Chicken Terms

Rooster

An adult male chicken

Hen

An adult female chicken

Chick

Baby chicken

Yolk

The yellow, nutrient-rich inner mass of a bird or reptile egg that nourishes the developing embryo, containing proteins, lecithin, and cholesterol

Embryo

An organism in the earliest, foundational stage of development, characterized by rapid cell division and differentiation, following fertilization

Humidity

Amount of water vapor present in the air

Setting eggs

The act of placing fertile chicken eggs into an incubator or under a broody hen to begin the 21 day incubation process

Incubator

A device or apparatus designed to maintain optimal environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, oxygen) for nurturing living organisms

Air sac

Small, stationary pocket of air that forms at the bunt, large, rounded end of the egg between the inner and outer shell me

Dipping

Placing a newly hatched chick’s beak into water to ensure it hydrates and learns to find the water source

Brooder

A heated enclosure, structure, or apparatus used to raise young chicks, poultry, or other animals by providing necessary warmth, typically during their first few weeks of life when they cannot regulate their own body temperature

Candling

The process of shining a bright light source behind an eggshell in a dark room to observe its interior, historically done with a candle

Germinal Disc

A small whitish spot on the surface of an egg yolk containing the female genetic material. It is the site of fertilization where cell division begins to develop and embryo. In fertile eggs, it becomes a ring shaped “blastoderm” while in infertile eggs, it remains a small, white dot.

Chalaza

A twisted, rope like strand of protein in a chicken egg that suspends the yolk in the center of the egg white (albumen)

Egg white (albumen)

The clear, viscous liquid (primarily 90% water and 10% proteins) surrounding the yolk inside the egg

Shell

The hard, porous, outermost layer of an egg, composed primarily of over 90% calcium carbonate.