The health benefits of chicken include its good supply of protein content, the supply of essential vitamins and minerals, benefits in losing weight, cholesterol control, blood pressure control, and a reduced risk of cancer.

Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world. It has been domesticated and consumed as food for thousands of years. It is believed that chickens were first domesticated in India thousands of years ago, primarily for cockfighting and later for meat consumption. Later, chickens spread to other parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe and eventually to the Americas. Chickens in the Americas were brought from Europe by the early colonists.

Until the 19^th century, chickens were often domesticated in households, both for their meat and their eggs. Excess amounts of meat and eggs were used in bartering systems. In the later part of 19^th and the early 20^th century, household chicken farming gave way to chicken farming as a big business due to the demand from increasing populations in cities.