Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (107 page)

incubation period.
The time needed for a bird’s egg to hatch; also, the time elapsed between exposure to a disease-causing agent and the appearance of the first signs.

incubator.
A mechanical device for hatching fertile eggs.

infectious.
Capable of invading living tissue and multiplying therein, causing disease.

infertility.
Temporary or permanent inability to reproduce.

keel.
The breastbone, which resembles the keel of a boat.

line.
A strain of chickens bred to be as similar as possible to one another.

litter.
Bedding.

mash.
Feed that has been ground to various degrees of coarseness but is still recognizable so chickens can pick out what they like.

mate.
The pairing of a rooster with one or more hens; a hen or rooster so paired.

mite.
A tiny jointed-leg body parasite.

molt.
The annual shedding and renewing of a bird’s feathers.

mortality.
Percentage killed by a disease.

nematode.
Roundworm.

nest.
A secluded place where a hen feels she may safely leave her eggs; also, the act of brooding.

nest egg.
A wooden or plastic egg placed in a nest to encourage hens to lay there.

oviduct.
The tube inside a hen through which an egg travels when it is ready to be laid.

parasite.
An organism that lives on or inside a host animal and derives food or protection from the host without giving anything in return.

pasting.
Loose droppings sticking to the vent area.

pastured poultry.
Chickens housed on grassland in movable shelters.

pathogenic.
Capable of causing disease.

peck order.
The social rank of chickens.

pellet.
Mash that has been compressed into small tubular pieces, each having identical nutritional value.

pelvic bones.
Two sharp, slender bones that end in front of the vent; also called pinbones.

pen.
A group of chickens entered into a show and judged together; also, a group of chickens housed together for breeding purposes.

perch.
The place where chickens sleep at night; the act of resting on a perch; also called roost.

pickout.
Vent damage due to cannibalism.

pigmentation.
The color of a chicken’s beak, shanks, and vent.

pinbones.
Pelvic bones.

pinfeathers.
The tips of newly emerging feathers.

pip.
The hole a newly formed chick makes in its shell when it is ready to hatch; also, the act of making the hole.

plumage.
The complete set of feathers covering a chicken.

postmortem.
Pertaining to or occurring after death.

poultry.
Chickens and other domesticated birds raised for food.

predator.
One animal that hunts another for food, or, as with dogs, for sport.

processor.
A person or firm that kills, cleans, and packages meat birds.

producer.
A person or firm that raises meat birds or laying hens.

prolapse.
Slipping of a body part from its normal position, often erroneously used to describe an everted organ.

protein.
A nutrient furnished by any feedstuff (such as eggs, meat, milk, nuts, seed germs, and soybeans) that is high in amino acids.

protozoa.
Single-cell microscopic creatures that may be either parasitic or beneficial.

proventriculus.
A chicken’s stomach.

pullet.
A female chicken under one year old.

purebred.
The offspring of a hen and a rooster of the same breed.

range.
An open area on which chickens forage.

range fed.
Description of chickens that are allowed to graze pasture.

ration.
The combination of all feed consumed.

resistance.
Immunity to infection.

roaster.
A cockerel or pullet, usually weighing 4 to 6 pounds (2 to 2.7 kg), suitable for cooking whole in the oven.

roost.
The place where chickens spend the night; the act of resting on a roost; also called perch.

rooster.
A male chicken; also called a cock.

saddle.
The part of a chicken’s back just before the tail.

scales.
The small, hard, overlapping plates covering a chicken’s shanks and toes.

scratch.
The habit chickens have of scraping their claws against the ground to dig up tasty things to eat; also, any grain fed to chickens.

set.
To keep eggs warm so they will hatch; also called brood.

setting.
A group of hatching eggs in an incubator or under a hen; the incubation of eggs by a hen (incorrectly called “sitting” by people who try too hard to be grammatically correct).

sexed.
Newly hatched chicks that have been sorted into pullets and cockerels.

shank.
The part of a chicken’s leg between the claw and the first joint.

sickles.
The long, curved tail feathers of some roosters.

sire.
Father.

spent.
No longer laying well.

sport.
Cockfighting.

spur.
The sharp pointed protrusion on a rooster’s shank and sometimes on a hen’s.

stag.
A cockerel on the brink of sexual maturity, when his comb and spurs begin to develop.

standard.
The description of an ideal specimen for its breed; also, a chicken that conforms to the description of its breed in the
American Standard of Perfection
; sometimes erroneously used when referring to large as opposed to bantam breeds.

started pullets.
Young female chickens that are nearly old enough to lay.

starter.
A ration for newly hatched chicks.

starve-out.
Failure of chicks to eat.

steal.
A hen’s instinctive habit of hiding her eggs.

sterile.
Permanent inability to reproduce.

sternum.
Breastbone or keel.

still-air incubator.
A mechanical device for hatching fertile eggs that does not have a fan to circulate air.

straightbred.
Purebred.

straight run.
Newly hatched chicks that have not been sexed; also called unsexed or as hatched.

