Common terms is Animal Science

GENERAL:
1. Ad lib—free-choice feed.
2. Baleage--grass, clover, alfalfa, etc. cut and dried to about 50% moisture, then baled and wrapped in
plastic where it is preserved in air-tight conditions for use as stored feed.
3. Bio-security—management practices designed to prevent the introduction of disease onto
the farm or into the flock.
4. Body condition—a score of 1-5 that designates the degree of fatness of an animal.
5. Bunk feeder—an elevated trough-like feeder.
6. Clean pasture—a pasture that should have little to no worm load.
7. Colostrum—the first milk that a female mammal produces. Rich in energy, Vitamin A and antibodies.
Essential that a lamb, pig or calf receives colostrum shortly after being born.
8. Concentrates—feeds that are low in fiber and high in total digestible nutrients, like grains.
9. Cool season grasses—grasses that provide high quality grazing in the spring and then mature during
the summer becoming less productive.
10. Creep—supplemental feed for growing lambs, pigs or calves (pre-weaning). Fed in an area that
excludes adult animals.
11. Cud—a ball of regurgitated forage that ruminants chew on. This aides in breaking down the
plant fibers. "Chewing cud" is also known as rumination.
12. Dam—a female parent.
13. Dry—non-lactating.
14. Dry matter—the portion of a feed that is not water (expressed as a percentage).
15. Dystocia—a difficult birth.
16. Elastrator—a device that stretches rubber or elastic rings over the tail and/or scrotum of a
lamb or calf.
17. Emaciated—extremely thin
18. Flehmen response—the upcurled upper lip a ram or bull exhibits when they are trying to
detect estrus during breeding season.
19. Forage—herbaceous plants used for feed for livestock in the form of grass, green chop, hay,
haylage, and baleage.
20. Gestation—pregnancy
21. Gauge (of needle)—thickness of the needle. The smaller the gauge the thicker the needle.
22. Halter—a restraint device that is fitted over the animals face.
23. Hay—grass, clover, alfalfa, etc. cut and dried to about 15% moisture for use as stored feed.
24. Haylage—grass, clover, alfalfa, etc. cut and dried to about 60% moisture, then chopped fine
and preserved in air-tight conditions, either in a silo or an agbag for use as stored feed.
25. Intramuscular (IM)—an injection given into the muscle.
26. Lactation—milk production
27. Meconium—first poop of a newborn mammal.
28. Milk replacer—a substitute for milk. Fed to orphaned lambs, calves or pigs.
29. Open—a female that is not bred.
30. Parturition—giving birth
31. Polled—an animal without horns.
32. Pour-on or backliner—a systemic anti-parasitic drug that is poured along the back of the
animal and absorbed through the skin.
33. Replacements—young females that will be kept as breeding stock, replacing older females
as they are culled. They are often raised separately from feeder stock.

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34. Returned to service or didn't settle—said of a female that was successfully bred by a male,
but does not become pregnant either because fertilization or implantation failed.
35. Rotational grazing—management system involving the frequent movement of grazing animals.
Pastures are grazed intensively and then rested, ideally matching the nutrient needs of the
animal with the maturity of the grass.
36. Ruminant—animals that chew their cud and have a specialized four compartment stomach
or digesting plant fiber.
37. Sacrifice area—a paddock that is allowed to be overgrazed by the flock in order to allow
other paddocks to be protected.
38. Sale barn—an auction barn where animals are bid on by buyers.
39. Scours—diarrhea.
40. Sire—a male parent.
41. Stock—livestock.
42. Stockpiled forage—forage "stored" in the field that will be grazed in late fall and winter.
43. Straw—stems of certain species of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, oats, and barley, baled dry and
used for bedding livestock.
44. Stripping—massaging the udder and pulling on the teats in order to get milk flowing by removing the
wax plug from the teat canal.
45. Subcutaneous (SubQ)—an injection given under the skin.
46. Terminal sire—a sire whose offspring will not be kept for breeding purposes, but will go to
market for slaughter.
47. Tubing or stomach-tubing—the process of inserting a tube through an animals' mouth and
into their stomach. Usually done to weak, neonatal lambs or calves in order to feed them
colostrum or milk.
48. Warm season grasses—grasses that are most productive during the summer and become
dormant or die after frost in the fall.
49. Withdrawal period—time period between administration of a medical treatment and when
the treatment has worked its way out of the animal's system.

