"If you're going to talk the talk you had better be able to walk the walk" is sound advice for anyone long at loquacity and short on service. However, if you plan on successfully pursuing a profession, hobby or avocation you'd better be able to 'talk the talk' before you attempt to "walk the walk."
For those planning to take the "poultry plunge" and be first-time chicken keepers I include the following words that you should be familiar with:
• Addled - Describes a rotten or otherwise inedible egg, typically one in which the embryo died during early incubation (e.g. an egg was partially incubated, then abandoned).
• Age of Lay - the age at which pullets begin laying eggs.
• Air cell - The air space that develops at the large, round end of an egg between the inner and outer membranes just inside the shell.
• All-in, all-out - A management procedure of keeping laying hens for the most productive part of their lives then disposing of the entire flock at the same time.
• Amprolium - A commonly used coccidiostat available under several different brand names.
• Avian - Pertaining to birds (from the Latin word avis, meaning "bird.")
• Axial feather - The single short feather growing between and separating the wing's primary and secondary feathers.
• Blade - The back section behind the last point of a cock's single comb.
• Bleaching - The fading of color from the beak, shanks, and vent of a laying hen with yellow skin.
• Blowout - A very serious condition in which a hen's uterine tissue remains prolapsed as a result of laying an oversized egg.
• Breed true - To produce offspring that are exactly like the parents.
• Brooder - A mechanical device that supplies chicks with warmth and protection similar to what a mother hen provides.
• Bloom - The moist, light, protective coating on a freshly laid egg that dries so fast you rarely see it. Its purpose is to seal the pores in the shell to prevent bacteria from entering the egg and to minimize evaporation of moisture from inside the egg. FYI - washing an egg removes the bloom and its protective qualities.
• Capon - A cockerel raised for meat that has been castrated so it will grow larger, plumper and more tender. A capon rarely crows and has an undeveloped comb and wattles; when compared to an intact male it has longer hackle, saddle and tail feathers and a calmer disposition.
• Catching hook - A device used to catch a chicken on the run. It consists of a plastic or wooden handle attached to a heavy gauge wire bent into a hook at one end. Snare the chicken by one leg and pull it toward you so you can quickly pick it up while the bird is off balance. Caution - because they have weak legs NEVER use a catching hook on ducks or geese lest you break their leg!
(Continued Next Week)