Chicken
Gallus gallus domesticus

Chickens are descended from wild Red Jungle Fowl and were domesticated by humans more than 8,000 years ago. A fixture of farm life, chickens come in a range of sizes and shapes, with more than 60 breeds worldwide.

What They Eat
Chickens are omnivores, eating all types of food. Outdoors, they find seeds, insects, grubs, and worms. On large farms today, chickens eat feeds packed with protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Chickens are big drinkers. They swallow 2-3 times as much water as feed.

Where They Live
Chickens live wherever humans do. People have developed different breeds to fit different environments. Some, such as Plymouth Rock chickens, are good foragers. Others, such as Araucanas, are well adapted to living indoors.

What They Do
Chickens are social animals that live in groups, with several hens living with one or more roosters. Hens spend their days laying eggs, pecking for food, or resting on a roost. Although chickens are birds, most cannot fly.

How They’re Doing
Because they are important to people, chickens are not in danger. However, some breeds of domestic chicken are rare. Farmers and Zoo staff work to preserve different breeds. Preserving diversity among breeds makes domestic chickens healthier as a species.

Chicken

Unlike people, chickens can’t have a “sweet tooth.” While they can taste salt, they can’t tell which foods are sweet. Besides, chickens have no teeth!

Before clocks were widely used, many people relied on roosters to wake them up in the morning.

A rooster’s morning greeting—cock-a-doodle-doo in English—is chicchirichí in Italian, ko-ke-kok-ko-o in Japanese, and 'o'o'o in Mandarin Chinese.

Chickens are smarter than you might think. Studies prove that if you show a chicken an object, and then hide it, the chicken realizes that the object still exists—something human toddlers aren’t always able to understand.

Helpful hints for viewing the animals

The Farm is open from April through October.  During those months, visitors can view chickens outside in the fenced-in yard. Come inside to see the nest boxes, children’s play area, incubator, hatcher, brooder, and roosting areas.

A schedule for special events at the Wells Fargo Family Farm is available at the Zoo’s Guest Services desk.

Chicks are born year-round, but there are usually a few more births in springtime than in other seasons. Guest Services can tell you when large numbers of new baby chicks are in the Chicken House.

Allow plenty of travel time to get to the Chicken House from the Zoo entrance. Access to the Wells Fargo Family Farm is about halfway around the 1.4 mile Northern Trail Loop.

 

Chicken

The Zoo has a flock of chickens at the Wells Fargo Family Farm. These birds range from Plymouth Rocks to rare Buff Cochins. The flock also includes Red Jungle Fowl, the chicken’s wild ancestor.

When the farm is open, visitors to the Chicken House can get a close look at the flock and follow the chicken’s life cycle from egg to fluffy chick to grown hen.

Meet the Animals

The Zoo’s flock changes from year to year. It generally includes Araucana, Buff Cochin, Partridge Rock, and Plymouth Rock chickens, along with wild Red Jungle Fowl.

Some are easy to identify: Araucanas have unusual feather tufts around the neck. Buff Cochins have buff-colored feathers down to their feet. (They look as if they are wearing feather-covered pants.) Wild Red Jungle Fowl—in spite of their name—have a mix of gold, orange, red, black, and white feathers.

Home on the Farm

The Zoo’s chickens live in the chicken house. This red-and-green building contains roosts and nest boxes. It also houses areas where eggs are hatched into chicks. In warm weather, hens, roosters, and chicks peck in the dirt of the fenced-in yard.

Inside the Chicken House, there’s a kid-sized roosting area to play in. Kids can crawl through a coop and play in jumbo nest boxes. Cutouts in the walls allow kids to poke their heads out and smile for the camera.

Care at the Zoo

Every morning, newly laid eggs are taken from nest boxes to the incubator, a warm environment.

Eggs are generally incubated (kept in that warm place) for 18 days. Next, eggs are placed in a hatcher, where most will hatch at 21 days. Any unhatched eggs are removed and discarded.

When hatching, a chick uses a sharp projection at the top of its beak, called an egg tooth, to make a hole, or pip, in the shell. After making the pip, a chick rests for 3-8 hours. Then it breaks the shell all around and pushes its feet against the small end of the shell. In about 40 minutes, a chick can work its way free from the shell.

Young chicks move into the brooder. This area is designed to keep chicks warm and dry, while giving them easy access to food and water. Chicks in the brooder range in age from 2 days to 2 weeks.

Zoo staff sometimes allow visitors to pet chicks. To pet a chick, gently run one finger along the animal’s back.

After the age of 2 weeks, chicks move from the brooder into the roosting area. After they grow to maturity, some chicks are added to the flock, where they continue to be cared for by Zoo staff.

Chicken

What’s a Breed?
A breed is a group of animals or plants sharing common ancestors and many of the same traits. There are more than 60 different breeds of domestic chickens worldwide.

The Zoo’s flock changes frequently but generally includes Araucana, Buff Cochin, Partridge Rock, and Plymouth Rock chickens, along with wild Red Jungle Fowl.

