Blue Hen Chicken

Adopted on April 14, 1939 as the State Bird of Delaware by the Delaware General Assembly, the Blue Hen Chicken has long been used as a motif in numerous political campaigns and in many publications.

During the Revolutionary War, the men of Captain Jonathan Caldwell's company, recruited in Kent County, Delaware, took with them game chickens that were of the brood of a famous Blue Hen and were noted for their fighting ability. When not fighting the enemy, the troops often amused themselves by staging cock fights with a breed known as the Kent County Blue Hen, recognizable for its blue plumage. The renown of these chickens spread rapidly during the time when cock fighting was a popular form of amusement, and the "Blue Hens' Chickens" developed quite a reputation for ferocity and fighting success. The fame of these cockfights spread throughout the army and when in battle, the Delaware men fought so valiantly that they were compared to these fighting cocks.

The Blue Hen Chicken, (Gallus gallus) is native to Southern Asia, particularly the jungles of India. The Blue Hen Chicken spread all over the world when people domesticated the chicken. It’s plumage is gold, red, brown, dark maroon, orange, with a bit of metallic green and gray. There are also some white and olive feathers. Two white patches, shaped like an ear, appear on either side of the head. Gallus gallus can be distinguished from other chickens not only by these white patches, but also by the grayish feet

Reproduction
The breeding season of the Blue Hen Chicken is spring and summer. The chicks will start their lives in the warmth of the summer sun. An egg is laid each day. For twenty-one days before hatching, the chick will develop inside of the egg. On the twenty-first day, the chick, now fully developed, starts to break through his thin shell. This action can take anywhere from ten to twenty hours. By four to five weeks of age, the chicks are normally fully feathered. Their first adult wings' feather will take another four weeks to grow. When the chicks are twelve weeks old, the mother chases them out of the group. They will then go on to form their own group or join another. At five months old, the chicks reach sexual maturity. The females reach sexual maturity a little later than the males.

Behavior
Gallus gallus has very distinctive social system involving a pecking order, with one dominating all, and one submitting to all. There is one pecking order for female and one for male. The physical action for dominance is to raise the tail and head. Submission is shown when a G. gallus lowers his tail and head, crouches, and tilts the head to one side. Hens feed safely under the protection of the dominating cock. In order to fight, hens need to go at least ten feet from the dominating cock. When a dominating cock dies, the next higher cock in the pecking order takes charge immediately. The pecking order is introduced to chicks when they are just a week old. An order is accomplished in about seven weeks. The dominating cock's sphere of influence is about sixty to seventy feet.