Chickens - Pictures

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Chickens Pictures - Some of the History

In Christian traditional culture, chickens symbolized vigilance and resurrection. The crow of a cock accompanied the birth and the death of Christ. A morning 'cock-a-doodle-doo' was and still is believed to have the power to dissipate evil spells that are more active at night time. Wizards and witches scorned the chicken and displayed hostility toward God by killing it.

Chickens Pictures - Basic Description

Over the hundreds of years of domestication chickens have utterly lost the ability to fly. They can only leap onto a not too high fence or perch. The body of a chicken is covered with feathers. Chickens have two straight legs that are covered with protective scales. Each leg has 4 toes. Chickens have distinctive skinny appendages that are called combs and wattles. Wattles are two growths placed under the chin.

Chickens, like all other birds, have beaks. They have no teeth, so the food is masticated in the gizzard. Birds breathe faster than other relatively large animals. For instance, a male in a calm state breathes about 20 times a minute, and a female takes around 35 breaths. The heart rate is rapid. A male's heart beats about 290 times a minute, and a female's heart rate can reach 320 times per minute.

The life expectancy of chickens rarely goes beyond 5-10 years. After 6 months from birth hens gain reproductively. After a year and a half to 2 years, reproduction rate declines and those chickens that are kept for the purposes of egg laying must be disposed of and replaced with younger broods.

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