# What Do Chickens Eat?

> What chickens eat: Omnivore — grain, insects, vegetation, and scraps, foraging style, and seasonal shifts in Domestic worldwide; origin in Southeast Asian forest edge.

- **Species:** Chicken (*Gallus gallus domesticus*)
- **Conservation status:** Domesticated
- **Diet:** Omnivore — grain, insects, vegetation, and scraps
- **Habitat:** Domestic worldwide; origin in Southeast Asian forest edge
- **Lifespan:** 5–10 years (backyard); commercial layers shorter
- **Top speed:** Up to 15 km/h (9 mph); brief fluttering flight
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/chicken/what-do-chicken-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/chicken/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is the world's most common bird, a domesticated descendant of the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia. Kept worldwide for eggs, meat, and companionship, a typical bird weighs 1.5 to 3 kg (3.3 to 6.6 lb) depending on breed. Chickens are ground-feeding omnivores that can flutter for short bursts at up to 15 km/h (9 mph). Well-kept backyard birds commonly live 5 to 10 years.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## Origin and domestication

The chicken descends primarily from the red junglefowl, a colourful pheasant-like bird of the forest edges of Southeast Asia, with some genetic input from related junglefowl species. People began keeping these birds thousands of years ago, initially as much for cockfighting and ritual as for food. From this single wild ancestor, selective breeding has produced the enormous variety of chickens kept today. The species now lives on every inhabited continent and is by far the most numerous bird on Earth.

## Help protect the Chicken

Even familiar animals lose ground as wild habitat keeps shrinking worldwide.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

---
Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/chicken/what-do-chicken-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.