Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm Information about Poultry at Oxon Hill Farm

There are many different kinds of poultry at Oxon Hill Farm. This includes chickens, banty chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, ducks, and geese. You may see different varieties at different times. Depending on the season and time of your visit, you might be able to feed the chickens or collect eggs. You may be able to see the nest boxes in the Chicken Coop where the hens lay their eggs. The ducks and geese may be sleeping or swimming in their pond.

Would You Believe... There are more chickens in the world today than there are people! And the number of chickens is growing faster than the human population. It's true.

Hen's Teeth. The chicken does not have teeth like other animals. To grind their food, the chicken has an organ called a gizzard, which is located between the chicken's stomach and intestine. The gizzard is said to be the chicken's teeth.

Terms:
Broiler - type of chicken raised for their meat.
Broiler house - building that broiler type chickens are raised in.
Brooding period - the time between when the chicks are one day old until they can be on their own without any heat.
Candling - shining a light behind eggs to check for cracks and other problems.
Chick - a very young chicken.
Clutch - the egg laying cycle. The hen lays one egg each day for several days in a row and then does not lay for one or two days.
Comb - red crest on top of the head of most chickens. Roosters have large combs.
Confinement - keeping large numbers of chickens or other animals in small cages or pens inside buildings.
Fryer - another name for the broiler type chicken.
Gizzard - an organ located between the stomach and the intestines inside the chicken's body. The gizzard grinds the food of the chicken and serves as the "chicken's teeth."
Hatch - the birth of a baby chick, when the baby chick breaks through the egg shell.
Hatchery - company that hatches baby chicks and sells them to farmers.
Hen - a grown female or mother chicken that lays eggs.
Incubator - machine used to keep eggs warm so that baby chicks will hatch from them.
Layer - type of chicken raised for producing eggs.
Poultry - term for all the different birds that are raised on farms. Examples -- turkeys, ducks, geese, and chickens.
Poultry grower - farmer that raises poultry.
Pullet - a young female chicken who has never laid an egg.
Rooster - male or father chicken.