The most abundant bird in the world

If you ever visit a poultry farm you will notice that the hens are very noisy. They love to communicate with each other, they are very social animals. Poultry farmers are the people who are dedicated to raising these birds for the consumption of their meat or their eggs.

The hen is known for many reasons: it crows, lays eggs and is covered with white or various colored feathers. We already know all these things, but there are many interesting facts about this animal that you may not know.

Fun facts

• The domestic chicken is the most abundant bird on earth, there are about 20 billion of them in the world.
• The females are known as hens, the males as roosters, and the young as chickens.
• There is a kind of hens called “layers”, they lay one or two eggs every day. Poultry farmers collect their eggs daily, because if they don’t, these hens will stop laying more. These eggs are intended for human consumption and not for raising chickens.
• The hen takes great care of her eggs, sitting on them to maintain the right temperature for hatching.
• The menu of the rooster and the hen is very varied and unappealing, their diet consisting of whatever food they can find, from grains and plants to insects and worms. Domesticated roosters and hens are usually given “concentrate”, a food composed of grains, proteins and minerals that provides them with the necessary nutrition.
• Can chickens fly? The answer is yes, but very little. Depending on the breed, a chicken can fly high enough to reach a fence, the roof of the chicken coop, or a short tree. Their wings do not have the necessary lifting capacity to support the weight of their bodies.
• Not all roosters and hens are the same, depending on each breed these birds will have different sizes and colors in their plumage. However, the general structure of their bodies is quite similar: the male is larger than the female, both have a small head with a protuberance called a crest and a very plump body that is supported by two legs.