Editing Chicken (section)

== Description ==

{{multiple image
| width1    = 150
| image1    = Rooster portrait2.jpg
| caption1  = [[Comb (anatomy)|Comb]] and [[Wattle (anatomy)|wattle]]s of male
| width2    = 200
| image2    = Hen Comb (cropped).jpg
| caption2  = Comb of female, generally smaller
}}

Chickens are relatively large [[bird]]s, [[Diurnality|active by day]]. The body is round, the legs are unfeathered in most breeds, and the wings are short.<ref name="Smithsonian"/> Wild [[junglefowl]] can [[bird flight|fly]]; chickens and their [[flight muscle]]s are too heavy to allow them to fly more than a short distance.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Geggel |first1=Laura |title=Forget About the Road. Why Are Chickens So Bad at Flying? |url=https://www.livescience.com/57139-why-chickens-cannot-fly.html |website=Live Science |access-date=February 3, 2024 |date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=April 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404115622/https://www.livescience.com/57139-why-chickens-cannot-fly.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Size and coloration vary widely between breeds.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web |title=Chicken |url=https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/domestic-chicken |publisher=Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute |access-date=February 2, 2024 |archive-date=February 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202165324/https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/domestic-chicken |url-status=live }}</ref> Newly-hatched chicks of both modern and heritage varieties weigh the same, about {{cvt|37|g|oz}}. Modern varieties however grow much faster; by day 35 a Ross 708 [[broiler]] may weigh {{cvt|1.8|kg|lb}} as against the {{cvt|1.05|kg|lb}} of a heritage chicken of the same age.<ref name="Schmidt Persia 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=C.J. |last2=Persia |first2=M.E. |last3=Feierstein |first3=E. |last4=Kingham |first4=B. |last5=Saylor |first5=W.W. |title=Comparison of a modern broiler line and a heritage line unselected since the 1950s |journal=Poultry Science |volume=88 |issue=12 |date=2009 |doi=10.3382/ps.2009-00055 |doi-access=free |pages=2610–2619|pmid=19903960 }}</ref>

Adult chickens of both sexes have a fleshy crest on their heads called a comb or cockscomb, and hanging flaps of skin on either side under their beaks called [[Wattle (anatomy)|wattles]]; combs and wattles are [[Sexual dimorphism|more prominent in males]]. Some breeds have a [[mutation]] that causes extra feathering under the face, giving the appearance of a beard.<ref name=plosg>{{cite journal |last1=Guo |first1=Ying |last2=Gu |first2=Xiaorong |last3=Sheng |first3=Zheya |last4=Wang |first4=Yanqiang |last5=Luo |first5=Chenglong |last6=Liu |first6=Ranran |last7=Qu |first7=Hao |last8=Shu |first8=Dingming |last9=Wen |first9=Jie |last10=Crooijmans |first10=Richard P. M. A. |last11=Carlborg |first11=Örjan |last12=Zhao |first12=Yiqiang |last13=Hu |first13=Xiaoxiang |last14=Li |first14=Ning |display-authors=5 |title=A Complex Structural Variation on Chromosome 27 Leads to the Ectopic Expression of HOXB8 and the Muffs and Beard Phenotype in Chickens |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=12 |issue=6 |date=June 2, 2016 |pmid=27253709 |pmc=4890787 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006071 |doi-access=free |page=e1006071}}</ref>

