Poultry – Words to Know

Bits or Broken or crumbled pellets used for starter and grower rations. Crumbles

Breast Blister A sore or calloused area on the bird’s breast.

Brooding Supplying the proper conditions necessary to grow poultry from hatching until they are feathered.

Cannibalism An abnormal behavioral condition usually started by stress. Poultry may pick toes, feathers, vents, or other body parts until they bleed. It can result in severe damage or death, and is difficult to stop. Chick Young chicken from hatch to five weeks of age.

Cockerel Male chicken less than one year of age.

Complete A mixture of feed ingredients which supplies correct amounts of all Ration the nutrients needed by the animal or bird.

Crop A temporary holing area for food and water in the poultry digestive system. Its location over the wish bone in the upper breast of a turkey, chicken, or other bird. It stores and prepares food for further digestion. Down The fuzzy fur-like covering on a baby bird.

Drake An adult male duck.

Dressed Refers to the process involved in preparing a live bird for cooking; fresh dressed birds have not been frozen or otherwise preserved.

Duck An adult female duck.

Duckling A young duck.

Evisceration The removal of the internal organs (entrails) of a bird slaughtered for market.

Finish The quality of carcass perfection; it includes freedom from blemishes and pin feathers, and having neither too much or too little fat.

Fountain A metal, glass, or plastic device used to water poultry; it dispenses water from a storage area as it is consumed.

Gander An adult male goose.

Gizzard Part of the bird’s digestive system which receives the contents of the crop and grinds the food into small particles as an aid to digestion.

Gobbler Usually used to describe a mature tom turkey.

Goose An adult female goose.

Gosling A young goose.

Grain A seed such as wheat, corn or oats.

Hen A mature female chicken greater than one year old. Also, a female turkey.

Mash Finely ground grains and other food most often used for baby chick starters.

Parasite A creature that lives inside or on another organism. There are internal parasites, like worms, and external parasites, like lice and mites. Both can affect the health and well-being of poultry. Pellet A compressed, rod-like unit of ground feed for older birds.

Pin Feather A small immature feather.

Poult A young turkey of both sexes.

Pullet Female chicken through her first laying year.

Range A field of grasses, legumes, or other plants used as a pasture.

Range A building where poultry find shelter from sun, rain, and snow, and Shelter protection from predators; often moveable.

Rooster A mature male chicken greater than one year of age. Also called a cock.

Tom A male turkey of any age.

Source:

Rugaber, Robert J., Keyser, Robin B., & Jordan, Herbert C. 4-H Turkey Project Member’s Guide and Record, The Pennsylvania State University, p. 6.

Wilson, Dave. Poultry: A Guide to Anatomy and Selected Species, University of Illinois, p. 5.