudius Pulcher had his
chickens thrown overboard when they refused to feed before
the battle of Drepana, saying "If they won't eat, perhaps
they will drink." He promptly lost the battle against the
Carthaginians and 93 Roman ships were sunk. Back in Rome, he
was tried for impiety and heavily fined.
In 161 BC a law was passed in Rome that forbade the
consumption of fattened chickens. It was renewed a number of
times, but does not seem to have been successful. Fattening
chickens with bread soaked in milk was thought to give
especially delicious results. The Roman gourmet Apicius
offers 17 recipes for chicken, mainly boiled chicken with a
sauce. All parts of the animal are used: the recipes include
the stomach, liver, testicles and even the pygostyle
(the fatty "tail" of the chicken where the
tail feathers attach).
The Roman author
Columella gives advice on chicken breeding in his eighth
book of his treatise on agriculture. He identifies Tanagrian,
Rhodic, Chalkidic and Median (commonly misidentified as
Melian) breeds, which have an impressive appearance, a
quarrelsome nature and were used for cockfighting by the Greeks. For farming, native (Roman)
chickens are to be preferred, or a cross between native hens
and Greek cocks. Dwarf chickens are nice to watch because of
their size but have no other advantages.
Per Columella, the ideal flock consists of 200 birds,
which can be supervised by one person if someone is watching
for stray animals. White chickens should be avoided as they
are not very fertile and are easily caught by eagles or
goshawks. One cock should be kept for five hens. In the case
of Rhodian and Median cocks that are very heavy and
therefore not much inclined to sex, only three hens are kept
per cock. The hens of heavy fowls are not much inclined to
brood; therefore their eggs are best hatched by normal hens.
A hen can hatch no more than 15-23 eggs, depending on the
time of year, and supervise no more than 30 hatchlings. Eggs
that are long and pointed give more male, rounded eggs
mainly female hatchlings.
Per Columella, Chicken coops should face southeast and
lie adjacent to the kitchen, as smoke is beneficial for the
animals. Coops should consist of three rooms and possess a
hearth. Dry dust or ash should be provided for dust-baths.
According to Columella, chicken should be fed on barley
groats, small chick-peas, millet and wheat bran, if they are
cheap. Wheat itself should be avoided as it is harmful to
the birds. Boiled ryegrass (Lollium sp.) and the
leaves and seeds of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) can
be used as well. Grape marc can be used, but only when the
hens stop laying eggs, that is, about the middle of
November; otherwise eggs are small and few. When feeding
grape marc, it should be supplemented with some bran. Hens
start to lay eggs after the winter solstice, in warm places
around the first of January, in colder areas in the middle
of February. Parboiled barley increases their fertility;
this should be mixed with alfalfa leaves and seeds, or
vetches or millet if alfalfa is not at hand. Free-ranging
chickens should receive two cups of barley daily.
Columella advises farmers to slaughter hens that are
older than three years, because they no longer produce
sufficient eggs. Capons were produced by burning out their
spurs with a hot iron. The wound was treated with potter's
chalk.
A selection of chicken breeds
- Araucana
Australorp
Barnevelder
Brahma (chicken)
Orpington
Plymouth Rock
Rhode Island Red
Sussex
Wyandotte
Famous chickens
Real chickens
- Mike the Headless Chicken
Henrietta the four-legged chicken
Fictional chickens
- Alecto and Galina, in Clemens Brentano's "The Tale
of Gockel, Hinkel, and Gackeleia"
Billina the talking hen, from L. Frank Baum's Ozma of Oz
Burn Rooster, a Maverick with fire-elemental powers from
the video game Mega Man X8 (made by Capcom)
Camilla the Chicken, the object of Gonzo (Muppet)'s
affections.
Chanticleer, the rooster from Geoffrey Chaucer's The
Canterbury Tales ("The Nun's Priest's Tale")
Chanticleer, the Elvis Presley-like rooster in the Don
Bluth film Rock-a-Doodle; presumably named for the
Chaucer rooster.
Chicken, from the Cow and Chicken cartoon series
Chicken Boo, from Animaniacs
Chicken Little, the chicken that thought the sky was
falling when an acorn landed on its head
Chicken Man, from Chicken Man (radio series)
Cuccos (also Hylian Cuccos) are a breed of chickens or
chicken-like birds which feature prominently in latter
installments of the Legend of Zelda series.
