- Turkeys, chickens, geese and ducks are all kinds of poultry — farm birds bred to provide meat, eggs and feathers.
- Chickens were first tamed 5,000 years ago, and there are now over 200 breeds, including bantams and Rhode Island reds.
- Female chickens and turkeys are called hens. Male chickens are called roosters or cockerels. Male turkeys are toms. Baby turkeys are poults.
- The wild turkey of North America lives in forest and scrub, where it feeds on the ground eating seeds, nuts and berries. At night it flaps in branches to rest.
- Roosters are renowned for their noisy cries every morning as the sun comes up. This harsh cry is called a crow.
- To keep hens laying, their eggs Must be collected every day. If not, the hens will wait until they have a small clutch of eggs, then try to sit on them to hatch them.
- Battery hens spend their lives crowded into rows of cages called batteries inside buildings.
- Free-range hens are allowed to scratch outdoors for insects and seeds.
- Chickens raised only for eating are called broilers.
- Turkeys are a kind of pheasant. There are several species, but all are descended from the native wild turkey of North America, first tamed by Native Americans 1,000 years ago.
- Male turkeys have a loose fold of bare, floppy skin called a wattle hanging down from their head and neck.
- All domestic chickens are descended from the wild red jungle fowl of India.
Chicken Facts
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