Common Chicken Terms for Beginners

If you are thinking about adding chickens to your farm or backyard even, there are a handful of terms you are going to want to familiarize yourself with. Chickens are a wonderful addition to any family and a great way to connect to the food you and your family consume. Plus, they are little garbage disposals that take your food scraps and turn them into super food…EGGS! But don’t go into it without a little bit of basic knowledge. Below you’ll find some chicken terminology that will serve you well before taking the plunge into chicken ownership.

3 day old chicks

Pullets and cockerels roosting in their coop.

• Chick -Newly Hatched Chicken

• Incubator - A heated device used for hatching eggs.

• Brooder - A heated enclosure for raising chicks

• Cockerel- Male that is under a year old

• Pullet- Female that is under a year old

• Straight Run - A term used to describe chicks for sale that have not been sexed.

• Sexed Chicks - Separated into pullets only or only cockerels

• Juvenile - A young male or female bird

• Cock - Male that is a year or older

• Hen - Female that is a year or older

• Rooster - A male chicken (includes cock and cockerel)

• Layer Breed - Breed of chicken that is raised primarily for eggs

• Broiler - A chicken bred for it’s meat.

• Coop - An enclosure that houses chickens and keeps them warm

• Run - A fenced or enclosed outdoor space for your chickens

• Nesting Box - A cubicle where a chicken can privately lay eggs

• Broody - When a hen wants to sit on eggs to hatch them.

• Roost - An elevated perch where chickens sleep. (think branch or board used for roosting in the coop)

• Vent - The opening in the backside of a chicken where both waste is eliminated and eggs are laid
  
  

These are just the basics in chicken lingo, but they are a good place to start! Now you’re ready to go on out and purchase your very own chicks!