Domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, meat, or feathers
For other uses, see Poultry (disambiguation).
Poultry of the world (c. 1868)
Poultry (/ˈpoʊltri/) are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers.[1] The practice of raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, and turkeys).[2] The term also includes waterfowls of the family Anatidae (ducks and geese) but does not include wild birds hunted for food known as game or quarry.
Recent genomic studies involving the four extant junglefowl species reveals that the domestication of chicken, the most populous poultry species, occurred around 8,000 years ago in Southeast Asia.[3] This was previously believed to have occurred around 5,400 years ago, also in Southeast Asia.[4] The process may have originally occurred as a result of people hatching and rearing young birds from eggs collected from the wild, but later involved keeping the birds permanently in captivity. Domesticated chickens may have been used for cockfighting at first[5] and quail kept for their songs, but people soon realised the advantages of having a captive-bred source of food. Selective breeding for fast growth, egg-laying ability, conformation, plumage and docility took place over the centuries, and modern breeds often look very different from their wild ancestors. Although some birds are still kept in small flocks in extensive systems, most birds available in the market today are reared in intensive commercial enterprises.
Together with pork, poultry is one of the two most widely-eaten types of meat globally, with over 70% of the meat supply in 2012 between them;[6] poultry provides nutritionally beneficial food containing high-quality protein accompanied by a low proportion of fat. All poultry meat should be properly handled and sufficiently cooked in order to reduce the risk of food poisoning. Semi-vegetarians who consume poultry as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pollotarianism.
^"Consider These 6 Types Of Poultry For Your Farm". Hobby Farms. August 14, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
^"Fowl". HowStuffWorks. April 22, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
^Lawal, Raman Akinyanju; Martin, Simon H.; Vanmechelen, Koen; Vereijken, Addie; Silva, Pradeepa; Al-Atiyat, Raed Mahmoud; Aljumaah, Riyadh Salah; Mwacharo, Joram M.; Wu, Dong-Dong; Zhang, Ya-Ping; Hocking, Paul M.; Smith, Jacqueline; Wragg, David; Hanotte, Olivier (December 2020). "The wild species genome ancestry of domestic chickens". BMC Biology. 18 (1): 13. doi:10.1186/s12915-020-0738-1. PMC 7014787. PMID 32050971.
^Killgrove, Kristina (November 23, 2017). "Ancient DNA Explains How Chickens Got To The Americas". Forbes. Retrieved January 20, 2021. Chickens were likely first domesticated about 5,400 years ago in Southeast Asia [...].
^"Chickens Were Initially Domesticated for Cockfighting, Not Food". Today I Found Out. August 30, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
^"Sources of the world's meat supply in 2012". FAO. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
Poultry (/ˈpoʊltri/) are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers. The practice...
Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for...
Poultry diseases occur in poultry, which are domesticated birds kept for their meat, eggs or feathers. Poultry species include the chicken, turkey, duck...
Pastured poultry is a sustainable agriculture technique that calls for the raising of laying chickens, meat chickens (broilers), guinea fowl, and/or turkeys...
agriculture, poultry litter or broiler litter is a mixture of poultry excreta, spilled feed, feathers, and material used as bedding in poultry operations...
used for the feathers of poultry are identical to those used for feathers of other birds, while others are specific to poultry. They include: Bird anatomy...
Poultry feed is food for farm poultry, including chickens, ducks, geese and other domestic birds. Before the twentieth century, poultry were mostly kept...
List of Spanish chicken breeds Chicken breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association List of true bantam chicken breeds List of duck breeds List...
Cannibalism in poultry is the act of one individual of a poultry species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food. It commonly...
but these are of less importance except, in occasional cases, for the poultry industry. The disease is found worldwide, with important exceptions. Usually...
No 1 Poultry is a building in the City of London, allocated to office and commercial use. It occupies the apex where the eastern ends of Poultry and Queen...
areas where poultry are kept by erecting barriers to segregate poultry from non-human contact, limits on human movement of poultry and poultry-related products...
The poultry microbiome is an understudied, yet extremely impactful part of the poultry industry. Poultry is defined as any avian species used for production...
Australian Poultry Standards is the official breed standard for poultry fancy in Australia. It is the standard of perfection from which all poultry in Australia...
Poultry meat allergy is a rare food allergy in humans caused by consumption of poultry meat (commonly chicken and turkey) whereby the body triggers an...
in some cases, in poultry colonies, such as Judge Emery's Poultry Colony until about 1960. Originally, the primary value in poultry keeping was eggs,...
similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue. When poultry is used, it is sometimes called white slime as an analog to meat-additive...
use in the United States poultry farming industry is the controversial prophylactic use of antibiotics in the country's poultry farming industry. It differs...
A poultry show is a specific subset of a livestock show that involves the exhibition and competition of exhibition poultry, which may include chickens...
killing cone, also known as a restraining cone or poultry cone, is a funnel used in the slaughter of poultry. The cone is used to hold a to-be slaughtered...
Animal digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, digest is produced by the chemical...
The Poultry Co-operative Research Center, or Poultry CRC, is a joint venture established and supported under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research...
foot, whereas most chickens have only four. They are often exhibited in poultry shows, and also appear in various colors. In addition to their distinctive...
The British Poultry Standard is the oldest poultry fancy breed standard in the world. It is published by the Poultry Club of Great Britain and is the official...
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