Christina Cruz, age 10, of Staten Island, N.Y., for her question:

ARE CHICKENS NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA?

Like so many residents of North America, the chicken is an import and not a native of these shores.

Chickens are descended from a type of wild bird that lives in the jungles of Southeast Asia. About 5,000 years ago man started to tame and raise these birds. Records show that the Chinese were raising chickens about 1400 B.C.

Spanish explorers brought the first chickens to North and South America in the 1500s. English colonists also brought lots of chickens with them. When the pioneers moved west, chickens went along to provide eggs and meat.

Scientific care and feeding has greatly increased the number of eggs a chicken can lay. In 1940 the average hen laid about 100 eggs a year and now the count has risen to 285.