SHEEP:
1. Bellwether—originally an experienced wether given a bell to lead a flock.
2. Blow—a shearing stroke.
3. Breeding harness or marking harness—harness worn by a ram during breeding season. It
holds a crayon that leaves a mark on a ewe after the ram has bred her.
4. Broken-mouth or broken-mouthed—a sheep which has lost or broken some of its incisor teeth,
usually after the age of about six years.
5. Bum lamb, bottle lamb, cade lamb, pet lamb, or poddy lamb—an orphan lamb reared on milk
replacer fed with a bottle.
6. Cast ewe—a sheep lying on its' back unable to regain its footing, possibly due to lying in a hollow with
legs facing uphill, having a heavy fleece and/or being in the last trimester of pregnancy with
multiple lambs.
7. Cull ewe—a ewe no longer suitable for breeding, and sold for meat.
8. Crutching—shearing wool from around the vulva and udder. Done prior to lambing.
9. Dags—clumps of dried dung stuck to the wool of a sheep, which may lead to fly-strike.
10. Dipping—immersing sheep in a plunge or shower dip to kill external parasites. Pour-ons are now
replacing dipping.

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11. Docking—process of removing a sheep's tail.
12. Downs—breeds of sheep belonging to the medium wool group.
13. Drench—an oral veterinary medicine administered by a drenching gun (usually an anthelmintic
(dewormer)).
14. Driving or droving—walking animals from one place to another.
15. Dry ewe—a ewe that has stopped giving milk for the season.
16. Dual purpose breeds—breeds used as both ewe and ram breeds (e.g. Dorset, Polypay, Corriedale).
17. Ewe—a female sheep capable of producing lambs. In areas where "gimmer" or similar terms are
used for young females, may refer to a female only after her first lamb. In some countries yow.
18. Ewe breeds—usually white-faced, fine-wool breeds such as Rambiollet, Merino and Debouillet.
19. Ewe lamb—a young female sheep less than 1 year old.
20. Feeder lambs—weaned lambs that are being fattened for meat production.
21. Finished lambs—lambs that are well-developed and have enough fat deposition (i.e. finish) to be
slaughtered for meat.
22. Fleece—the wool covering of a sheep.
23. Flock—a group of sheep. All the sheep on a property.
24. Flushing—providing especially nutritious feed in the few weeks before mating to improve fertility, or
in the period before birth to increase lamb birth-weight.
25. Fly strike—infestation of the wool, skin and eventually flesh with blowfly or botfly maggots, rapidly
causing injury or death. Usually (but not always) occurs where the wool has become
contaminated by dung or urine, or at the site of an injury.
26. Fold or sheepfold—a pen in which a flock is kept overnight to keep the sheep safe from predators,
or to allow the collection of dung for fertilizer.
27. Forcing pen—a pen used to contain animals before they are drawn into treatment chutes.
Also called a gozinta.
28. Gathering pen—pen that holds the majority of the sheep prior to being handled.
29. Gimmer—a young female sheep, usually before her first lamb (especially used in the north of
England and Scotland).
30. Graft/grafting—bonding an orphaned lamb to a ewe. Often attempted by covering the orphaned
lamb with fetal fluids from the ewe's dead lamb. Best done by skinning the ewe's dead lamb and
placing the skin over the new lamb. Also sometimes achieved by a grafting head gate.
31. Greasy wool—wool as it has been shorn from the sheep and therefore not yet washed or cleaned.
32. Hair sheep—breeds lacking wool. Some have pure hair coats and some have a mixture of hair and
wool fibers that shed naturally. These breeds are best adapted to tropical climates (e.g.
Katahdin, Dorper, Barbados Blackbelly).
33. Hogget—a young female sheep from about 9 to 18 months of age.
34. Hoof trimmer—shears used for trimming hooves.
35. Hot box or warming box—a heated box used to warm chilled lambs.
36. In lamb—pregnant.
37. Lamb—a young sheep in its first year.
38. Lambing—the process of a ewe giving birth to lambs. Also the work of tending lambing ewes
(shepherds are said to lamb their flocks).
39. Lambing jug or lambing pen—a small pen to confine ewes with their newly born lambs to facilitate
bonding.
40. Lambing percentage—the number of lambs successfully reared in a flock compared with the number
of ewes that have been mated—effectively a measure of the success of lambing and the number

