Chicken

Scientific name: Gallus gallus domesticus

Female: Hen

Male: Cock, rooster

The common domestic chicken is a mixture of several breeds that were all originally descendants of the notoriously cranky red jungle fowl of Southeast Asia. Eventually making its way through the Mediterranean to Europe, the chicken remained a meal for the wealthy well into the 20th century. In 1594 to garner popular support, King Henry IX promised the French masses “a chicken in every pot.” This, like most political promises, did not pan out, making today’s mass production of chickens a strange kind of wish fulfillment for the French king.