Livestock and Poultry Management

Chickens were domesticated from wild junglefowl in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago, and tracing how distinct breeds spread across the globe — and what genetic diversity they carry today — helps scientists understand both evolutionary history and the practical resilience of local populations. Indigenous and family poultry kept by smallholder households, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, support rural livelihoods, food security, and women's economic autonomy in ways that commercially standardized breeds often cannot. Researchers use mitochondrial DNA and, increasingly, ancient DNA recovered from archaeological remains to reconstruct domestication routes and identify ancestral lineages, including the debated role of Polynesian chickens in pre-Columbian contact history. Open questions center on how to balance the conservation of genetically distinct indigenous breeds against pressure from commercial crossbreeding, and how targeted poultry development programs can more effectively reduce poverty without eroding the diversity that makes local breeds valuable in the first place.

Works

59,569

Total citations

213,819

Keywords

Chicken DomesticationGenetic DiversityVillage PoultryMitochondrial DNAIndigenous BreedsFamily Poultry