So Many Kinds
People have created different breeds for different purposes. They may want chickens that thrive outdoors, chickens with unusual and beautiful feathers, or chickens that produce lots of eggs or meat. By selecting individual chickens and breeding them, people have developed many beautiful and unusual breeds.

Farmers and breeders are working to ensure that rare breeds, such as the Cochin, do not die out. They believe that each chicken breed contributes to the health of the species as a whole.

Breeds at the Zoo

Araucana
Buff Cochin
Partridge Rock
Plymouth Rock
Red Jungle Fowl

Araucana

Araucana chickens originated in South America near northern Chile. They were brought to the United States and crossed with other breeds.
 
This type of chicken has several unusual traits. It lays blue or greenish eggs. The color goes all the way through the shell. Brown eggs, in contrast, are usually only brown on the surface.

Araucanas have tufts of feathers around their ears, on either side of the neck. Some birds are rumpless.

A related breed to the Araucana is the Ameraucana. It was developed in the United States in the 1970s to be a better meat-producer than the Araucana.

Buff Cochin

Buff Cochins—a variety of Cochin chicken—are known for fluffy feathers with a light, or buff, color. Cochins originated in China, and were once called Shanghais.

In the mid-1940s, Cochins were brought to the United States and England. They were soon popular because of their luxurious plumage.

The Buff Cochin is covered with many light-colored feathers that extend to the bird’s feet. Feathers make these already-large birds (weighing as much as 10-12 pounds) look even bigger than they are.

Buff Cochins are ornamentals,  raised primarily because they are beautiful. Their fluffy feathers are not always practical. Cochins should be kept indoors on wet and muddy days.

Cochins are valued for more than just their looks. Hens are good mothers and good egg-producers. The breed does well in colder climates and is frequently recommended as a good pet.

Today, Cochins are a rare breed, with fewer than 5,000 birds in North America. The Buff Cochins at the Minnesota Zoo are part of the Zoo’s continued commitment to preserving rare  and unusual breeds.

Partridge Rock

The Partridge Rock is a variety of Plymouth Rock chicken (see below), recognized as a breed in 1909.

The Partridge Rock’s coloring resembles that of another bird, the partridge. The partridge color pattern gives the Partridge Rock a rich red head. Hens have red feathers, penciled with black, while cocks have a black tail with greenish-black sickles.

The Partridge Rock produces brown eggs. It is known for being a hardy, dual-purpose (egg-laying and meat-producing) chicken.

Plymouth Rock

First developed in the mid-1800s in New England, the Plymouth Rock breed takes its name from the site of one of the first European settlements in North America, in Plymouth, MA. Today, the breed’s name is usually shortened to Rock.

The Plymouth Rock is a mix of breeds: Dominique, Cochin, Java, and perhaps several others. Roosters typically average 9 ½ pounds, while hens weigh about 7 ½ pounds.

The first Plymouth Rock chickens were barred, with alternating color bands of black and white. Other varieties, including the Partridge Rock (also part of the Zoo’s flock), were developed later.

The Plymouth Rock breed became popular as a general-purpose farm chicken. It is hardy, well-behaved, and a good source of both eggs and meat.

Today, one Plymouth Rock variety—the White Rock—is a major component of much of the chicken meat eaten in America. White Cornish roosters are mated with White Plymouth Rock hens to make a hybrid that has big, meaty breasts.

Red Jungle Fowl

All domestic chickens are descended from the wild Red Jungle Fowl of Southeast Asia. These birds still exist in the wild in the jungles of northeastern India.

As a species, Red Jungle Fowl are threatened with extinction. Their jungle home is shrinking, and wild fowl are mixing with domestic chickens in bordering areas. The Red Jungle Fowl in the Zoo’s flock are part of the Zoo’s continued commitment to preserving rare animals.

Male Red Jungle Fowl have long golden or bronze feathers along the back that form a cape or shawl. The cock’s long tail feathers are black with purple, green, and blue.

Females are generally much smaller than males and are less boldly colored. This last feature offers females some camouflage. This allows them to raise their young while blending into their jungle home.

 

 

Chicken

If you want to know more about chickens, look no farther. This Chicken Handbook contains general information on chickens and specifics about chickens at the Minnesota Zoo’s Wells Fargo Family Farm.

To help you navigate through the wealth of information, here’s a quick topic finder:

• What Is a Chicken?
• Farm to Table
• Chickens at the Zoo

What Is a Chicken?

All tame, or domestic, chickens are descended from Red Jungle Fowl. This type of wild bird once lived throughout Southeast Asia.

Today, the wild Red Jungle Fowl can still be found in jungle regions of northeastern India. This endangered species is also on exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo as part of the Tropics Trail and at the Wells Fargo Family Farm.

Experts estimate that Red Jungle Fowl were first domesticated about 8,000 years ago in what is now Thailand and Vietnam. The chicken was introduced into China in about 1600 B.C. Its image can be found in Babylonian carvings in about 600 B.C.

