160 Fun Facts About Chicken

The domestic chicken is the domesticated form of which wild bird?

The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) of South and Southeast Asia is the chicken's wild ancestor; domestic chickens are classified as the same species and interbreed freely with it.

The wild ancestor of the chicken is originally native to which region?

The red junglefowl is native to Southeast Asia; domesticated chickens spread from there to China and India a few thousand years after domestication.

What is the pouch where a chicken stores swallowed food before digestion called?

The crop is a pouch at the base of a chicken's neck that holds swallowed food before it moves on to the gizzard, where it is ground up with grit.

As of 2023, the world's chicken population exceeded what figure?

World chicken numbers exceeded 26.5 billion in 2023, several times the human population and more than any other bird on Earth.

What is the term for a castrated or neutered male chicken?

A capon is a castrated male chicken; caponising makes the bird fatter and its meat more tender, which made capons a delicacy in the Middle Ages.

In which countries is a chicken informally called a "chook"?

'Chook' is the everyday word for a chicken in Australia and New Zealand; in the southern United States 'yardbird' is a regional equivalent.

The word "rooster" originated in the 18th century, possibly as what?

'Rooster' arose in 18th-century America, probably as a puritan euphemism to avoid the sexual connotation of 'cock', which remains the ordinary word in much of the English-speaking world.

A newly hatched chick weighs about how much?

Modern and heritage chicks weigh the same at hatching, but a modern broiler can be almost twice as heavy by day 35.

Which gland at the base of a chicken's tail secretes the oil it uses for preening?

The uropygial or preen gland sits at the base of the tail and secretes oil that the bird spreads over its feathers with its beak to keep them waterproof.

Who described the "pecking order" in hens in 1921?

Norwegian zoologist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe described the 'pecking order' (Hackordnung) in his 1921 dissertation on hen dominance, and the phrase spread to hierarchies of every kind.

A fertile chicken egg takes about how long to hatch?

A fertile chicken egg hatches after about 21 days of incubation; the hen usually stays on the nest for around two more days after the first chick emerges.

What does a chick use to break out of its shell?

A chick breaks out with its egg tooth, a small hard point on the tip of the beak that drops off a few days after hatching; it then lives on its absorbed yolk sac for its first days.

The earliest probable domestic chickens, about 3,250 years old, were found at Ban Non Wat in which country?

The oldest securely dated domestic chicken bones come from Ban Non Wat in central Thailand; researchers suggest wild junglefowl were drawn to newly planted rice fields and gradually became tame.

The first pictures of chickens in Europe appear on 7th-century BC pottery from where?

Corinthian pottery of the 7th century BC carries the earliest European images of chickens; Phoenician traders then spread the birds along the Mediterranean coast as far as Iberia.

In genome research, the chicken holds what distinction?

In 2004 the chicken became the first bird species to have its genome sequenced; at about 1.21 gigabases it is far smaller than the 3.2-gigabase human genome.

In 2006, scientists switched on a recessive chicken gene called talpid2 and embryos began forming what?

Embryos with the talpid2 mutation began forming teeth: conical, crocodile-like structures resembling those of ancient bird fossils, a reminder of the chicken's dinosaur ancestry.

The highest authenticated egg-laying rate for a hen is how many eggs in 364 days?

The record of 371 eggs in 364 days was set in 1979 by a White Leghorn at the University of Missouri; most commercial hens lay around 300 a year before output declines.

The UK alone consumes more than how many eggs every day?

UK consumption runs to more than 34 million eggs a day, roughly 13 billion a year; world chicken-egg production topped 80 million tonnes in 2017, over a third of it Chinese.

Alectryomancy is a form of divination that uses which animal?

Roosters are the birds of alectryomancy, which sometimes meant sacrificing the sacred bird during a ritual cockfight as a way of consulting the gods.

The nursery rhyme "Cock a Doodle Doo" was published in Mother Goose's Melody in which year?

Mother Goose's Melody, printed in London around 1765, is the rhyme's first known appearance; its chorus imitates the cockerel's call.

'Why did the chicken cross the road?' first appeared in 1847 in The Knickerbocker, published where?

The Knickerbocker, a New York literary magazine, printed the riddle in 1847 as 'Why does a chicken cross the street?', and it spread through minstrel shows.

