Chicken

1. Chicken

2. Classification Chickens are omnivores. In the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects and even larger animals such as lizards or young mice. Domestic chickens are not capable of long distance flight, although lighter birds are generally capable of flying for short distances, such as over fences or into trees (where they would naturally roost). Chickens are gregarious birds and live together in flocks. They have a communal approach to the incubation of eggs and raising of young. Individual chickens in a flock will dominate others, establishing a “pecking order”, with dominant individuals having priority for food access and nesting locations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird.

3. Skeleton of a Chicken 6 3 7 • Maxilla • Eye socket • Cranium • Mandible (bones of the hyobranchial apparatus are shown to be protruding below the mandible) • Atlas • Axis • Cervical vertebrae • Radius • Ulna • Humerus • Femur • Patella • Fibula • Tarsus • Sesamoid bone (ossified tibial cartilage) in hock joint • Tarsometatarsal joint • Scapula • Coracoid bone • Ribs • Sternum • Keel • Ilium • Caudal vertebrae • Ischium • Pubis 2 11 1 10 8 23 22 9 4 5 24 17 25 19 18 20 13 21 14 15 12 16 16a 16c 16b 16d Text book of Veterinary anatomy, third edition, Dyce et al

4. Chicken Skull 6 7 • Premaxilla • Nasal aperture • Nasal bone • Lacrimal Bone • Orbit • Frontal Bone • Parietal Bone • Tympanic cavity with cochlear and vestibular windows • Quadrate Bone • Articular Bone • Maxilla • Zygomatic arch • Mandible 8 5 9 10 4 3 12 11 2 13 1 Text book of Veterinary anatomy, third edition, Dyce et al