Jeff Sparks, age 13, of Springfield, Mass., for his question:
WHERE DID CHICKENS ORIGINATE?
Scientists tell us that chickens originated from a type of wild fowl that was found in the jungles of southeast Asia. Records show that man started to tame and raise these wild jungle chickens about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.
Chinese people started raising chickens about 1400 B.C. Chicken raising slowly spread to all parts of the world as people moved to new areas.
There were no chickens in North and South America until the Spanish explorers brought them to the New World in the 1500s.
When the English colonists settled in the New England area, they brought chickens with them. There were flocks cared for by settlers in Jamestown as early as 1607.
As the pioneers moved west, chicken raising spread across the continent.
It wasn't until the early 1900s, however, that farms were established that raised only chickens. But this type of farming increased very quickly after the discovery of the value of vitamins in chicken feed about 1925.
With new feeds, poultry farmers were able to raise chickens indoors in winter and so could raise chickens and maintain egg production throughout the year.
Scientific feeding and care have greatly increased the number of eggs chickens lay. Records show that the average hen laid about 100 eggs each year in the United States in 1940. By the late 1970s, egg production had risen to about 233 eggs per hen. And the rate is climbing.
The average person in the United States and Canada eats about 285 eggs and about 41 pounds of chicken meat each year.
Farmers in the United States now raise more than 3 billion meat chickens every year. It is the age of a chicken and not its size that determines how it should be cooked. Most of the chickens sold today are broilers and fryers.
Most broilers and fryers are young male and female chickens that are about 10 to 12 weeks old. Scientific feeding has made it possible to raise chickens weighing more than four pounds at this age. Some farmers raise five crops of broilers a year.
Chickens kept until they are four to six months old are sold as roasters. Most roasters are males becaue the farmers usually keep the female chickens of this age as egg layers.
Old, tough chickens are sold for stewing. Most stewing chickens are hens past the egg laying age.
A young female chicken is called a pullet. She usually starts laying eggs when she is about five months old. Hens usually lay eggs at a high rate for about 14 months. Then their egg production usually declines.
There are more than 300 million egg laying chickens in the United States today.