Cockfighting appears to have been practised as early as 2500–2100 BC in which civilisation?

The Indus Valley civilisation of 2500–2100 BC offers the earliest apparent evidence of cockfighting; chickens were seemingly kept for fighting and ritual before they were raised mainly for food.

Magellan's chronicler Antonio Pigafetta first documented cockfighting for Westerners in 1521 in which islands?

Pigafetta recorded cockfighting on Palawan in the Philippines in 1521, the first Western account; the earliest known book on the sport, The Commendation of Cocks and Cock Fighting, followed in 1607.

Chicken Run (2000) was the first feature-length film from which animation studio?

Aardman Animations, the Bristol studio behind Wallace and Gromit, made Chicken Run as its first feature; it grossed about $225 million, a record for stop-motion animation.

Who voiced Rocky, the American circus rooster in Chicken Run?

Mel Gibson voiced Rocky the American circus rooster, while Julia Sawalha voiced Ginger, the flock's leader.

What is the subtitle of the 2023 Chicken Run sequel released on Netflix?

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget reached Netflix in December 2023, 23 years after the original, which was DreamWorks' biggest animated hit until Shrek.

Which Warner Bros. director created Foghorn Leghorn and directed all 29 of his golden-age cartoons?

Robert McKimson created Foghorn Leghorn and directed every one of his 29 golden-age shorts, starting with the 1946 Henery Hawk cartoon Walky Talky Hawky.

Foghorn Leghorn was directly inspired by Senator Claghorn, a character from what?

Senator Claghorn was Kenny Delmar's blustery Southern politician on Fred Allen's 1940s radio show; he gave the rooster catchphrases like 'That's a joke, son!'

Foghorn Leghorn's perennial prank war is with which character?

Barnyard Dawg is Foghorn's long-suffering rival; the dog usually gets the last laugh even though the rooster is normally the one who starts the prank war.

The Leghorn breed takes its name from the traditional English name of which Italian port?

Leghorn is the old English name for Livorno, the Tuscan port from which the birds were shipped to North America around 1828, when they were simply called 'Italians'.

Which state's official bird is the Blue Hen Chicken?

Delaware adopted the Blue Hen Chicken as its state bird in 1939; the name recalls Revolutionary War soldiers from Kent County who carried fighting blue game chickens.

Which Chinese breed has black skin, black bones and five toes on each foot?

The Silkie's fur-like plumage, black skin and bones and five-toed feet make it unmistakable; early Dutch breeders told buyers the birds were the offspring of chickens and rabbits.

The Ayam Cemani, a chicken black down to its beak and organs, comes from which country?

The name combines the Indonesian word for chicken with a Javanese word meaning "thoroughly black".

Brillat-Savarin supposedly called which protected-origin bird "the queen of poultry, the poultry of kings"?

It may only be produced from white Bresse Gauloise birds raised in a legally defined area of the old province of Bresse in eastern France.

Which statement about Cornish game hens is true?

They are ordinary broiler crosses served very young, at four to six weeks, weighing no more than two pounds.

The post-war US "Chicken of Tomorrow" program produced which fast-growing meat bird?

The Cornish Rock Cross, bred from Cornish and White Plymouth Rock stock, grew out of the contest; backed by the USDA and the A&P grocery chain, the program even produced a documentary of the same name.

Modern broiler chickens typically reach slaughter size in how long?

Modern broilers reach slaughter weight in under six weeks, roughly 42 days, while free-range and organic strains take some weeks longer.

The chicken nugget was developed in the 1950s by a food science professor at which university?

The nugget was created at Cornell University by a poultry-science professor who called his bite-sized battered pieces 'Chicken Crispies' and published the method unpatented rather than profiting from it.

Dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets were first trademarked in 1991 by which company?

Perdue Farms registered the first dinosaur-shaped nugget trademark in 1991; the shape's popularity may have been helped along by Jurassic Park two years later.

Buffalo wings are usually credited to Teressa Bellissimo, who ran which Buffalo, New York bar in 1964?

Teressa Bellissimo of the Anchor Bar is usually credited with the 1964 invention; at the time wings were cheap cuts, usually thrown away or kept for stock.

In 2001, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook described which dish as "a true British national dish"?

