A rooster, cock or cockerel is a male chicken (Gallus gallus), the female being called a hen. The original term is "cock", from Old English cocc, but this term tends to be avoided these days due to its use in sexual slang. It is replaced by euphemisms: "cockerel" (which properly refers to a young male chicken) in Britain, and "rooster" (a relative neologism) in North America and Australia. "Roosting" is the action of perching aloft to sleep at night, and is actually done by both sexes. The cock is non-monogamous, but cannot guard several nests of eggs at once. He guards the general area where his hens are nest, and will attack other roosters who enter his territory. During the daytime, he often sits on a high perch, usually 4–5 feet off the ground, to serve as a lookout for his flock. He will sound a distinctive alarm call if predators are nearby. In a recent USDA study, researchers decided that th

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