Where are chickens native to originally?

[amiachicknorwat]

Crowhollowfarm said: I stated that my post was just my opinion. Back to my question, why disrupt nature at all with a non native species like chickens?

And it got me wondering where on G_d's Green Earth, as they used to say, did chickens come from? Please no egg -- ing me on replies, thanks. I've seen chickens as far away as Bali Indonesia, where they multi-colour their chickens and let them run wild thru the forest there as if that was their natural colour. That had me momentarily wondering too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=chi...oTCPPT3daevscCFREtiAodlTcKxw&biw=1016&bih=614

I dont feel the images here do justice, as I didn't see the multi-coloured ones included. Nevertheless, does anyone here know where this craze stirred from -- I mean where these birds originated? At least which continent or land mass (as Asia and Europe share the same land mass tho are different continents)

 

[MeepMeeps]

I don't know the answer to your question but reading your post,I never heard of the colored chicks and you made me google it. Poor things, they dye them in the embryo! and apparently have done this in the US too. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/us/dyeing-easter-chicks-raises-concerns.html?_r=0

 

[amiachicknorwat]

Wow, I was in Bali back in 1990. Back then, and as I clearly recall, I'm sure they were coloured at least somewhat after being hatched. They didn't look anything like what NYT or google images pictured. Sorry to give wrong impression. But thanks for dredging this up here for peops to see. ... yeah, the colours were more superficial, on them, and fading, like food colouring. The Balinese are just artists. This phenomena is, uh, the opposite of art, ugh.

 

[shortgrass]

Hmmmm jungle fowl, prarie chickens, Heath hens,..... Road runners? Lol

What were they in Asia before domestication?

I'm working on an area to rehabilitate prarie chickens, so the only thing I know about would be located in the Midwest... Those would be like a Heath Hen.

Probably Asia. That's usually where all the weird fads start lol....baby turtle dying in a baggie on a necklace anyone?

 

[junebuggena]

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/29/the-origin-of-the-chicken/

 

[amiachicknorwat]

South East Asia makes sense, cuz in the BBC documentary Private Life of Chickens

they say us mostly European descendants used to eat rabbits as the most common meal staple. So maybe we used to say, "tastes a bit like rabbit" as the basic reference in communication re other foods. Took a while for "sun never sets on British Empire" to bring back, breed out and popularize the chicken, but look how they did -- WOW, eh!

 

[shortgrass]

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/29/the-origin-of-the-chicken/

NICE link ... That is a very detailed study!

South East Asia makes sense, cuz in the BBC documentary Private Life of Chickens 

they say us mostly European descendants used to eat rabbits as the most common meal staple. So maybe we used to say, "tastes a bit like rabbit" as the basic reference in communication re other foods. Took a while for "sun never sets on British Empire" to bring back, breed out and popularize the chicken, but look how they did -- WOW, eh!

I thought it was more for "show"?... Not showing them, per se, but people of royalty would have fancy tame birds...chickens... As a plaything or status idol.. Like Egyptians and cats?