Abstract

My critical autoethnography questions the discursive practices surrounding the consumption of domesticated junglefowl, birds scientifically known as Gallus domesticus and commonly known as ‘meat’ or chicken. I investigate the degree to which language might matter when it comes to the fate faced by billions of farmed junglefowl every year, beginning with a description of my family’s small-scale egg husbandry and associated rooster and hen slaughter. I then outline Western stereotypes that belittle junglefowl in ways that are nearly always negative and often misogynistic. This leads me to a consideration of the terminology employed by animal advocacy and ‘meat’ industry communities, where I find that while the animals I call here ‘controlled junglefowl’ are commonly referred to in the ‘meat’ industry as poultry or chickens, and referred to as hens, roosters and chicks by those interested in changing their life patterns, all terms are used across all sectors. This makes me question the degree to which words matter, compared to context and culture. I conclude by turning to the communications of domesticated junglefowl, and as an old chook, find that despite advances in understanding the cognitive worlds of these avian beings, not much has changed in the social license to breed, grow and slaughter them. 

Keywords: critical autoethnography; intertextual discourse analysis, poultry, chickens, gallus domesticus, animal welfare, animal rights

How to Cite:

Hall Pyke, S., (2026) “Chook Talk and the Controlled Junglefowl”, Animal Studies Journal 14(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.14453/asj.1553