The domestication of the chicken dates back 10,000 years ago in Vietnam but the tasty little birds didn't come to the Americas until 1350 AD.  In early civilization, the chicken was so popular because you could eat the whole thing at one meal and you didn't have to worry about waste.  Since there were no refrigerators that was very important.  Raising chickens was widespread because they were fairly easy to take care of and very inexpensive to get started.  Now, more than 50 billion chickens are raised each year to supply the Earth with meat and eggs.  Did you know Church's Fried Chicken was started in San Antonio, TX in 1952 across from The Alamo?