학술논문
Pioneering Poultry: A Morphometric Investigation of Seventeenth- to Early Twentieth-Century Domestic Chickens (Gallus gallus) in Eastern North America.
Document Type
Article
Source
Subject
*CHICKENS
*CHICKEN breeds
*POULTRY
*TWENTIETH century
*BODY size
*NINETEENTH century
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Language
ISSN
1092-7697
Abstract
Chickens were among the first domesticates introduced by Europeans to North America, where they quickly became established. Morphometric analyses of chicken remains from sites in eastern Canada and the Northeastern USA demonstrate that founding populations likely came from several different types of chicken. Comparison of these data with English medieval and post-medieval assemblages reveals that continued selection for larger body size in both populations resulted in larger chickens. However, the physical proportions of these birds remained consistent across time and space until the nineteenth century, when breeders began producing specialized laying, broiler, and show birds with exaggerated characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]