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Learn about poultry terms, differentiate between productive and non-laying hens, identify chicken parts, and evaluate eggs.
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Poultry Miss Kay
What An Ideal Chicken! • Techno Chicken
Objectives • Define poultry terms. • Differentiate between a productive hen and a non- laying hen • Identify parts of a chicken. • Evaluate eggs.
Basic Terms • Scientific Name: Galine • Chick: Newborn chicken • Pullet: Young, immature female chicken less than 5-6 months of age • Hen: Mature female chicken • Rooster: Mature male chicken • Roaster: male or female chicken 3-5 months of age and raised for the production of meat
More Terms • Capon: Castrated male chicken • Layer: Hen used for laying eggs • Broiler/Flyer: Chickens grown for meat production • Group Name: Flock • Candling: examining a shell egg’s content by holding it between one’s eye and a light source • Clutch: Nest of eggs
More Terms • Egg: hard- shelled; reproductive body produced by a bird • Green: description of chicks that have recently hatched • Axial feather: short wing feather that separates primaries from secondaries • Molt: To shed feathers periodically • Oviposition: laying of an egg by a bird • Plumage: Feathers of a bird
Egg- Type Hens • Characteristics to look for when examining hens: • Bleaching of yellow pigment in the shanks, feet, and beak • Condition and capacity of the abdomen • Condition of plumage and rate of molt of the wing primaries • Vigor and vitality • Head characteristics
Bleaching of Body Pigment • Order that the body pigment fades: • Vent • Eye Ring • Earlobe • Base of Beak • Tip of Beak • Bottom of Foot • Shank • Hock and Tip of Toe
Bleaching of Body Pigment • Hens that show signs of returning pigment are decreasing in egg production • Pigment returns to the body parts in the same order it faded • Returns 3 times quicker • Four factors: • Amount of pigment in feed • Health and vitality of hen • Whether the hen is confined or not • Size and coarseness of the hen
Condition and Capacity of Abdomen • Good indicator of egg production • Abdomen of a layer is wide, soft (lacks fat), and expanded • Pelvic bones are thin and flexible • Vent is moist, large, and oblong in shape • Non-layer • Narrow, hard (fatty), and contracted • Pelvic bones are thick and rigid • Vent has some moistness but is small and round in shape
Abdominal Capacity • Abdominal capacity of a hen is measured and expressed by ones fingers width. • Normal- 3 fingers width by 4 fingers width
Plumage and Rate of Molt • Two factors considered in appraising the plumage of hens include condition (feather appearance) and molting rate (speed of shedding feathers)
Vigor and Vitality • A high producing hen appears vigorous, alert, and quick in movement • Non-producing hen is sluggish
Head and Head Parts • If not trimmed- a productive hen’s beak is short • The hens eyes are bright, alert and round. • Her skull is flat from side to side • Her comb and wattles are large, bright red, and glossy • They feel velvety soft and warm when touched. • Non-producing hens beak is long • The hens eyes are dull, sleepy, and oblong. • Her skull is rounded from side to side • Her comb and wattles are shrunken and dull • They feel rough and cool when touched
Comb and Wattles Comb Wattles
Egg Dissection? • Would you want to look inside of the egg? • How can we look at the contents inside? • Why is it important to look at the contents inside? • What is the process called that allows us to look inside the egg?
Candling Eggs • Candling Demo • What do we look for when we candle eggs? • Air Cell • Yolk • Cracks in shell • Blood spots and other foreign matter
Before We Candle Eggs Air Cell Yolk • Temperature- 105 degrees • Is normally at the large end of the egg • Quality Grades: • AA- up to 1/8” • A- 1/8”-3/16” • B- > 3/16” • Yolk size and shape • Distinctness of yolk shadow outline • Yolk defects and germ development
Objectives • Define poultry terms. • Differentiate between a productive hen and a non- laying hen • Identify parts of a chicken. • Evaluate eggs.
Now… GAMETIME!!! We are playing AROUND THE WORLD!!!!
What Grade will the egg have if it has up to a 1/8” air cell?
Do chickens gain pigment quicker than losing it or do chickens lose pigment quicker than gaining it?