Chickens are birds, yes you read it right! For a long time now people have been confused and searching for the answer to this question that is chickens mammals or reptiles or birds. We will discuss in depth that’s why chickens are birds by comparing the characteristics of chicken with mammals and reptiles to get a better understanding.
Are Chickens Mammals?
A large number of people have argued that chickens are mammals, but let me now list down all the peculiar characteristics of the mammals:
- Mammals give birth to their young ones, which means that the organism first develops in the mother’s body first and is then born.
- Mammals have mammary glands to feed their young ones.
Is chicken a reptile?
If we now come to chickens, they lay eggs. Laying eggs is not a characteristic of a mammalian organism. The offspring develop outside the mother’s body. Birds in general lay eggs and so does the chickens. Also, chickens have breasts, but that is not sued for feeding their young ones. Once the egg hatches and chicken comes out, it is pretty much ready to explore and get its food. They don’t need their mothers to feed them. Initially, baby chickens stay close to their mother hen for getting the warmth, but the mother doesn’t feed them directly. So as chickens have characteristics that do not match with the mammals, it is clear that chickens do not belong to the mammal family.
When it comes to the birds being called reptiles, it is not true. Because reptiles have a peculiar set of characteristics such as:
- Reptiles have a backbone and are thus are known as vertebrates.
- Reptiles also lay eggs instead of giving birth to their young ones.
- The eggs have the hard shell on the outer side, but some exceptional cases give birth to their young ones directly.
Whereas the eggs laid by chickens do not have the harder shell. Birds have weak bones and feathers. Feathers are one peculiarity of the birds because like they have feathers reptiles have scales and mammals have hair or fur. Birds like chickens are warm-blooded animals. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals. Chickens are warm-blooded and have feathers that qualify as a bird.
Chickens have all the characteristics that match with birds, as they have beaks instead of teeth, a strong skeleton, hollow bones, and a developed middle ear. Chickens have tongue and can taste everything just like the humans do.
So, the Answer is
After discussing all this, it is fair to say that the chickens are birds. Male chickens are called roosters, and the female chickens are called hens. As they lay eggs like other birds too, it is thus confirmed that they belong to the bird family.