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 of multiple births. May vary from around 100% in a hardy mountain flock (where a ewe may not
be able to rear more than one lamb safely), to 150% or more in a well-fed lowland flock (whose
ewes can more easily support twins or even triplets).
41. Lanolin—a thick yellow greasy substance in wool, secreted by the sheep's skin. Also called wool fat,
wool wax, wool grease, adeps lanae or yolk. Extracted from raw wool and used for various
purposes.
42. Long wool breeds—breeds that produce long-stapled, fairly coarse wool, popular with handspinners
in the U.S. They are best adapted to cool, high rainfall areas (e.g. Border Leicester, Romney,
Lincoln, Cotswold).
43. Marking-up or lamb marking—the work of earmarking, docking and castration of lambs.
44. Mutton—the meat of an older ewe or wether.
45. Old-crop lamb or old-season lamb—a slaughter lamb that is a year old or more.
46. Ovine—any member of the various members of the genus Ovis, including domestic sheep, big horn
sheep, mouflon, etc.
47. Ovis aries—domestic sheep.
48. Prolapse harness—harness devised to hold a prolapsed vagina in place.
49. Prolapse retainer or spoon—plastic spoon that holds a prolapsed vagina in place.
50. Pulling a lamb—grasping the lamb and gently pulling it out of the ewe while she is giving birth.
51. Ram—an uncastrated adult male sheep. Also tup.
52. Ram breeds (medium wool sheep)—meat-type breeds used primarily as terminal sires when bred to
the ewe or dual-purpose breeds for market lamb production (e.g. Suffolk, Hampshire,
Southdown, Texel, Dorset)
53. Ram lamb—a young male sheep less than 1 year old.
54. Riggwelter—a sheep that has rolled onto its back and is unable to get up (usually because of
55. the weight of its fleece and/or late-term fetuses).
56. Shearing—cutting off the fleece, normally done with 48 blows in a set pattern by skilled shearers
using shearing machines. A sheep may be said to have been either sheared or shorn, depending
on dialect. The majority of shearing is done with machines that have a powered cutter blade that
moves back and forth over a sharpened comb. Some shearing is still done with hand shears.
57. Sheep—the species, or members of it. The plural is the same as the singular. Normally used of
individuals of any age, but in some areas only for those of breeding age.
58. Sheep dog or shepherd dog—a dog used to move and control sheep, often very highly trained.
Other types of dog may be used just to guard sheep and these are sometimes also called
sheepdogs.
59. Shepherd—a stockperson or farmer who looks after sheep.
60. Shepherding—the act of shepherding sheep, or sheep husbandry more generally.
61. Shepherd's crook—a staff with a hook at one end, used to catch sheep by the neck or leg
62. (depending on type).
63. Slink—a very young lamb.
64. Solid mouth or full mouth—a sheep that is up to 4 years old. All adult teeth are in place.
65. Sort chute or race—a narrow, walled walkway with multiple exits used for vaccinations, condition
scoring, and other health inspections, as well as sorting sheep into various groups.
66. Stag—a ram castrated after about 6 months of age.
67. Teaser—vasectomized (sterile) ram introduced to the ewe flock to induce estrus. A teaser ewe can
be introduced to rams to stimulate semen production for collection.
68. Top knot—wool from the forehead or poll of a sheep.
69. Tup—an alternative term for ram.
70. Two-tooths—young sheep (usually females) at the time their center pair of baby teeth are replaced

