Poultry glossary
The terms vets, feed salesmen and hatchery staff use, explained in plain English.
A to C
- Biosecurity
- The set of practices that stop disease entering or leaving a farm: footbaths, restricted visitors, clean boots, separate clothing and controlled traffic.
- Brooding
- The first weeks of a chick's life, when heat, feed and water are managed closely. Usually the first 0 to 4 or 6 weeks.
- Broiler
- A bird bred and raised for meat, usually sold at 5 to 8 weeks depending on weight targets.
- Candling
- Shining a light through an egg to check whether it is fertile and developing. Used during incubation.
- Cannibalism
- Birds pecking and injuring each other. Caused by crowding, heat, poor lighting, boredom or nutritional gaps.
- Coccidiosis
- A gut disease caused by a parasite, common in damp litter. Signs include bloody droppings, huddling and poor growth.
- Coefficient of variation (CV)
- A measure of spread around the average weight. Lower is better. A CV under 10% usually means a uniform flock.
- Crate
- An egg container holding 30 trays, or 360 eggs.
D to L
- Deep litter
- A housing system where birds live on a floor covered with bedding such as wood shavings or sawdust.
- Dual-purpose breed
- A breed kept for both eggs and meat, such as Kenbro. Lower egg output than a commercial layer but more flexible.
- Egg mass
- Total weight of eggs produced in a period. Used in layer feed conversion calculations.
- FCR (Feed Conversion Ratio)
- Kilograms of feed needed to produce one kilogram of weight gain or egg mass. Lower is more efficient. See the FCR calculator.
- Fertility
- The share of incubated eggs that start developing. Different from hatchability.
- Growers mash
- Feed for birds between the chick stage and point of lay, usually from about 8 to 18 weeks.
- Hatch of fertile
- Chicks hatched divided by fertile eggs set. Shows whether the incubator is working.
- Hatch of set
- Chicks hatched divided by all eggs set, including infertile eggs.
- Hybrid
- A cross bred for consistent performance, such as ISA Brown. Hybrids usually need better feed and management than local breeds.
- Kienyeji
- A local or indigenous chicken. Hardy and well suited to free range, but slower growing and lower laying than commercial breeds.
- Lay rate
- Eggs produced as a percentage of the number of birds. 1,000 birds laying 850 eggs is an 85% lay rate. See the egg production calculator.
- Layers mash
- Balanced feed for birds in egg production, with calcium for shell strength.
- Litter
- The bedding material on a house floor. It must stay dry. Damp litter causes coccidiosis and ammonia problems.
M to R
- Marek's disease
- A viral disease of chickens that causes paralysis and tumours. Controlled mainly by vaccinating day-old chicks in the hatchery.
- Mortality rate
- Deaths divided by birds started. Track it weekly. See the mortality calculator.
- Newcastle disease
- A serious viral disease with respiratory, nervous and digestive signs. Vaccination and biosecurity are the main controls.
- Point of lay (POL)
- The stage when a pullet is about to start laying, usually 16 to 20 weeks depending on breed and rearing.
- Pullet
- A young female chicken before she starts laying. Sold at point of lay or as younger rearing stock.
- Ration
- The daily amount and mix of feed given to a flock. Rations change with age and production stage.
- Rearing
- The period from chick to point of lay. See the pullet rearing cost calculator.
S to Z
- Serology
- Blood testing to measure antibodies. Used to check whether a vaccination actually took.
- Shedding
- Release of disease organisms by infected birds. A reason to isolate sick birds early.
- Stocking density
- Number of birds per square metre. Overcrowding raises stress, disease and mortality. See the space calculator.
- Tray
- A 30-egg container. The standard selling unit for eggs in Kenya.
- Uniformity
- How closely birds match each other in body weight. Above 80% is good. See the uniformity calculator.
- Vaccination programme
- The planned schedule of vaccines by age, from hatchery through rearing to lay.
- Ventilation
- Movement of fresh air through a house. Poor ventilation causes ammonia build-up, respiratory disease and wet litter.
- Water line flushing
- Cleaning drinker lines to remove biofilm. Should be done weekly, not only when drinkers look dirty.
- Wing web vaccination
- A method of vaccinating birds through the web of the wing, often used for fowl pox.
- Yolk sac
- The stored food a day-old chick absorbs after hatching. Good brooding helps the chick use it properly.
Put the terms to work
The free calculators turn these definitions into numbers for your flock.
Open the free tools