strain.
A flock of related chickens selectively bred by one person or organization for so long the offspring have become uniform in appearance or production; also called a line.

stress.
Any physical or mental tension that reduces resistance.

stub.
Down on the shank or toe of a cleanleg chicken.

tidbitting.
Repeatedly picking up and dropping a bit of food.

trace mineral salt.
A blend of salt along with many other minerals the body needs in infinitesimally small amounts.

trachea.
Windpipe.

treading.
Rapid movements of a cock’s feet while mating.

trematode.
A parasitic fluke.

trio.
A cock and two hens or a cockerel and two pullets of the same breed and variety.

type.
The size and shape of a chicken that tells you what breed it is.

unthrifty.
Unhealthy appearing and/or failing to grow at a normal rate.

urates.
Uric acid (salts found in urine).

vaccine.
A product made from diseasecausing organisms and used to produce immunity.

variety.
A subdivision of a breed based on color, comb style, beard, or leg feathering.

vent.
The outside opening of the cloaca, through which a chicken emits eggs and droppings from separate channels.

virulence.
The strength of an organism’s ability to cause disease.

wattles.
The two red or purplish flaps of flesh that dangle under a chicken’s chin.

zoning.
Laws regulating or restricting the use of land for a particular purpose, such as raising chickens.

Some of the publications listed below are regularly updated, so be sure to look for the latest editions of those with that designation.

American Bantam Association.
Bantam Standard.
Augusta, NJ: American Bantam Association, (latest edition). Pictorial guide for breeders and exhibitors of bantams.

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
Poultry Census and Sourcebook.
Pittsboro, NC: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, 1987. Descriptions of and sources for rare dual-purpose varieties. (Out of print; check your local library, interlibrary loan, or the Internet).

American Poultry Association.
American Standard of Perfection
. (latest edition) Pictorial guide for breeders and exhibitors of fancy fowl.

Blake, Val and Daniel Price-Jones eds.
Raising Rare Breeds
. Marmora, ON: Joywind Farm Rare Breeds Conservancy, 1994. Spiral-bound manual of breeding strategies for small flocks (and other livestock).

Cole, Joanna, and Jerome Wexler.
A Chick Hatches
. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1976. (Out of print; check your local library, interlibrary loan, or the Internet). Black-and-white photographs of an embryo at various stages of incubation.

Damerow, Gail.
The Chicken Health Handbook
. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 1994. Comprehensive book on preventing, identifying, and treating diseases in backyard flocks.

———.
Fences for Pasture & Garden
. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 1992. A thorough guide to designing and constructing fences of all kinds.

———.
Your Chickens: A Kid’s Guide to Raising and Showing
. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 1993. A guide to the basics of chicken raising for anyone just starting.

Ekarius, Carol.
Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds
. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2007. Photographs and detailed description by breed, organized according to primarily egg producers, meat producers, or ornamental.

Foreman, Pat.
City Chicks.
Buena Vista, VA: Good Earth Publications, 2009. How to maintain a small flock of urban chickens for egg laying, insect control, food waste disposal, garden fertilizer, and endless entertainment.

Hanke, Oscar A., John L. Skinner, and James Harold Florea, ed.
American Poultry History, 1823–1973
. Lafayette, IN: American Poultry Historical Society, Inc., 1974. Chronicles the development of poultry production in the United States from early exhibitors and backyard enthusiasts to modern commercial farming.

Heuser, G. F.
Feeding Poultry: The Classic Guide to Poultry Nutrition
. Blodgett, OR: Norton Creek Press, 2003. A comprehensive guide first published in 1955, when most chickens were kept in small flocks and raised on homegrown feeds.

Hutt, F. B.
Genetics of the Fowl
. Blodgett, OR: Norton Creek Press, 2003. A classic guide to poultry breeding and chicken genetics, first published in 1949.

Jeffrey, F. P.
Chicken Diseases.
Augusta, NJ: American Bantam Association, 1978. Booklet on backyard disease prevention and control.

Kimball, Herrick.
Anyone Can Build a Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker
. Moravia, NY: Whizbang Books, 2003. Step-by-step guide to building a homemade mechanical chicken-plucking machine.

———.
Anyone Can Build a Whizbang Chicken Scalder
. Moravia, NY: Whizbang Books, 2005. Step-by-step guide to building a thermostatically controlled scalding pot.

Lee, Andy, and Patricia Foreman.
Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil
. Buena Vista, VA: Good Earth Publications, 1998. Ideas for combining chickens with gardening for soil improvement and small-farm income.

———.
Day Range Poultry: Every Chicken Owner’s Guide to Grazing Gardens and Improving Pastures
. Buena Vista, VA: Good Earth Publications, 2002. A guide to grazing chickens in gardens and pastures.

Murphy, Bill.
Greener Pastures on Your Side of the Fence
. 4th ed. Colchester, VT: Arriba Publishing, 1998. Comprehensive book about pasture management for all types of livestock, including poultry.