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 by their first permanent incisors (around 1 year of age). They remain two-tooths until their next
pair of baby teeth are replaced by their second set of permanent incisors (around 2 years old).
71. Wether—a castrated male sheep.
72. Wool blind—a sheep with wool covering its eyes rendering it almost blind.
73. Wool break—distinct weakness in one part of the fleece, often brought on by illness or malnutrition.
74. Yearling—an animal that is one year old.

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PIGS:
1. Barrow—castrated male.
2. Boar—uncastrated male.
3. Farrowing—the process of a sow giving birth to piglets.
4. Farrow-to-feeder pig—describes a farm production model where the management of reproductive
classes of swine is the focus and the saleable product is weaned pigs.
5. Farrow-to-finish—describes a farm production model where the pigs are managed over their entire
life cycle—from breeding to birth to finished hogs.
6. Finisher farm—describes a farm production model where pigs are purchased after weaning
as feeders and fed until they are well-developed enough for slaughter
7. Gilt—young female that hasn't farrowed.
8. Hog—a pig that is large enough and well-developed enough to be slaughtered for pork.
9. Litter—all the pigs farrowed at one time by an individual sow (usually 6-15 piglets).
10. Piglet—newborn of either sex.
11. Porcine—of or relating to pigs.
12. Sow—adult female.
13. Sus scrofa domesticus—domsetic swine.
14. Swine—any of the various members of the family Suidae including wild boar, warty pigs, the Giant
forest hogs, bush pigs, Red River hogs, domestic swine, etc.

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CATTLE:
1. Beef cattle—cattle of various breeds selected specifically for beef production (e.g. Angus,
Charlois, Hereford, Limousine, etc.).
2. Beef critter—singular of beef cattle (alternatively, bovine or ox).
3. Bos taurus—domestic cattle.
4. Bovine—any of the various members of the genus Bos including wild and domestic cattle.
5. Bull calf—uncastrated male calf. Bull calves from dairy breeds often remain uncastrated and are
raised for veal.
6. Bull—adult uncastrated male.
7. Calf—young cattle of either sex.
8. Calving—the process of a cow gving birth to a calf.
9. Cattle—bovine animals of any age or sex or breed (only used in plural).
10. Cow—adult female. Used loosely, but incorrectly, as a singular term for cattle.
11. Cull cow—a cow no longer suitable for breeding, and sold for meat.
12. Dairy cattle—cattle of various breeds selected specifically for milk production (e.g. Holstein, Jersey,
Guernsey, Dutch-Belted, etc.).
13. Dual-purpose breeds—cattle of a few breeds considered useful in both beef and dairy production
(e.g. Dexter, Milking Shorthorn, etc.).
14. Face fly—non-biting fly that irritates the eyes of cattle kept on pasture. Most common vector for
pinkeye. Lays eggs only in fresh, undisturbed pats.
15. Feeder cattle or feeders—weaned cattle that are being fattened for beef production.
16. Finished cattle, finishers, or fat cattle—cattle that are well-developed and have enough fat
deposition (i.e. finish) to be slaughtered for beef.
17. First-calf heifer—female after she's given birth to her first calf, but before her second calf.
18. Free martin—an infertile heifer calf that is born a twin to a bull calf.
19. Heifer—young female from newborn until her first calf is born or she reaches 3 years of age.
20. Horn fly—small biting fly that harasses cattle on pasture. Large numbers of horn flies bite cattle
along the back and they rest on horns or withers. Lay eggs only in fresh, undisturbed pats.
21. House fly—non-biting filth fly that lays eggs in damp, decomposing organic matter. Can be
a vector for pinkeye.
22. Oxen (singular is ox)—bovines kept for draft purposes, usually steers but occasionally cows, in which
case these cows might be referred to as triple-purpose cattle (e.g. the Brown Swiss breed used
for milk, meat and draft purposes).
23. Pat—cattle manure.
24. Springer—a visibly pregnant heifer during her first gestation.
25. Stable fly—biting fly that is a pest of livestock kept in barns. Usually bites animals and people on
lower legs and ankles. Lays eggs in damp, decomposing organic matter.
26. Stag—a male that was castrated late after the developement of some or all of the secondary sex
characteristics (also less commonly known as a rig).
27. Steer—castrated male.