Robin Cook's 2001 speech on multiculturalism called chicken tikka masala 'a true British national dish', a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts outside influences.

What does cacciatore, as in chicken cacciatore, mean in Italian?

Cacciatore means 'hunter' in Italian; chicken alla cacciatora is braised hunter-style with onions, tomatoes, herbs and often wine and mushrooms.

What does the French dish name "coq au vin" literally mean?

Coq au vin means 'rooster with wine': a cock braised slowly in red wine with lardons, mushrooms and onions. Julia Child made it twice on The French Chef.

Chicken Kiev, also called chicken Kyiv, is a pounded fillet rolled around what before being breaded and fried?

Cold butter is the filling, which melts inside the breaded fillet as it fries or bakes; the dish is especially popular across the former Eastern Bloc.

Nashville hot chicken is traditionally served on slices of white bread topped with what?

Nashville hot chicken comes on white bread with pickle chips on top; the reddish colour comes from a cayenne-spiced paste brushed on after frying.

Chick-fil-A traces its origins to a restaurant S. Truett Cathy opened in 1946 under what name?

Cathy's Dwarf Grill, later the Dwarf House, sat near a Ford assembly plant whose workers supplied many of its customers; the Chick-fil-A chain followed in 1967.

The first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1952 in which state?

Harland Sanders had started out selling fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the Depression.

Mike the Headless Chicken, beheaded in 1945, came from Fruita in which state?

Fruita, Colorado, holds an annual Mike the Headless Chicken festival; the axe missed his jugular vein and left most of the brain stem intact, so he survived 18 months.

Ethologists call the trance a "hypnotised" chicken enters by what name?

Tonic immobility is the ethologists' name for the trance: a fear-induced freezing reflex seen in many prey animals, from chickens and lizards to sharks, that ends spontaneously after seconds or minutes.

An accordionist from which country composed the Chicken Dance tune in 1957?

More than 140 versions have been recorded, adding up to an estimated 40 million records.

The Chicken Dance was originally titled "Der Ententanz", a title that names which birds?

It only became a worldwide hit between 1980 and 1982, more than two decades after it was written.

In the best-known version of Chicken Little, what falls on the chick's head?

An acorn lands on the chick's head and convinces her the sky is falling; in an 1840 American version it is a leaf, and in a Scottish version a pea.

Which ancient writer posed the chicken-or-the-egg question as philosophy in 'The Symposiacs'?

Plutarch raised 'whether the hen or the egg came first' in his Symposiacs (Table Talk); Aristotle had earlier concluded the sequence was infinite, with no true beginning.

In game theory, the "game of chicken" is also known by which name?

Game theorists also call chicken the hawk–dove game, after its aggressive and yielding strategies; it has been used to describe the brinkmanship of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The phrase "rubber chicken" is used disparagingly to describe what?

'Rubber chicken' mocks the food at big banquets and fundraising dinners: pre-cooked chicken held at serving temperature for hours turns tough, hence the 'rubber chicken circuit'.

The rooster became a symbol of France because of a pun in which language?

In Latin gallus meant both a rooster and an inhabitant of Gaul; France's enemies used the joke first, before the French adopted the bird themselves.

Rooster weathervanes on steeples recall which apostle's denial 'before the rooster crows'?

The cock recalls Peter's threefold denial of Jesus before the rooster crowed; a 9th-century papal decree, traditionally credited to Nicholas I, is said to have put the bird on church steeples.

The Rooster occupies which position in the 12-animal cycle of the Chinese zodiac?

The Rooster is tenth in the cycle, after the Monkey and before the Dog; recent Rooster years include 2005 and 2017.

The Galo de Barcelos, a brightly painted rooster figure, is a common symbol of which country?

The Galo de Barcelos is an unofficial emblem of Portugal; legend says a roasted rooster crowed to prove a condemned pilgrim's innocence in the town of Barcelos.

In Europe, chicken consumption overtook beef and veal in 1996, linked to consumer awareness of what?

The 1996 BSE (mad cow disease) scare, when Britain admitted a possible link to human illness, pushed European shoppers from beef to chicken, which overtook beef and veal that year.

In the United States of the 1800s, chicken was what?

In 1800s America chicken was pricier than other meats, sought by the rich as an uncommon dish; consumption jumped during World War II when beef and pork were in short supply.

