| Terms Relating to Fowl A.B.A.: American Bantam Association Abdomen: the under part of the body from the brest to the stern. A.P.A.: American Poultry Association AOCCL: All Other Comb Clean Leg A.O.V.: "All Other Varieties" or "Any Other Variety". Aviculture: The practice of keeping and raising birds. Avian: have, or pertaining to, Aves or birds. Axial feather: the short feather growing between the primaries and secondary of the wing. Bantam: A miniature breed 1/5 the size of its Standard counterpart. There are bantam ducks as well as chickens. Barring: Alternate markings of two distinct colors found in plumage of fowl.
Bean: The small round bump on the end of a duck's bill. Also called the nail. Beard: (1) a cluster of feathers pendent from the upper throat of some fowl. Found only in combinations with muffs. (2) The small tuft of long, coarse, bristly, black hairs projecting from the upper part of the breast of the adult male turkey. Booted: fowls that are feathered on shanks and toes and having vulture hocks. Bow-legged: a deformity in which the legs are farther apart at the hocks than at the feet and knee joints; a disqualification if a perceptible angle is evident at the hock when viewed from the front or back. Brassiness: a term descriptive of a light yellowish metallic case commonly found in the plumage of white varieties. Broody-hen: A hen that has gathered a clutch of eggs during her lay cycle in order to sit and hatch. Breast: The lower portion of the fowl extending from upper chest along abdomen. Breed: an established group of individuals possessing similar characteristics and when mated together produce offspring with those same characteristics. Bevy: The collective name for a flock of domestic ducks.
Bill: The part of waterfowl that forms the mouth and nose. Blade: The lower underrated portion of the comb. Brood: A the act of a hen to sit upon her eggs. Newly hatched group of chicks.
Broiler or Fryer - A young meat-type chicken, usually 9 to 12 weeks of age.
Candle: To illuminate the inner parts to an egg. Carbuncles: the fleshy protuberances on the naked portions of the head, face and neck of the Turkey and Muscovy duck. Carriage the posture of a fowl Chalazae: The twisted coils of very thick white that anchor the yolk and embryo in place within the egg.
Chick: A term applying to young or newly hatched fowl. Chick tooth: A tiny, sharp, horny projection on the end of the chick's beak used by the chick to peck holes in the shell. Also known as egg tooth. Class :An organized group of chickens that has been developed in a particular region of the world. Close feathered: said of a fowl in which the feathers are held closely to the body (i.e., at no perceptible angle to the body). Clutch: A number of eggs gathered bunch to be incubated.
Cock: The name for an adult male chicken over a year.
Cockerel: A young male bird under a year. Comb: the fleshy protuberance on top of the head of a fowl, larger in the male than the female. Of various forms and variations of forms in different breeds, usually red in color. Eight types of combs include: 1) Buttercup, 2) Cushion, 3) Pea, 4) Rose, 5) Silkie, 6) Single, 7) Strawberry and 8) V-Shaped. Condition: regarding health, cleanliness and brightness of plumage Coverts: the feathers which cover the base of the primary and secondary wing and main tail feathers state of a fowl in regard to health, including cleanliness and brightness of plumage, head parts, legs and feet. Crop: The enlarged part of the gullet at the front of the body. It serves as a temporary storage area fro ingested food.
Cull: An inferior bird (one who is deformed or does not measure up to its standard). The act of removing inferior birds from the flock. Crest: an almost globular tuft of feathers on the top of the head of some fowl and waterfowl, as in Polish, Houdans, Crevecoeurs, Silkies, Sultans and White Crested Ducks. Full expression is partially dependent on the "knob" which is the term most generally used to describe the bony structure and mass of tissue and follicles from which the crest grows. Cuticle: A secretion of the uterus consisting mainly of protein that serves to partially seal the pores in the egg's shell and acts as a lubricant when the egg is laid; commonly called the bloom.
Cushion: A profuse mass of feathers over the back and base of tail giving a fowl a rounded effect. Very pronounced in female Cochins. Defect: anything short of perfection. Dewlap: a pendulous growth of skin under the rear of the beak or
bill and extending onto the throat area. Examples include African Geese & Brahmas. Disqualification: a term applied to a deformity or a defect, sufficiently serious to debar a fowl from an award, usually inherited. Also applies to evidence of faking. Down: The soft fluffy part of the feather below the web 'feathers' found next to the skin of adult birds . The soft fluffy covering on baby birds.
Drake: The proper name for a male duck. Dry-bulb thermometer: expresses a temperature reading in number of degrees Fahrenheit (F) or centigrade/Celsius (C). Dubbed - dubbing: a term used to describe too close trimming of comb, wattles and ear-lobes of the male Modern Game & Old English Game. Cocks not dubbed; a disqualification in above mentioned breeds.
Duck: A kind of waterfowl. Also the proper name for a female duck. Duck-foot: a condition where the fourth or hind toe is carried
forward so as to touch or almost touch the third toe instead of carried backward to touch the ground and help balance the bird; a disqualification. Duckling: The proper name for a baby duck.
Egg (avian): The female reproductive cell (ovum) surrounded by a protective calcium shell and, if fertilized by the male reproductive cell (sperm) and properly incubated, capable of developing into a new individual.
Egg tooth: The temporary horny cap on the duckling's upper bill
, which serves for piping (breaking through) the shell. The egg tooth falls off after the duckling hatches.
Faking: a self-evident attempt to remove or conceal a disqualification or serious defect, thus creating merit, which does not naturally exist; a disqualification. Feather legged: a term used to designate those breeds having feathers on the outer sides of shanks, and on the outer, or the outer and middle toes. Finish: the term applied to fowl which indicates the completion of growth of the entire body, head parts, plumage, shanks and toes,
and which must have the proper color, luster and sheen. Indicates bloom of health, ideal weight and perfection of plumage color and growth. Forage: The act of searching for food. Foreign color: a color in any part of a fowl that differs greatly from the color prescribed by the Standard. A disqualification in some breeds, and a defect in others.
Flock: The collective name for a group of birds.
Fowl: A collective term applying to chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Frizzle feather: a term used to denote feathers which are curled and which curve outward and forward, a characteristic of Frizzle chickens. Also to a lesser degree in Sebastopol Geese. Gaggle: The proper collective name for a group of geese.
Gander: The proper name for a male goose Next pagePoultry Terms Relating to Fowl ST-W | 
