Common Poultry Terms

Reader Contribution by Kirsten Lie-Nielsen and Hostile Valley Living
article image
by Adobe Stock/Jacqueline Anders

If you’re thinking about getting chickens, ducks, geese, or other fowl, it’s good to get used to these common poultry terms. Here is a poultry glossary for the farmyard you might come across while researching and raising poultry.

Bantam – A smaller variety of chickens and ducks.  Some chicken breeds are available in both a standard and bantam size, while others are only bantam. There are a few breeds which are “true bantams”, meaning they only occur in smaller sizes, as well as varieties that have standard size chicken equivalents.  While the exact history of bantams is up for debate, it’s said they developed through a combination of natural selection and careful breeding.  Bantams are particularly popular as pets because of their size and wide variety of fancy color and feather patterns.

Beard – The most common term for the bunch of feathers under some chicken’s chins.  Varieties that display beards include Americanas and varieties of d’Uccles.  This unique feathering gives these breeds a very distinct appearance.

  • Updated on Sep 2, 2022
  • Originally Published on Apr 1, 2016
Tagged with: chickens, Ducks, geese, Kirsten Lie Nielsen, Maine, poultry, Reader Contributions, turkeys
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368