On a chicken, the prized pieces of dark meat called "oysters" are found where?

The oysters are two small rounds of dark meat in hollows on the back, just above the thighs; cooks often consider them the best morsels on the bird.

Soul-food chicken and waffles took off after the Wells Supper Club opened in which neighborhood?

Wells Supper Club opened in Harlem in 1938 and made chicken and waffles a late-night soul-food staple; an older Pennsylvania Dutch version uses stewed chicken and gravy instead of fried chicken.

A hen's eggshell colour can generally be predicted from the colour of which body part?

Her earlobes are the tell: white-earlobed breeds such as Leghorns lay white eggs and red-earlobed breeds lay brown ones; the nutrition is the same.

The egg carton was invented in 1911 in which country?

Joseph Coyle of Smithers, British Columbia, Canada, built the first egg carton in 1911 to settle a dispute over broken eggs between a farmer and a hotel.

Thanks partly to feed salesman Jesse Jewell, chicken became the top agricultural crop of which state?

Jesse Jewell of Gainesville, Georgia, sold farmers chicks and feed on credit, then bought back the grown broilers for his own processing plant, turning poultry into Georgia's top farm product.

Which mineral makes up about 95 per cent of a chicken's eggshell?

An eggshell is roughly 95 per cent calcium carbonate, laid down in the hen's shell gland over about 20 hours; the rest is protein matrix and trace minerals.

What is the yearly shedding and regrowth of a chicken's feathers called?

Moulting is the yearly shedding and regrowth of feathers, usually in autumn; a hen typically stops laying for several weeks while her body puts protein into new plumage.

Which part of a chicken is known as the parson's nose?

The parson's nose (or pope's nose) is the fleshy stub of the tail where the tail feathers attach; it is fatty and prized by some as a crispy morsel from a roast bird.

At about what age do slower-growing broiler breeds reach slaughter weight?

Slower-growing and heritage-type broilers take around 14 weeks to reach slaughter weight, against four to six weeks for standard commercial strains.

What is the term for chickens kept for egg production?

Hens kept for egg production are called layers; a commercial layer produces around 300 eggs a year, while broilers are the birds raised for meat.

Where does the name of the caged housing system used for laying hens come from?

Battery cages take their name from rows and columns of identical cages joined together, like guns in an artillery battery; the EU banned conventional battery cages in 2012.

Chicken piccata is finished with butter, lemon and which brined ingredient?

Chicken piccata is sautéed thin cutlets finished in a sauce of butter, lemon juice and capers, an Italian-American favourite adapted from veal piccata.

Who created coronation chicken with chef Rosemary Hume for the 1953 coronation banquet?

Coronation chicken, cold chicken in a curried mayonnaise, was devised for Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation banquet by florist and cookery writer Constance Spry with chef Rosemary Hume of the Cordon Bleu school in London.

Chicken parmigiana originated where?

It likely combined the eggplant parmigiana with a breaded cotoletta.

Butter chicken is associated with which Delhi restaurant?

Chefs Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi made it 'by chance' from leftover tandoori chicken.

Which wine is typically used in coq au vin?

The classic coq au vin uses red Burgundy, a whole cock braised in it with lardons and mushrooms; regional variants include coq au vin jaune from the Jura and coq au riesling from Alsace.

Chicken Marengo was named to celebrate a Napoleonic victory of which year?

Chef Dunand is said to have improvised the dish after the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800; its traditional garnish of fried eggs and crayfish is often omitted in modern versions.

One account credits chicken à la King to Bill King, a cook where in Philadelphia?

One story credits Bill King, a cook at Philadelphia's Bellevue Hotel; a rival claim names chef George Greenwald of the Brighton Beach Hotel in 1898.

What does the French term cordon bleu translate to?

Cordon bleu means 'blue ribbon', the sash worn by knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit, founded in 1578; it became a byword for excellence in cooking.

What is the traditional meat in a cordon bleu, before chicken became the popular version?

Cordon bleu began as a veal schnitzel stuffed with ham and cheese, rolled, breaded and fried; veal recipes appear from the 1950s, before the chicken version took over.

Which part of a chicken wing is the drumette?

The drumette is the meaty upper section of the wing, nearest the body, shaped like a miniature drumstick; the middle section is the flat or wingette.

