Fowl Play: A History of the Chicken from Dinosaur to Dinner Plate

The humble chicken has conquered the world.
This unlikely descendant of Tyrannosaurus Rex is now so ubiquitous there are more than 20 billion chickens pecking, strutting and scratching around the planet at any one time. And yet, of all animals, the chicken perhaps best represents the contradictory way we humans treat other species: both beloved pet and cheap commodity, symbol of a sustainable good life and brutalised object of factory farming.

Sally Coulthard charts the chicken's fascinating ...