|
|||
The History of Chickens |
|
|
From their origins in
Southwest Asia chickens have spread to all corners of world due in a
great part to their usefulness to man. |
The chicken (Gallus domesticus) was domesticated in southern Asia at least 4,000 years ago from a parental stock of one or more species of jungle fowl (principally G. gallus). Chickens did not arrive in the Western Hemisphere until the arrival of the Spanish. All breeds of chickens in the New World can be accounted for as originating from Old World stock. There is actually a chicken genome mapping project going on in Great Britain which uses data to improve chicken breeding. |