Buffalo wings are traditionally coated in melted butter and what?

Vinegar-based cayenne hot sauce and melted butter make the classic coating, with celery, carrots and blue cheese or ranch dressing on the side.

What does the Japanese cooking term karaage literally mean?

Karaage is written with the characters for 'Tang' (China) and 'fry', so it literally means Chinese deep-fry; the marinade typically includes sake, soy sauce, ginger juice and scallions.

The Japanese word katsu is a shortened form of the transliteration of which English word?

Katsu is short for katsuretsu, the Japanese rendering of 'cutlet'; chicken katsu is coated in panko crumbs and is a cousin of pork tonkatsu.

Chicken Chettinad comes from a region of which Indian state?

Chicken Chettinad is the peppery, roasted-spice curry of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu, home of the Nattukottai Chettiar merchant community.

The spicy deep-fried dish Chicken 65 originated at Hotel Buhari in which Indian city?

Chicken 65 was introduced in 1965 at the Buhari Hotel in Chennai (then Madras); vegetarian spin-offs include Paneer 65 and Gobi 65.

Hainanese chicken rice was adapted from the dishes of which Hainan town?

Hainanese chicken rice descends from Wenchang chicken, a poached-bird dish from the Hainan town of Wenchang; Hainanese immigrants made it one of Singapore's national dishes.

Which two Jamaican indigenous peoples originated the jerk cooking technique?

The Arawak and Taíno who lived on Jamaica before Columbus dried and smoked meat over pimento wood; the modern marinade's main ingredients are allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers.

What does pilipili mean in Swahili?

Pilipili is Swahili for pepper, specifically chili; the peri-peri chili is a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens spread by Portuguese explorers.

What does the Japanese word yakitori literally mean?

Yakitori combines yaki, 'grilled', and tori, 'bird': skewered chicken grilled over charcoal, preferred because it gives high heat with little water vapour.

Satay is most commonly served with a sauce based on what?

The dish blends Middle Eastern kebab traditions with South Asian and local influences.

Despite its name, chicken-fried steak is made from what?

Chicken-fried steak is a tenderised beefsteak, breaded and fried like fried chicken; it resembles Wiener schnitzel and is usually served with cream gravy.

'Weird Al' Yankovic's unreleased 'Chicken Pot Pie' parodied which song?

The parody of 'Live and Let Die' was never released because Paul McCartney, a vegetarian, would not approve a song about eating chicken.

What fruit was traditionally added to Scotland's cock-a-leekie soup?

Prunes were the traditional addition to cock-a-leekie; the soup probably began in France as chicken and onion soup before leeks replaced the onions.

Which Italian breed was crossed with Malay birds to develop the Rhode Island Red?

Brown Leghorns were crossed with Oriental birds such as the Malay in late-19th-century Rhode Island and Massachusetts to produce the Rhode Island Red, the state bird since 1954.

The Plymouth Rock chicken was first shown in Boston in what year?

The Plymouth Rock was first shown in Boston in 1849, then vanished for twenty years before reappearing at Worcester in 1869; the barred variety became one of America's most popular farm chickens.

The Wyandotte breed was originally known by what name?

The breed was first called the American Sebright because its laced plumage resembled the Sebright bantam's; developed in the 1870s, it was renamed Wyandotte when admitted to the Standard in 1883.

Where were 'Old Sussex or Kent Fowl' shown at the first poultry show in 1845?

Britain's first poultry show was held at London Zoo in 1845, where the breed was entered as 'Old Sussex or Kent Fowl'; the Sussex is among the oldest British chicken breeds.

The Brahma and Cochin breeds derive from large birds imported in the 1840s from which Chinese port?

Both breeds descend from the big 'Shanghai' fowl shipped out of Shanghai in the 1840s; the Brahma was America's principal meat breed from the 1850s until about 1930.

The Polish chicken is distinguished by what feature?

The Polish is known for the large round crest of feathers on its head, which grows from a bony skull knob; similar crested birds appear in 17th-century Italian and Dutch paintings.

The Araucana, one of very few breeds to lay blue eggs, comes from which country?

The Araucana comes from Chile, where the Mapuche (Araucanian) people kept blue-egg layers; it may have ear tufts and be rumpless, hence the US name South American Rumpless.

