Poultry Judging Practice Test

Chickens belong to the order _____________ along with guinea fowl, turkey, pheasant, and peafowl.

1. Galliformes

2. Passeriformes

3. Charadriiformes

4. Anseriformes

The correct answer is: Galliformes

Chickens belong to the order Galliformes, which is a group of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that are primarily terrestrial. This order includes other familiar poultry species such as guinea fowl, turkeys, pheasants, and peafowl, all of which share similar characteristics such as a robust body shape, strong legs for scratching the ground, and a preference for living in open or dense vegetation environments. The members of Galliformes are known for being domesticated for human consumption, whether for their meat or eggs. Their social structures and behaviors also make them suitable for domestication, which is reflected in the significant role they play in agriculture worldwide. Understanding this order is important in poultry judging, as it helps knowledgeably distinguish between different species of game birds as well as domesticated chickens. The other orders listed do not include chickens; for instance, Passeriformes generally refers to perching birds, Anseriformes includes waterfowl like ducks and geese, and Charadriiformes encompasses shorebirds and gulls. Thus, Galliformes is the correct order associated with chickens and related poultry.