Scrolling though various chicken related social media can cause your head to spin with all of the different terminology. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first started to research, and quite frankly a bit afraid of asking questions in those groups. Let’s take a look at different basic chicken terminology for those who are just getting started, I’ll try to tame the language nerd in me to hopefully keep it succinct!
Chick: A chick is a baby chicken. It is called a chick from when it hatches to about 8 weeks old when they are fully feathered.
Straight Run Chicks: Baby chickens that have not been sexed. If you buy straight run chicks, you can generally anticipate that about 50% of them will be males, so it’s important to plan ahead what you will do to maintain proper ratios to keep everyone in the coop happy.
Pullet: A young female chicken from the age of 8 weeks to 1 year old.
Started Pullet: Typically refers to a young female chicken that is close to laying age or has just started laying (this generally happens around 18 weeks of age). Some will use this term to refer to young female chickens that no longer require supplemental heat because they are fully feathered (around 8 weeks of age).
Hen: A female chicken, generally over 1 year old.
Cockerel: A young male chicken from the age of 8 weeks to sexual maturity around 18 weeks of age.
Cock/Rooster: An adult male chicken that has reached sexual maturity around 18 weeks of age and older. Fun fact – rooster is actually an old slang term! It was initially used by the Puritans who wished to avoid a double entendre. You may also see some people shorten it to ‘Roo’ informally.
