How wild chickens live: They feel comfortable in this environment

Created: 12/23/2021, 4:41 PM

From: Anna Katharina Küsters

In this country chickens only live under supervision in an enclosure.

But there are also wild chickens in Asia.

They shape their coexistence differently.

Bonn - Many people would have to do without the obligatory Sunday egg at breakfast if the domestic chicken weren't such a loyal and widespread farm animal.

According to the Federal Information Center for Agriculture, there are around 43 million hens in Germany that lay 13 billion eggs per year.

Each chicken lays an average of 301 eggs per year.

An enormous number that would not be reached in wildlife.

Because when chickens decide for themselves how and where they live, it usually looks different than in this country, as Landtiere.de reports.

How chickens live: They feel comfortable in this environment

The domestic chicken originally comes from a wild chicken from Asia, the bankiva chicken.

This archetype of the domestic chicken lives mainly in large parts of India and China.

There it usually lives constantly within a region, which is partly due to the constant climate.

Outwardly, males and females of the Bankiva chicken differ significantly: while the male has a splendidly shimmering, colorful plumage, the feathers of the female are brown-gray and the animal is generally more inconspicuous.

The bankiva chicken prefers to live in the undergrowth.

(Symbol picture) © Christian Zappel / Imago

If people do not intervene in the life of these wild fowls, there are clear differences between domestic and wild fowl.

This applies to the social organization of the chickens in the group as well as mating behavior and the number of eggs the chickens lay.

Large groups of chickens are not always the preferred way of life of the animals and the fight between two males in a group clearly drives the wild chickens' urge to reproduce.

How chickens live: way of life in the wild

Wild chickens in Asia do not live in the open like domestic chickens, where they would be far too easy prey for their enemies.

Instead, they hide in the undergrowth at the edge of the forest.

In contrast to domestic chickens, the selected group size in which wild chickens live also varies significantly.

According to studies, however, a group of wild fowl never contains more than 90 chickens and hens.

The simple reason for this is that the animals then no longer recognize who belongs to the group and who is new as an enemy or intruder.

If too many animals live together, this inevitably leads to social stress, fighting and unnecessary consumption of energy reserves.

The animals therefore voluntarily avoid a mass gathering.

The group life brings some advantages to the wild fowl.

Among other things, for example:

• early detection of enemies

• easier access to food

• clear hierarchies and thus less social stress

On the other hand, the dense coexistence of wild chickens also brings dangers and problems.

For example:

• faster spread of diseases

• more noticeable to enemies

• Fight for food

Nevertheless, over the centuries, it seems to have proven successful for animals to get involved in one another in certain sizes and to adapt to one another.

How chickens live: mating behavior in wild chickens

This can be seen not least in the mating behavior of the animals.

In contrast to domestic chickens, there is not always only one rooster in free-ranging groups.

That is why there are regular power struggles between the male animals.

The animals find out who is allowed to pass on their genetic material to the hens.

This rooster then lives with a small group of females and mates with a selected group of chickens for a period of time.

Roosters do not recognize their offspring, one more reason to mate as often as possible and increase the chance of having their own offspring.