Eggs have been consumed by humans since prehistory, and egg-laying animals are kept as livestock in nearly every agricultural society. The most common culinary egg is the chicken egg, and, when recipes that do not otherwise indicate a species, it is the chicken egg that is intended.
Numerous other fowl eggs are used in cooking, including duck eggs, quail eggs, and, less commonly, goose eggs, and ostrich eggs. Fish eggs, which are known as roe or caviar, are also consumed as food.