Poultry

Poultry are a group of domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae, especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, turkeys). The term also includes birds that are killed for their meat, such as the young pigeons (known as squabs) but does not include similar wild birds hunted for sport or food and known as game. The word "poultry" comes from the French word poule, which itself is derived from the Latin word pullus, which means game birds.
Poultry as food
Poultry is the second most widely eaten type of meat in the world, accounting for about 33% of total meat production all around the world compared to pork at 36%.

World production of duck meat was about 4.2 million tonnes in 2011. China was producing two thirds of that total which means around 1.7 billion birds.


Global egg production reached 76.7 million tonnes in 2018, a huge 24% growth since 2008.

Related pages
 Animal husbandry
 Cattle

References

Other websites
  Information on Poultry Diseases 
 PoultryCast podcast
 Chickens, Waterfowl and Exotic Poultry
 The Poultry Guide  - A to Z and FAQs