Poultry

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. A 2011 study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute showed that 47% of the meat and poultry sold in United States grocery stores was contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, and 52% of the bacteria concerned showed resistance to at least three groups of antibiotics.

Meat is sometimes also used in a more restrictive sense to mean the flesh of mammalian species (pigs, cattle, lambs, etc.) raised and prepared for human consumption, to the exclusion of fish, other seafood, insects, poultry, or other animals.

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers.

Among birds, the major domestic species today is the chicken, important for meat and eggs, though economically valuable poultry include the turkey, guineafowl and numerous other species.

These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, and turkeys).

Female domestic turkeys are referred to as hens, and the chicks may be called poults or turkeylings. In the United States, the males are referred to as toms, while in the United Kingdom and Ireland, males are stags.

These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, and turkeys).

As opposed to "fowl", "poultry" is a term for any kind of domesticated bird or bird captive-raised for meat, eggs, or feathers; ostriches, for example, are sometimes kept as poultry, but are neither gamefowl nor waterfowl.

Domestic geese (Anser anser domesticus or Anser cygnoides domesticus) are domesticated grey geese (either greylag geese or swan geese) that are kept by humans as poultry for their meat, eggs, and down feathers since ancient times.

Poultry also includes other birds that are killed for their meat, such as the young of pigeons (known as squabs) but does not include similar wild birds hunted for sport or food and known as game.

Usually considered a delicacy, squab is tender, moist and richer in taste than many commonly consumed poultry meats, but there is relatively little meat per bird, the meat being concentrated in the breast.

These were the common quail (Coturnix coturnix), but modern domesticated flocks are mostly of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) which was probably domesticated as early as the 11th century AD in Japan.

Like the Japanese quail, common quails are sometimes kept as poultry.

By the mid-20th century, the poultry meat-producing industry was of greater importance than the egg-laying industry.

Poultry farming is the process of raising domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food.

The Romans used them in divination, and the Egyptians made a breakthrough when they learned the difficult technique of artificial incubation.

Especially in poultry, the act of sitting on eggs to incubate them is called brooding.

In his 1848 classic book on poultry, Ornamental and Domestic Poultry: Their History, and Management, Edmund Dixon included chapters on the peafowl, guinea fowl, mute swan, turkey, various types of geese, the muscovy duck, other ducks and all types of chickens including bantams.

Populations in western Europe were largely exterminated by hunting pressure in the 13th–19th centuries, with the exception of semi-domesticated birds maintained as poultry by large landowners.

In the Western world, ducks are not as popular as chickens, because the latter produce larger quantities of white, lean meat and are easier to keep intensively, making the price of chicken meat lower than that of duck meat.

Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world.

Most of the usable portions (the best cuts come from the thigh and the larger muscles of the drum or lower leg) are, like other poultry, dark meat; emu meat is considered for cooking purposes by the US Food and Drug Administration to be a red meat because its red colour and pH value approximate that of beef, but for inspection purposes it is considered to be poultry.

Guinea fowl originated in southern Africa, and the species most often kept as poultry is the helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris). It is a medium-sized grey or speckled bird with a small naked head with colourful wattles and a knob on top, and was domesticated by the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Domestic guineafowl, sometimes called pintades, pearl hen, or gleanies, are poultry originating from Africa.

In intensive systems, cannibalism, feather pecking and vent pecking can be common, with some farmers using beak trimming as a preventative measure.

Feather pecking is a behavioural problem that occurs most frequently amongst domestic hens reared for egg production, although it does occur in other poultry such as pheasants, turkeys, ducks, broiler chickens and is sometimes seen in farmed ostriches.

A more intensive system is yarding, in which the birds have access to a fenced yard and poultry house at a higher stocking rate.

In poultry keeping, yarding is the practice of providing the poultry with a fenced yard in addition to a poultry house.

In intensive systems, cannibalism, feather pecking and vent pecking can be common, with some farmers using beak trimming as a preventative measure.

Cannibalism in poultry is the act of one individual of a poultry species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food.

In intensive systems, cannibalism, feather pecking and vent pecking can be common, with some farmers using beak trimming as a preventative measure.

Debeaking is the partial removal of the beak of poultry, especially layer hens and turkeys although it may also be performed on quail and ducks.

The wings are also eaten (Buffalo wings are a popular example in the United States) and may be split into three segments, the meatier "drumette", the "wingette" (also called the "flat"), and the wing tip (also called the "flapper").

A Buffalo wing, in the cuisine of the United States, is an unbreaded chicken wing section (flat or drumette) that is generally deep-fried then coated or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serving.

Sometimes, poultry shows are part of general livestock shows, and sometimes they are separate events such as the annual "National Championship Show" in the United Kingdom organised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain.

Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys".

Also, some risk is present for consumers of poultry meat and eggs to bacterial infections such as Salmonella and Campylobacter.

The bacterium's main reservoir is poultry; humans can contract the disease from eating food contaminated with Campylobacter species.

Sometimes, poultry shows are part of general livestock shows, and sometimes they are separate events such as the annual "National Championship Show" in the United Kingdom organised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain.

Poultry such as chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys and pigeons are also shown competitively.

In many countries, national and regional poultry shows are held where enthusiasts exhibit their birds which are judged on certain phenotypical breed traits as specified by their respective breed standards.

In the American Poultry Association breed standards for poultry, for example, ducks and geese are divided by weight, and chicken breeds are divided by size.

A 2011 study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute showed that 47% of the meat and poultry sold in United States grocery stores was contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, and 52% of the bacteria concerned showed resistance to at least three groups of antibiotics.

In addition, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides livestock statistics regarding beef, poultry, pork, and dairy products.

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers.

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers.