Southeast Asia, about 3,500 years ago
From junglefowl to chicken
biologyhistory
The chicken comes from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia. A 2022 study argued chickens became domestic only about 3,500 years ago, drawn to the rice and millet fields of Thailand, much later than once thought, and were first kept for cockfighting and ritual before eggs and meat.
Why might the chicken have been a sacred bird before it was a meal?
Sources: Peters et al., "The Biocultural Origins and Dispersal of Domestic Chickens," PNAS 119 (2022)
Illustration: Urbanicity house studio (SI-generated)