The Marans lays eggs of what unusual colour?

Marans eggs are a very dark chocolate brown, graded on a scale of 1 to 9 by the breed's French club; Spain's Penedesenca is the other breed famed for such dark eggs.

The Serama, the world's smallest chicken breed, originated in which country?

The Serama was developed from the 1970s in Kelantan, Malaysia, by breeder Wee Yean Een from crosses of Japanese and local Malaysian bantams.

The Jersey Giant was created with the intention of replacing which bird as a meat source?

John and Thomas Black bred the Jersey Giant in Burlington County, New Jersey, in the late 19th century hoping it would replace the turkey as the main roasting bird.

The Sebright is named after Sir John Saunders Sebright, who created it as what?

Sir John Sebright bred the laced bantam purely as an ornamental breed in the early 19th century; it was the first poultry breed with its own specialist club, founded in 1810.

The word bantam derives from a seaport city on which Indonesian island?

Bantam (Banten) was a port on the Indonesian island of Java where European sailors restocking on live fowl bought small chickens, giving the name to all miniature breeds.

What was the Old English Game breed probably originally bred for?

Old English Game descends from the fighting cocks bred in Britain before cockfighting was outlawed in 1835; the Poultry Club of Great Britain recognises Carlisle and Oxford standards.

What is broodiness in a hen?

Sitting on eggs to incubate them is broodiness, and a broody hen stops laying and often cuts back on feeding and drinking.

What is the function of the chalazae, the spiral bands inside a bird's egg?

The chalazae hold the yolk in place, anchoring it to the ends of the egg so it stays centred; the word comes from the Greek for hailstone.

What is the air pocket at the blunt end of a hen's egg called?

The air cell forms at the blunt end between the two shell membranes as the egg cools after laying; it grows as the egg ages, which is why old eggs float.

How long can a 'hypnotised' chicken stay immobile staring at a line drawn from its beak?

A chicken held on its side with a line drawn from its beak can stay frozen for up to 30 minutes, though most snap out of it within a minute or two.

Which highly contagious viral disease of chickens was historically called fowl plague?

Fowl plague is the old name for highly pathogenic avian influenza, first described in Italy in 1878; the H5N1 strain has killed or forced the culling of hundreds of millions of birds.

Marek's disease of chickens was the first cancer to be prevented by what?

Marek's disease, a herpesvirus-driven lymphoma of chickens, became in 1970 the first cancer prevented by a vaccine; the turkey-herpesvirus (HVT) vaccine is given to chicks at hatch.

In Rebel Without a Cause, the 'chickie run' has drivers racing stolen cars toward what?

In Rebel Without a Cause (1955) James Dean's Jim and rival Buzz race stolen cars toward a cliff edge, the first to bail out being 'chicken'; Buzz's sleeve catches and he dies.

In Chicken Little, which character lures the panicking birds toward his den?

Foxy Loxy is the sly fox who offers to show the panicking birds the way to the king and leads them to his den instead; in most versions he eats them.

The Little Red Hen was first collected in 1874 by which editor of St. Nicholas magazine?

Mary Mapes Dodge, author of Hans Brinker and founding editor of St. Nicholas, printed the tale in the magazine in 1874; it teaches the value of hard work and initiative.

Which of Chaucer's Canterbury stories is a beast fable about the rooster Chauntecleer?

The Nun's Priest's Tale, a mock epic written in the 1390s, tells how the rooster Chauntecleer outwits a fox; Chaucer drew on the Reynard cycle.

In Chaucer's tale, what is the name of Chauntecleer's favourite hen?

Pertelote is Chauntecleer's favourite wife in Chaucer's tale; she dismisses his prophetic dream of the fox as indigestion and prescribes laxatives.

Disney's 2005 Chicken Little was the studio's first what?

Chicken Little was Walt Disney Animation's first fully computer-animated feature, after Dinosaur (2000) had combined CG creatures with live-action backgrounds; Disney had adapted the tale as a short in 1943.

In Disney's 2005 Chicken Little, the falling 'piece of sky' turns out to be what?

In Disney's 2005 version the 'piece of sky' is a hexagonal panel from an alien spaceship's cloaking hull; the aliens turn out to be harmless parents looking for their lost child.

Robot Chicken was created by Matthew Senreich and which actor?

