GLOSSARY
Bantam: This is the smaller counterpart to a large fowl breed. Every large fowl has a bantam option, too. Some breeds come only in bantam size and are therefore called true bantams.
Bloom: A protective coating of proteins on a just-laid egg
Brood patch: An area on the breast with no feathers and increased vascularization where the eggs come in direct contact with the hen’s skin during incubation
Brooder: This is a box or pen that provides a warm, dry home for new chicks during their first weeks of life. It contains a fresh and continuous supply of food and water and protection from predators.
Broody: This is a hormone-driven condition that occurs when a hen is willing to sit on and hatch eggs. It can become detrimental to the hen if she will not conduct other regular activities such as eating or drinking. She does not lay eggs at this time.
Chicken: A domesticated fowl, originally from Southeast Asia, used for both meat and eggs
Cocks: Male chickens older than one year of age, sometimes called roosters
Cockerels: These are male chickens younger than one year of age.
Crop: The outpocketing for the esophagus in the neck region just above a chicken’s breast
Crumble: A feed mixture for chickens that includes broken up pellets in small pieces
Dander: The small flakes of feather follicles shed as a bird grows new feathers
Egg tooth: This is the hard part of the beak a chick uses to break through its shell during hatching. It falls off a few days after the chick hatches.
Feeder: The container in both the brooder and the coop where food is stored
Fluff: A chick’s first feathers, technically called natal down
Hen: Female chickens older than one year of age
Hock: The joint of a chicken’s leg where the feather meets the scale
Marek’s disease: A virus found worldwide that attacks a chicken’s nervous system, causing partial paralysis.
Mash: Food for chickens that’s a powdery mixture of chicken feed
Natal down: See fluff.
Oviduct: The organ in the hen which accepts the yolk after ovulation, where the egg is completed
Pasty vent: A collection of fecal matter around the chick’s vent that a hen would take care of in nature but that a chick owner must clean
Pipping: This is the two-part process by which chicks hatch. During internal pipping, the chick breaks through the air cell inside the egg and takes its first breath. The second stage is external pipping, during which the chick makes its first break through the eggshell.
Primary wing feathers: These are part of the wing. When you fold out the wing, the primary feathers are furthest from the body.
Pullets: These are female chickens younger than one year of age.
Roosting pole: The place where chickens perch and sleep at night
Run: The fenced-in area outside the coop where chickens can range, scratch for bugs, and take dust baths
Secondary wing feathers: These are the wing feathers closest to the body. When a chicken folds up its wing, secondary feathers are visible. Primary feathers are tucked up underneath.
Waterer: The container in both the brooder and the coop where water is stored
Vent: The opening through which a hen lays her eggs or any bird drops its fecal matter.
WEB RESOURCES
ALCRAFT EGG ARTISTRY, LLC
www.alcrafteggartistry.com
AMERICAN BANTAM ASSOCIATION
www.bantamclub.com
AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
www.amerpoultryassn.com/breed_classifications.htm
CHICKEN WHISPERER, LLC
www.chickenwhisperer.com
THE CITY CHICKEN
www.thecitychicken.com
THE EGGERY PLACE
www.theeggeryplace.com
FEATHER SITE
www.feathersite.com
INTERNATIONAL EGG ART GUILD
www.eggartguild.org
INTERNET CENTER FOR WILDLIFE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT
www.icwdm.org
THE LIVESTOCK CONSERVANCY
www.livestockconservancy.com
METZER FARMS
www.metzerfarms.com
MUNICIPAL CODE CORPORATION
www.municode.com
MY PET CHICKEN
www.mypetchicken.com
PREVENTING SALMONELLA INFECTION
www.cdc.gov/healthypets/resources/salmonella-baby-poultry.pdf
TRACTOR SUPPLY
www.tractorsupply.com
UKRAINIAN GIFT SHOP
www.ukrainiangiftshop.com
UNIQUELY EMU PRODUCTS, INC.
www.uniquelyemu.com
MAIL-ORDER POULTRY SUPPLIES
BRINSEA
www.brinsea.com
CRAZY K FARM
www.crazykfarm.com
CRITTER CAGES.COM
www.critter-cages.com
CUTLER’S PHEASANT, POULTRY, AND BEE SUPPLIES
www.cutlersupply.com
EGGBOXES.COM (800) 326-6667
www.eggboxes.com
FIRST STATE VETERINARY SUPPLY
www.firststatevetsupply.com
FLEMING OUTDOORS (800) 624-4493
www.flemingoutdoors.com
GQF MANUFACTURING COMPANY INC.
www.gqfmfg.com
IDEAL POULTRY BREEDING FARMS, INC.
www.ideal-poultry.com
KEMP’S KOOPS
www.poultrysupply.com
MURRAY MCMURRAY HATCHERY
www.mcmurrayhatchery.com
MY PET CHICKEN
www.mypetchicken.com
RANDALL BURKEY COMPANY, INC.
www.randallburkey.com
SEVEN OAKS GAME FARM
www.poultrystuff.com
SMITH POULTRY AND GAME BIRD SUPPLIES
www.poultrysupplies.com
ORGANIZATIONS
AMERICAN LIVESTOCK BREEDS CONSERVANCY
www.albc-usa.org
AVEC Association of Poultry Processors, Europe
www.avec-poultry.eu
FFA
www.ffa.org
4-H
www.4-h.org
PUBLICATIONS
4-H GUIDE: RAISING CHICKENS
Tara Kindschi
AMERICAN STANDARD OF PERFECTION
Various Artists
THE CHICKEN HEALTH HANDBOOK
Gail Damerow
CITY CHICKS
Patricia Foreman
HOW TO RAISE POULTRY
Christine Heinrichs
POULTRY PRESS
www.poultrypress.com
RAISING POULTRY THE MODERN WAY
Leonard S. Mercia
YOUR CHICKENS: A KID’S GUIDE TO RAISING AND SHOWING
Gail Damerow