The History of the Chicken

• From their origins in Southwest Asia, chickens have spread to all corners of the world due in great part to their usefulness to man.
  
• Charles Darwin considered chickens as being descendants of a single wild species, the red jungle fowl; G.gallus, which is found in a wild state from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines.
  
• Chickens are considered to have been domesticated for at least 4,000 years.
  
• 4,000 years ago the Egyptians built brick incubators which could hold 10,000 chicks at a time.
  
• The chicken is mentioned in ancient Chinese documents from 1,400BC.
  
• Chickens are also depicted in Babylonian carvings from around 600BC, and was mentioned by early Greek writers; notably the playwright Aristophanes in 400BC.
  
• The Romans considered chickens to be sacred to 'Mars', the God of War.