Seth Green co-created Robot Chicken with Matthew Senreich for Adult Swim in 2005; the stop-motion sketch show has won multiple Emmys.

The Gallic rooster represents the French people, while which figure represents the French state?

Marianne, the allegorical woman in a Phrygian cap, personifies the French Republic and state, while the Gallic rooster stands for the people and the nation.

A gilded rooster tops the garden gate of which Paris palace?

The Élysée Palace's garden gate on the Avenue Gabriel is the Grille du Coq, topped by a gilded Gallic rooster; the palace has been the French president's residence since 1848.

What is a rubber chicken made from?

A rubber chicken is latex cast in an injection mould; modern versions squeak or scream thanks to a device like a rubber duck's.

Perdue Farms was founded in 1920 by Arthur and Pearl Perdue in which Maryland city?

Arthur Perdue started selling eggs in Salisbury, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, in 1920; the company stayed there and had annual sales of about $8 billion in 2021.

What was Frank Perdue's famous 1971 TV advertising tag line?

'It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken' was written by the agency Scali, McCabe, Sloves, which put the bald, beaky Perdue himself on television in 1971.

Tyson Foods, founded by John W. Tyson in 1935, is based in which Arkansas city?

Tyson Foods is headquartered in Springdale in north-west Arkansas, where John W. Tyson began hauling chickens in 1935; it grew into one of the world's largest meat processors.

A poussin is a chicken slaughtered at roughly what age?

A poussin (US: spring chicken) is a very young bird slaughtered at about four weeks, under 28 days, weighing around 400–450 g and usually served whole.

The Cornish chicken, ancestor of modern industrial broilers, originated in the early 1800s in Cornwall and which other south-west English county?

Devon and Cornwall share the breed, and the White Cornish is widely used to produce today's industrial broilers.

The Roman Lex Fannia of the 2nd century BC forbade the fattening of what?

The Lex Fannia banned fattening hens to save grain, so Roman farmers castrated cockerels instead; the resulting capons grew far larger, an early record connected to caponisation.

In the EU, a producer code has been legally required on every egg since which year?

Since 1 January 2004 every EU egg has carried a producer code whose first digit (0 organic, 1 free-range, 2 barn, 3 caged) tells shoppers how the hens were kept.

The Salmonella bacterium is named after whom?

Salmonella honours Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850–1914), the American veterinary pathologist in whose laboratory Theobald Smith first isolated the bacterium in 1885.

Which element paired with the Rooster in the Chinese year that began in 2017?

2017 was the year of the Fire Rooster (ding-you); the ten Heavenly Stems cycle through the five elements, so the next Fire Rooster year falls in 2077.

The word 'vane', as in the cockerel-topped weather vane, comes from an Old English word meaning what?

Flag is the meaning of the Old English fana, the root of vane; the traditional cockerel design often carries letters for the compass points.

The earliest known book on cockfighting, published in 1607, was written by whom?

George Wilson's The Commendation of Cocks and Cock Fighting (1607) is the earliest known book on the sport; the word gamecock was first recorded in 1634.

Kung Pao chicken is believed to be named after Ding Baozhen, a Qing governor of which province?

Ding Baozhen governed Sichuan from 1876, where the dish named after his honorific Gongbao (Palace Guardian) took shape; Kung Pao is the Wade-Giles spelling.

Where did chef Peng Chang-kuei roll out General Tso's chicken around 1973?

Peng opened Uncle Peng's Hunan Yuan on East 44th Street in New York City in 1973, where the sweetened dish became a hit with diners including Henry Kissinger.

Biryani is thought to derive from a rice dish from which cuisine?

Biryani's name comes from Persian (biryan, 'fried before cooking'), and the dish is thought to derive from Persian pilaf, likely developed in the Mughal court kitchen.

Indonesian ayam goreng usually relies on which two main ingredients rather than flour?

Indonesian ayam goreng is marinated in ground spices, typically turmeric and garlic with shallot and coriander, and fried without a flour coating, giving a yellow-tinged skin.

Peru's pollo a la brasa was developed in 1950 by a resident of which nationality?

Swiss immigrant Roger Schuler began rotisserie-roasting chickens over charcoal at his Granja Azul restaurant in Chaclacayo, outside Lima, in 1950, with fellow Swiss Franz Ulrich building the rotisserie.