Chickens are [[omnivore]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ideas-4-pets.co.uk/info.-on-chicken-care |title=Info on Chicken Care |access-date=August 13, 2008 |website=Ideas-4-pets.co.uk |year=2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625195044/http://www.ideas-4-pets.co.uk/info.-on-chicken-care |archive-date=June 25, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the wild, they scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects, and animals as large as [[lizard]]s, small snakes,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45i1hZfUQhk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/45i1hZfUQhk| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Chicken Kills Rattlesnake |last=D Lines |date=July 27, 2013 |access-date=March 13, 2019 |publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and young [[mouse|mice]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gworrell.freeyellow.com/chickenfaq.html |title=Frequently asked questions about chickens & eggs |access-date=August 13, 2008 |website=Gworrell.freeyellow.com |author=Gerard P.Worrell AKA "Farmer Jerry" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916202420/http://gworrell.freeyellow.com/chickenfaq.html |archive-date=September 16, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> A chicken may live for 5–10 years, depending on the [[breed]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/cgi-bin/TUfaq.exe?Guide=Poultry&Category=Poultry%20-%20General#q9 |title=The Poultry Guide – A to Z and FAQs |website=Ruleworks.co.uk |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128085141/http://ruleworks.co.uk/cgi-bin/TUfaq.exe?Guide=Poultry&Category=Poultry%20-%20General#q9 |archive-date=November 28, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The world's oldest known chicken lived for 16 years.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Smith |first1=Jamon |url=https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/DA/20060806/News/606120381/TL |title=World's oldest chicken starred in magic shows, was on 'Tonight Show' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220002804/https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060806%2FNEWS%2F608060400%2F1007%2FNEWS02 |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |website=[[Tuscaloosa News]] |location=Alabama, USA |date=August 6, 2006 |access-date=May 18, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Chickens are [[gregarious]], living in [[herd|flocks]], and [[Egg incubation|incubate eggs]] and raise young communally. Individual chickens dominate others, establishing a [[Dominance hierarchy|pecking order]]; dominant individuals take priority for access to food and nest sites. The concept of dominance, involving pecking, was described in female chickens by [[Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe]] in 1921 as the "pecking order".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Perrin |first=P. G. |year=1955 |title='Pecking order' 1927–54 |journal=American Speech |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=265–268|doi=10.2307/453561 |jstor=453561 | issn = 0003-1283}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schjelderup-Ebbe |first=T. |year=1975 |chapter=Contributions to the social psychology of the domestic chicken [Schleidt M., Schleidt, W. M., translators] |editor-last=Schein |editor-first=M. W. |title=Social Hierarchy and Dominance. Benchmark Papers in Animal Behavior |volume=3 |location=Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania |publisher=Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross |pages=35–49}} (Reprinted from ''Zeitschrift für Psychologie'', 1922, 88:225–252.)</ref> Male chickens tend to leap and use their claws in conflicts.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rajecki |first=D. W. |year=1988 |title=Formation of leap orders in pairs of male domestic chickens |journal=Aggressive Behavior |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=425–436|doi=10.1002/1098-2337(1988)14:6<425::AID-AB2480140604>3.0.CO;2-#|s2cid=141664966 }}</ref> Chickens are capable of mobbing and killing a weak or inexperienced predator, such as a young fox.<ref>{{cite web |last=AFP |date=March 12, 2019 |title=Chickens 'teamed up to kill fox' at Brittany farming school |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/12/chickens-teamed-up-to-kill-fox-at-brittany-farming-school |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313002528/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/12/chickens-teamed-up-to-kill-fox-at-brittany-farming-school |archive-date=March 13, 2019 |access-date=March 13, 2019 |website=Theguardian.com}}</ref>

[[File:Rooster_crowing_small.ogv|thumb|Crowing (with audio)]]

A male's crowing is a loud and sometimes shrill call, serving as a territorial signal to other males,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://phys.org/news/2015-07-cock-roosters-crow.html |title=Top cock: Roosters crow in pecking order |website=Phys.org |access-date=January 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115124738/https://phys.org/news/2015-07-cock-roosters-crow.html |archive-date=January 15, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in response to sudden disturbances within their surroundings. Hens cluck loudly after laying an [[egg]] and to call their chicks. Chickens give different [[warning call]]s to indicate that a [[Predation|predator]] is approaching from the air or on the ground.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Christopher S. |last2=Evans |first2=Linda |last3=Marler |first3=Peter |title=On the meaning of alarm calls: functional reference in an avian vocal system |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=July 1993 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=23–38 |doi=10.1006/anbe.1993.1158 |s2cid=53165305 |s2cid-access=free }}</ref>