All domestic Chickens are believed to be a direct ancestor of the Red Jungle Fowl, a tropical member of the Pheasant family from Indochina.
Believed to have been crossed with the Grey Jungle fowl it was raised in captivity thousands of years ago in the Indian subcontinent, and from here the domesticated form of the chicken has been used world wide ever since for meat and egg production.
The range of the true species of chicken is from North East India to Malaysia and from the Philippines to Indonesia.
illustration of the Red Junglefowl above and the Grey Junglefowl Below
Now due to the introduction of Domestic chickens into the regions of the true wild fowl there has been much genetic pollution and the Red Jungle fowl are thought to be facing serious threat of extinction.
As of the actual history of the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus) is a bit of a puzzle, with arguments all over the place as of where it came about and how.
Genetic studies say that the original domestic chicken was probably in Thailand. The first Archaeological evidence is from China and dates back to 5400 BC.
It was from here that the chicken began to spread worldwide, making its way through Persia and from here imported to Greece by the 5th century BC.
The Domestic Chicken reached Eastern Europe in about 3000 BC and then Western Europe much later in about the first millennium BC and eventually it was brought over to Britain by the Romans in about 55 BC
The first breed to come to Britain was probably the Dorking. It is believed to have originated in Italy during the Roman Empire period. The first mentions of the breed was by a roman writer called Collumella during the reign of Julius Caesar. He describes the bird as being 'squared framed, large and broad breasted, with big heads and small upright combs. the purest having five toes'. Much of its development was taken place in Britain.
It was these birds that were later used to produce the Sussex and Faverolle breeds
An early print of the Dorking breed
