What Kind Of Chicken Is That Giant Chicken?

If you've been on the internet in the last 24 hours, you've definitely heard about the giant chicken video that everyone is freaking out about. The people of the internet have a lot of questions and they haven't been shy about asking them: What kind of chicken is the giant chicken? Is the giant chicken a hoax? Is the giant chicken going to eat all the humans? Is the giant chicken here to tell us that the world is over? Rightfully so, the footage of this giant chicken has ruffled people's feathers — sorry, not sorry. In an age of GMO and hormone-induced meat, people were quick to assume that this chicken was indeed the product of some scientifically engineered processing meant to yield higher McNugget production. And equal amount of energy went into people trying to dispel the giant chicken. Was it fake news? Was it a man in a costume? Was it a practical joke? Was it Russia?

But the truth of the matter is a lot less interesting than all of the internet rumors: the truth is that it's a Brahma Chicken. Originally imported from China, this breed of chicken is larger than the ones we're used to seeing, for sure. According to the Livestock Conservancy, the Brahma Chicken is often referred to as the "King of All Poultry" and we can clearly see why. On average, the Brahma chicken ranges from 13 to 19 pounds, and that's mostly thanks to America for breeding the largest fowls together over the course of nearly 100 years.

From the 1850s to the 1930s, the Brahma Chicken was the leading breed of poultry in the United States. As the bird mostly thrives in cool and dry climates, it couldn't stand it's supreme reign over the poultry industry forever. Since then, cornish crosses have taken over the majority of the American poultry industry, making Brahma Chickens less popular — hence why we haven't seen them before. So, sorry to let you down if you were hoping the sight of this chicken meant something profound was about to occur, it's just a chicken, and according to many chicken breeders, it's actually and incredibly docile and peaceful chicken. It's kind of the dog of the chicken world as far as temperaments go. Basically, the video that everyone thought was too outrageous to be real, is actually just a low-key sales video for a poultry marketplace that was advertising their birds via Facebook.

If giant chickens are your new favorite obsession, feel free to spend the rest of your day marveling at the videos they've posted of the rest of their giant chickens, because yes, there's more than one.