The Greek writer Aristophanes mentions chickens in about 400 B.C. And the Ancient Romans considered chickens to be sacred to Mars, their god of war.

People originally domesticated chickens for their fighting ability, not for eggs or meat. The sport of cockfighting—forcing roosters to fight—was popular in India by 3200 B.C., and later spread to Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The practice still exists today, although cockfighting is against the law in 47 of the 50 United States.

While most modern chicken breeds were developed to satisfy human needs for eggs and meat, some chickens are members of what are known as “fighting breeds.” And even now, the cock remains a symbol of courage.

Domestic chickens belong to the scientific class Aves, and the order Galliformes. They are members of the family Phasianidae. This family also includes grouse, jungle fowl, partridges, peafowl, pheasants, and turkeys, among others.

Like other members of the genus Gallus—which includes wild jungle fowl—domestic chickens molt. They shed old feathers and grow new ones every year.

Chickens tend to molt in summer and early fall. They lose their feathers in a set sequence: head first, then neck, body, wings, and tail. Molting usually happens gradually, over 12 - 16 weeks.

Members of the genus Gallus generally also have combs and wattles, red flesh perched on top of the head and hanging down from the chin. (The exception to this rule is the Silkie, a wattle-less chicken.)

Whatever their breed, most domestic chickens have lost the ability to fly. Although they still have the hollow bones and air sacs that allow other birds to fly, most chickens are too large and heavy to travel farther than a fencepost.

Chickens usually have 4 toes per foot, which help them scratch the ground for food. Domestic chickens also have flexor tendons in their legs, an adaptation that helps them perch on roosts.

Hens and pullets are smaller than cocks and cockerels. Females also tend to have less brightly colored combs and wattles than do males.

Cocks have curving, sickle-shaped tale feathers and pointed feathers on the saddle and back. Males also have sharp pointed growths, called spurs, on their shanks between the knee and ankle.

Farm to Table

Today, the vast majority of chickens are raised for egg or meat production. Some breeds are dual-purpose. Dual-purpose breeds are prized for their ability to lay eggs and produce meat.

Among domestic chickens, breeds that originated near the Mediterranean Sea tend to be the best layers. These so-called “light” breeds, include Leghorns, Anconas, and Minorcas, among others.

The United States is the world leader in egg production, with Ohio and Iowa being the top egg-producing states. Because of improvements in the American poultry industry, fewer hens now produce more eggs than in the past. The hen’s laying ability has risen from about 100 eggs per year to up to 280 eggs per year today.

The best broilers or meat-producing chickens come from a mix of two “dark” breeds: White Cornish  and White Plymouth Rock. The resulting hybrid chicken has large, meaty breasts.

In 2007, the United States produced more than 36 billion pounds of broilers. The top broiler-producing states are Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama.

Chicken breeds developed in the United States tend to be dual-purpose. Plymouth Rocks (part of the Zoo’s flock), Rhode Island Reds, and Wyandottes are just a few examples of general-purpose American breeds that produce both eggs and meat.

Along with eggs and meat, chickens provide many products. Feathers and feather fiber are used in fishing flies, textile fibers resembling wool, disposable diapers, hospital wipes, air filters, oil filters, specialty papers, and hydrolyzed feather-meal for animal food.

Eggs are used to make facial products, shampoos, conditioners, and animal feed. Chicken eggs are also used as a medium for the growth of microorganisms, in the manufacture of vaccines, as a source of purified proteins, and to preserve bull semen used in artificial insemination.

Chickens at the Zoo

The Minnesota Zoo’s flock lives in the Chicken House at the Wells Fargo Family Farm. The red-walled 24- by 32-foot Chicken House has a sloping, green gabled roof.

The Chicken House roof is taller on its southern side, a practical design for Minnesota’s harsh winters. The design allows the northern exposure, which has few exposed areas such as doors and windows, to take the brunt of the cold north wind.

Chicken coops, or houses, must be kept warm to prevent chickens from suffering from frozen combs or wattles (the red flesh that sits atop a chicken’s head or dangles from its chin). The Zoo’s Chicken House is well-insulated.

It has three old-style metal ventilators along the roof to allow for good air flow. These ventilators came from a farm in South Dakota and are supplemented by an electric exhaust fan.

Inside the Chicken House, visitors can view hens in their nest boxes. Nest boxes give hens a safe place to lay eggs. They also help out Zoo staff, who know where to look for eggs. If a hen were to lay eggs on the floor, the eggs might be spoiled, stepped on, broken, or pecked at as food.

Nest boxes are about 14”  wide, 14” high, and 12” deep. At the front is a perch or roost, so the hen can look inside. Each nest box is shared by about 4 hens, who lay their eggs on soft wood shavings.

Chickens can be messy creatures. But because staff keep the boxes and bedding clean, chickens remain healthy and there are few smells and flies in the Chicken House.