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Online Video Showing a "Giant Chicken" Prompts Varied Reactions from Internet

Although a video showing an unusually large chicken was met with skepticism by some viewers, such big birds are not outside the realm of believability.

Published March 20, 2017

A video purportedly showing an unusually large chicken emerging from a coop was widely circulated on social media in March 2017:

The video was not shared with any information about where or when it was filmed, leaving many viewers skeptical that the animal featured in the video was real.

The first iteration of this video that we could uncover was posted to the Facebook group "Shepeztaria Dekorative" by Fitim Sejfijaj on 17 March 2017. The Facebook group, which appears to be a marketplace for live poultry and features several other images of "giant" chickens, included at least one other video apparently showing the same animal emerging from its coop:

Although many viewers are familiar only with smaller breeds of chickens (the average broiler chicken weighs about six pounds), some breeds such as the Brahma can grow to weigh close to 20 pounds. The "fluffy" appearance of their feathers can also add to an illusion of greater size:

Often referred to as the “King of All Poultry”, the Brahma chicken is appreciated for its great size, strength, and vigor. By 1901 some individual birds were documented to have reached the incredible weights of 13-14 pounds for hens and 17 to 18.25 pounds for cocks — though 10 pound hens and 12 pounds cocks were the rule.

The same Facebook group contained several images of similarly large birds, and at least one video apparently showing the same chicken from another angle.

Sources

The Livestock Conservancy.   "Brahma Chicken."     Retrieved 20 March 2017.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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