How many different breeds of chickens exist?

According to List of chicken breeds on Wikipedia, hundreds. I doubt that you could get a more definitive answer than that out there as there is no international association that keeps track of and recognises distinct chicken breeds. There is an In... read more

Worldwide, there are hundreds of different chicken breeds. The American Poultry Association recognizes 65 different breeds of chicken. This list does not include the most populous breed of chicken, the Cobb 500. read more

According to The Behavioural Biology of Chickens by Christine J. Nicol, there are over 500 breeds worldwide. Of course, not every breed is officially recognized in all countries. Many breeds also have recognized varieties or have been bred in different sizes (bantam and standard). read more

Many common strains of cross-bred chickens exist, but none breed true or are recognized by poultry breed standards. Thus, though they are extremely common in flocks focusing on high productivity, cross-breeds do not technically meet the definition of a breed. Most cross-breed strains are sex linked, allowing for easy chick sexing. read more