Chicken Terms

Rooster

an adult male chicken

Hen

an adult female chicken

Chick

baby chicken

Yolk

is the yellow, nutrient rich inner mass of a bird or reptile egg that nourishes the developing embryo

Embryo

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

Humidity

amount of moisture in the air

Setting eggs

the act of placing feral chicken eggs into an incubator

Incubator

a device or apparatus designed to maintain optimal environmental conditions

Dipping

placing a newly hatched chicks beak into water to ensure it hydrates and learns to find the water

Brooder

a heated enclosure, structure, or apparatus used to raise young chicks, poultry, or other animals by providing necessary warmth

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 egg yolk

Chalaza

a twisted rope-like strand of protein in a chicken egg

Egg white

the clear, viscous liquid by the yolk

Air cell

a small stationary pocket of air located between the inner and outer membranes at the blunt end of a chicken egg

Shell

the hard, porous, outermost layer of an egg