Chickens are one of those things in history that are often seen as a constant through time. Often depictions of farms in any historical setting feature a few chickens to make the scene more bucolic. Yet, the role chickens have played in human history is a bit more varied - and violent - than one might expect. Indeed, it was until recently that chicken played a significant part in the agricultural sector at all.
Domestic chickens are descended from the red jungle fowl in Southeast Asia (though some sources say India or China, no one knows the precise location these animals came from and when they were domesticated). They were used in the Indus Valley almost exclusively until the Aryans invaded in 1500 BC and spread this glorious flightless bird to all four corners of Eurasia.
By the 5th century BC, chickens were making their way into Greek legend. A Greek army led by Themistocles saw two cocks mid-battle in the way of their path. The cocks were admired for fighting "only because one will not give way to the other". It seems that cocks, the male sex, have been prized for thousands of years for their combat abilities London, well into the Victorian period, held cock fights and they were hugely popular. Sometimes chickens were given small razors on their feet to make their attacks more lethal.
Chickens were also used for another important purpose; fortune telling. The Romans practised augury, which involved observing birds for signs of good or bad omens.
(Please oh wise chicken, giveth me luck for a thousand generations!)
The most famous instance of this was in 249 BC when Claudius Pulcher, a Roman Admiral, consulted the sacred chickens on the outcome of the future naval battle with the Carthaginians. The sacred chickens refused to eat the grain they were given, a terrible omen. In rage, Claudius Pulcher is said to have thrown the chickens overboard and the Romans lost the battle. Always listen to the wise actions of the chicken!
In Europe, while chickens were used for fighting and telling the future, their role as egg-layers and being tasty was not as important. It was only really until the 1900s that chickens began to shine from an agricultural perspective. Before this point, chickens made up much less of an average person's diet. Eggs were, unless there was an excess, sold in much lower quantities than they are today. People kept chickens to help feed themselves and to killed them for special occasions. One chicken sadly did just not provide enough meat considering the effort - grain, water, shelter etc. - in order to justify farming them on a mass-scale. A chicken in the 1950s was on average four times smaller than their offspring in 2000. The yield was too small to justify the cost of slaughter.
Chickens became really popular in the West due to Queen Victoria. In the 1800s, she imported several different types including the beautiful Chinese Cochin chicken. As with all these things, the monarch set the trend and everyone became hungry for anything related to chickens. This is the first time that ownership of chickens became significant in both the literal sense (the number of people who owned these fine birds) and in the eye of the public. It became a fashion statement in England to own a chicken.
Until the Second World War, while chickens had become increasingly popular, eggs were the major thing chicken owners sold. Partially because of dire economic conditions and ration in the West, it was not seen as logical to kill a bird when it could still produce a few hundred more eggs. In the US after 1945, a competition was held to produce the biggest and meatiest chickens. By the 1950s, America saw the rise of large-scale chicken farms. The disturbing, yet all too common, image of birds trapped in a large metal box began because American consumers wanted more chicken on their plates.
But this is just in Europe and the Anglophonic world, what about Asia? China has evidence of having domesticated and used chickens 10,000 years ago. The purpose of this early domestication is unclear; however, such a long and arduous process probably means chickens were used as a food source. It seems that throughout Eurasia, until the mid-1900s, and in America, chickens have been used in for mostly their eggs to bulk out the average diet.
So next time you go to a KFC, or anywhere that sells chicken, think about the sacred chicken and fighting cocks. Chickens have been wise fortune tellers and valiant warriors. They have proved to be more than just tasty food throughout history!
Interested to learn more?
Try these websites:
How the 'Chicken of Tomorrow' Contest in 1948 Created the Bird We Eat Today (nationalgeographic.com)
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