Interesting historical facts about chicken

The modern chicken used for baked meat and other dishes is believed to be descended from the Red Jungle Fowl. This species of bird was first domesticated in northern India and Southeast Asia more than 4,000 years ago.

Also about 4,000 years ago, the Egyptians built very large incubators made of bricks. The incubators could house up to 10,000 chicks at a time. Around 600 a. C., the Babylonians represented chickens in their carvings.

During the Middle Ages, chicken was the most popular meat. People believed that meat was easier to digest.

In the 1980s, breast meat made up 10% of the total weight of chicken. By 2007, that number has risen to 21%.

During World War II, chicken consumption in the US increased due to a decrease in the availability of beef and veal.

About 95% of restaurants in the US have chicken on the menu. The most popular dish is fried chicken, which accounts for more than 50% of the chicken entrees ordered in the US.

In 2003, the average number of pounds consumed by an American in one year is 81.5 pounds. In 2007, the number increased to 84.9 pounds per year. Cornish and White Rock are the most popular breeds for consumption in the US.

Other interesting facts about chicken

There are workers called chicken sexers. What their job entails is separating the females from the males. To do this, a sexer clips a girl to a 300-watt light bulb to examine external patterns. The females are kept for egg laying, while the males are raised for consumption. A professional sexer can examine 1,000 chicks per hour with 98% accuracy. That is 8,000 chicks per day.

In 2000, China had the largest chicken population in the world. About 3.6 billion of them lived in China. The next largest population was found in the United States, where there were 1.7 billion chickens. It was followed by Indonesia (1 billion), Brazil (950 million) and Mexico (476 million).

Gainesville, Georgia is the “Chicken Capital of the World.” There, eating the meat with a fork is considered illegal.

Chicken skin color ranges from yellow to cream. The color of the skin depends on the type of food that is given to the animal.

You can freeze chicken meat for up to two years and it will not change color or taste.

Baked chicken is one of the easiest and healthiest dishes. When the internal temperature of baked meat has reached 160 – 170 degrees F (measured with the meat thermometer), it is considered safe to eat. The pink tint of baked meat is caused by hemoglobin in the meat tissues that has turned into a heat-stable color.