Chicken Maryland is traditionally garnished with what?

Fried bananas, alongside corn fritters, are the classic garnish for chicken Maryland, especially in the British and Australian versions of the dish; bananas were historically among Baltimore's leading imports.

Which fast-food chain developed popcorn chicken in 1991?

KFC introduced popcorn chicken in the early 1990s, developed for the chain by food inventor Gene Gagliardi, who also created Steak-umm.

Chicken tenders come from which muscle of the bird?

The tender is the pectoralis minor, a strip lying on either side of the breastbone beneath the larger pectoralis major breast muscle.

What does the Chinese name dànhuātāng, for the dish of wispy beaten eggs in broth, literally mean?

Dànhuātāng is literally 'egg flower soup' (dàn egg, huā flower, tāng soup); a thin stream of beaten egg poured into boiling broth forms the wisps, hence the English name egg drop soup.

The Oxford Companion to Food dates the first use of the name Scotch egg to which year?

The name turns up in the 1809 edition of Maria Rundell's A New System of Domestic Cookery, the earliest printed recipe the Oxford Companion to Food could trace.

Which Piccadilly store claims to have invented the Scotch egg in 1738?

Fortnum & Mason says it invented the Scotch egg in 1738 as a traveller's snack for coach passengers leaving Piccadilly; the claim is one of several origin stories.

Century eggs are preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, rice hulls and what?

Century eggs are coated in a paste of quicklime, clay, ash, salt and rice hulls; the alkaline cure, lasting weeks to months, turns the white to dark jelly and the yolk grey-green.

Why do double-yolk eggs occur?

Double-yolk eggs happen when a hen, usually a young pullet whose cycle is not yet settled, releases two yolks close together so they are wrapped in one shell; they are harmless and rarely hatch twins.

Which American breed is the only one known to have been created by a woman?

The Buckeye, a dark mahogany dual-purpose bird, was created by Nettie Metcalf of Warren, Ohio, in the 1890s, the only American breed known to have been developed by a woman.

The Marans breed originated near a port town in which French region?

Marans is a small port in Charente-Maritime, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (Poitou-Charentes before 2016); the breed took shape there in the 19th century.

The Orpington breed was created in the 1880s in a town then in which English county?

William Cook developed the breed in 1886 in Orpington, then a Kent village and now part of the London Borough of Bromley.

Which breed, nicknamed the Pilgrim Fowl, is considered America's oldest chicken breed?

The Dominique, with its barred plumage and rose comb, is considered America's oldest chicken breed, kept by colonists from the 18th century and nicknamed the Pilgrim Fowl.

The Sussex Breed Club, an association for the British dual-purpose breed, was organised in what year?

The Sussex Breed Club was organised in 1903, when the breed was standardised in light, red and speckled; eight colours are recognised for standard and bantam Sussex.

Which Kentucky governor commissioned Harland Sanders as a Kentucky Colonel in 1935?

Governor Ruby Laffoon made Sanders a Kentucky Colonel in 1935; he was 're-commissioned' in 1950 and built his image around the title, complete with white suit and string tie.

Popeyes founder Al Copeland said the chain was named after a character from which 1971 film?

Copeland said Popeyes took its name from Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, the detective Gene Hackman played in The French Connection, not from the spinach-eating sailor; the chain launched in New Orleans in 1972.

The peri-peri chicken chain Nando's was founded in 1987 in which city?

Nando's opened in 1987 in Rosettenville, a Johannesburg suburb, founded by Fernando Duarte and Robert Brozin; its name comes from Fernando's nickname and its logo is the Rooster of Barcelos.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers is named after what?

Todd Graves and Craig Silvey opened 'The Mothership' near LSU in Baton Rouge on August 28, 1996.

Bojangles', the chicken-and-biscuits chain, was founded in 1977 in which city?

Bojangles' was founded in 1977 in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Jack Fulk and Richard Thomas, pairing Cajun-seasoned fried chicken with made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits.

Which breed of dairy cow stars in Chick-fil-A's 'Eat Mor Chikin' ads, created in 1995?

The black-and-white Holsteins, painting misspelt 'Eat Mor Chikin' signs, were devised by The Richards Group in 1995; the chain moved the account to McCann New York in 2016.