Most people only see chickens as a source of food, and they are so much more than that! I chose to focus my term project on chickens, because they are often considered to be an inferior and unintelligent species, and I disagree with that. I think chickens are valuable and underappreciated by society, especially since chickens are so prevalent in our society as a major source of food.

For the past 30 years, the global population of chickens has been increasing. In 2019 it was reported that there were 25 billion chickens living on Earth, which is approximately 3 times the number of humans (Shahbandeh, 2019)! As more and more chickens are being farmed to meet the demands of food supply, it can become easy to forget that these birds are living, breathing, and beautiful animals.

A fun fact about chickens is that they make great companions! Pictured below are my grandparents in their backyard chicken coop. Having pet chickens brings my grandparents lots of joy!