Topic summary
Chicken as food
Chicken is the most common type of poultry and the second most consumed meat in the world, after pork. Owing to the relative ease and low cost of raising chickens—in comparison to mammals such as cattle or pigs—chicken meat (commonly called just "chicken") and chicken eggs have become prevalent in numerous cuisines.
Chicken can be prepared in a vast range of ways, including baking, grilling, barbecuing, frying, boiling, and roasting. Since the latter half of the 20th century, prepared chicken has become a staple of fast food. Chicken is sometimes cited as being more healthy than red meat, with lower concentrations of cholesterol and saturated fat.
The poultry farming industry that accounts for chicken production takes on a range of forms across different parts of the world. In developed countries, chickens are typically subject to intensive farming methods while less-developed areas raise chickens using more traditional farming techniques. The United Nations estimated there to be 19 billion chickens on Earth in 2011, making them outnumber humans more than two to one. Chickens are recognized as sentient animals capable of experiencing pain and distress, which has led to ongoing scientific and ethical discussions regarding their treatment in food production systems.