Fission Chicken, the Chicken of Wrath, grouchy superhero
Foghorn Leghorn, the rooster and Looney Tunes character
Le coq d'or (The Golden Cockerel) opera by
Rimsky-Korsakov, with a magical cock that is supposed to
crow to warn the king of advancing enemies
Le galline penseuse of Luigi Malerba (Einaudi, 1980)
Ginger, the protagonist of the movie Chicken Run
The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg was originally a
chicken in some older versions
Jonathan Segal Chicken, a 1973 book written by Sol
Weinstein and Howard Albrecht, parodying Jonathan
Livingston Seagull
The Little Red Hen, who asked everyone in the barnyard
to help bake bread
The vicious Chicken of Bristol, who was nearly stood up
to by Brave Sir Robin, in Monty Python and the Holy
Grail.
Little Jerry Seinfeld, a fighting cock appearing in "The
Little Jerry" (episode 145) of Seinfeld
Joey and Chandler's chicken from Friends, who eventually
became a rooster, died some time later and was succeeded
by Chick, Jr.
The Rooster Prince is a parable written by Rabbi Nachman
of Breslov, in which a prince goes insane and believes
himself to be a rooster (in some English translations of
the tale, the species of bird is a turkey)
The San Diego Chicken
Sweety the Chick, an animated character with a ringtone
The Subservient Chicken, part of a viral marketing
promotion
Lord Chicken the Great; see Leongatha
Ultra Mega Chicken is a legendary chicken raised from
the dead by Billy Witch Doctor in Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Roy, Booker and Sheldon from U.S. Acres
King Chicken, from Duckman
Little John, Bubble, Bubble Junior,Pop, Araucana 1,
Araucana II, Buffy Araucana, Mary and Sheepy are the
chickens of a popular ABC television show set in
Turramurra, Sydney, Australia called The chickens of
Warragal Road; the series ran from 1983 to 1985.
The 'Yellow Chicken' that violently and restlessly
fights Peter in Family Guy has become one of the most
beloved character on the cult show
Robot Chicken, a television series that appears on Adult
Swim, features a mad scientist in the opening theme
bringing a roadkill chicken to life in cyborg form. The
show itself is a stop-motion sketch comedy, featuring
sements which generally have nothing to do with
chicken(s).
Charles the Rooster in Walter R. Brooks' "Freddy the
Pig" Series
Henerietta the Hen in Walter R. Brooks' "Freddy the Pig"
Series
Super Chicken, an animated television cartoon character
Alan-a-Dale, the Rooster in Disney's Robin Hood
Gamecocks, chickens used by Masa Tom Lea and others in
the book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, and in
the tv miniseries Roots
The Chickens in DreamWorks' Chicken Run
The two chickens in the Foster Farms commercials
The Rooster logo for Dickhouse Productions company for
the tv show Jackass
Mythical creatures with chicken-like anatomy
- The hut of the Russian witch Baba Yaga moves on
chicken feet
The demon Abraxas, often depicted on "Gnostic gems" has
a cock's head, the upper body of a man, while his lower
part is formed by a snake. He often holds a whip.
The Basilisk, a giant snake who kills with a single
glance and poisons wells, was hatched by a toad from a
hen's egg. The Basilisk will die if it hears a rooster
crowing.
The cockatrice
Chicken as symbol
- The cock is a national symbol of France and is used
as an (unofficial) national mascot, in particular for
sports teams. See also: Gallic rooster.
The Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) independent party ZANU party
used a chicken as a symbol, since a majority of
Rhodesian citizens (mostly native african black) were
analphabetic due to lack of school funding for the poor,
so they use symbol or mascot to identify their political
party.
The mascot of the English Premiership team Tottenham
Hotspur is a cockerel.
The standard of Sir Robin from Monty Python and the Holy
Grail is a chicken.
The town of Denizli in Republic of Turkey is symbolized
by a cock.
Sydney Roosters Australian rugby league team
The Rhode Island Red is the state bird of Rhode Island.
Pathé corporate logo
The athletic teams of the University of South Carolina
"The USC" (the original USC) use the Gamecock (the
fighting cock) as mascot and use the "Gamecocks" as
their moniker.
Fighting Cock brand of Bourbon uses a mean rooster as
their trademark.
The State Bird of Delaware is the Blue Hen, as well
being the Mascot for the University of Delaware sports
teams.
Published Sources
P. Smith, The Chicken Book (University of Georgia
Press, 2000), passim.
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