Reference · 06
The chicken keeper’s working glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms that appear in flock records, hatch notes, veterinary conversations and poultry-keeping guidance.
A–C
- AIPZ
- Avian Influenza Prevention Zone: an officially declared area with mandatory biosecurity and sometimes housing measures.
- APHA
- Animal and Plant Health Agency, responsible for animal-disease surveillance and control in Great Britain.
- Bantam
- A small chicken; some are true bantam breeds, while others are miniature versions of large breeds.
- Biosecurity
- Practical measures that reduce the chance of disease entering, spreading within or leaving a flock.
- Bloom
- The natural protective coating on a freshly laid egg, also called the cuticle.
- Brooder
- A warm, safe environment used to rear young chicks without a hen.
- Broody
- A hen showing the hormonal and behavioural drive to sit on and hatch eggs.
- Candling
- Viewing the contents of an egg with a bright light to assess development or defects.
- Cecal dropping
- A periodic, softer and smellier dropping produced when the caeca empty; normal in healthy birds.
- Cloaca
- The common chamber serving the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems; it opens through the vent.
- Cockerel
- A young male chicken, commonly under one year old.
- Comb
- The fleshy structure on top of the head; size and shape vary by breed, sex and maturity.
- Crop
- A storage pouch in the oesophagus where recently eaten food is temporarily held.
F–L
- Fertility
- Whether an egg was fertilised; it is not the same as whether a fertile embryo survives to hatch.
- Flock
- A social group of chickens living together.
- Footbath
- A controlled disinfectant station for footwear, useful only when correctly mixed, maintained and used after visible dirt is removed.
- Gizzard
- A muscular digestive organ that grinds feed, assisted by suitable insoluble grit.
- Hackle
- Feathers around the neck; their shape can help distinguish adult males and females.
- Hatchability
- The proportion of fertile eggs that produce viable chicks under stated conditions.
- Incubator
- Equipment that controls the environment around fertile eggs during artificial incubation.
- Keel
- The prominent ridge of the breastbone; useful as one reference when assessing body condition.
- Layer
- A hen kept primarily for egg production; also used to describe feed formulated for laying birds.
- Litter
- Absorbent floor material such as suitable shavings or chopped straw - not rubbish or waste generally.
- Lockdown
- Informal hatching term for the final stage when routine turning stops and the incubator is kept closed as much as possible.
M–Z
- Moult
- The natural replacement of feathers, often seasonal and accompanied by reduced laying.
- Notifiable disease
- A disease that the law requires to be reported to the relevant authority when suspected.
- Pecking order
- The flock’s social hierarchy, influencing access to space and resources.
- Pin feather
- A new feather still enclosed in its protective keratin sheath and supplied with blood while growing.
- Pip
- The first break a hatching chick makes through the internal membrane or external shell.
- Point of lay
- A pullet approaching laying maturity; not a guarantee that egg production has started.
- Pullet
- A young female chicken before maturity, commonly under one year old.
- Quarantine
- Separation and observation of new, returning or potentially exposed birds, using dedicated equipment and care order.
- Roost
- To settle for sleep, usually on a perch; “roost” may also refer to the perch itself.
- Run
- An enclosed outdoor area attached to or associated with the chicken house.
- Vent
- The external opening of the cloaca beneath the tail.
- Wattle
- One of the paired fleshy structures hanging beneath the beak.
- Zip
- The stage of hatch when a chick works around the shell after the external pip.