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POULTRY
1. Addled: an egg where the contents are decomposing.
2. Air cell: the air space usually found at the large or blunt end of an egg.
3. Albumen: the white of an egg.
4. Amino acids: the simpler building units of protein.
5. Anticoccidial: an anticoccidial drug used to treat or prevent coccidiosis
6. Artificial insemination: the introduction of semen into the female oviduct by methods other than by
natural mating.
7. Aviary system: a ‘litter system’ of housing where a number of “mezzanine” floors are installed to
increase the available floor space and, in so doing, provide the space for more birds in the
poultry house.
8. Beak trimming: The removal of the tip of the beak of poultry by specially designed equipment to
prevent cannibalism and its associated vices.
9. Blastoderm: The fertilised nucleus of the egg from which the chicken develops.
10. Blastodisc: The unfertilised nucleus of an egg. No chicken can develop from a blastodisc.
11. Breed: A group of birds that reproduce their own likeness in their offspring. A variety is a group
within a breed that are distinguished by a difference of a single characteristic eg. feather colour
or comb type.
12. Broiler: A young bird of either sex that is bred and grown specifically for highly efficient meat
production. Broilers are usually killed at 5 to 7 weeks of age (alternative term – meat chicken).
13. Brooder: The equipment used to provide supplementary warmth during the early stages of the
chickens’ life. The energy used may come from electricity, gas, oil or from other sources.
14. Brooding: The period of the first weeks of a chicken’s life when it requires a very high standard of
care including the provision of special diets and supplementary warmth.
15. Broody: The instinct controlled by maternal hormones that causes the female to want to sit on eggs
for hatching and to care for the chickens that hatch.
16. Caeca: The two blind gut of the digestive tract attached to the distal end of the small intestine.
17. Cages: A system of housing where the birds are confined to a wire floor singly or in multiples. With
this system the stock do not come into contact with their own or other bird’s faeces which is an
important disease control measure.
18. Candle: To assess some internal characteristics of the egg by viewing it in a darkened room with a
bright light behind the egg.
19. Cannibalism: The practice by some birds of attacking and eating other members of the same flock.
20. Chalazae: A type of albumen that surrounds the yolk of the egg and extends as creamy white,
twisted, ropelike structures into each end to anchor the yolk in the centre of the egg.
21. Chick: The term used to describe chickens from day old to the end of brooding.
22. Chick-type drinker: A drinker that is more suitable for young chickens to access water.
23. Chick-type feeder: A feeder that is more suitable for young chickens to access food.
24. Clear eggs: Infertile eggs (containing no embryos) usually removed from the incubator during
incubation.
25. Cloaca: The common external opening for the digestive, urinary and reproductive tracts of the fowl.
26. Coccidiostat: A drug usually added to the feed and used to prevent the disease coccidiosis.
27. Cock: A male that has finished one season as a breeder. Usually refers to older birds.
28. Cockerel: A young male from day old to the end of it’s first year of breeding. Often used to refer to
young males up to 6 months of age.
29. Controlled environment housing: An intensive housing system where the operator can control
temperature, air quality and light.
30. Crop: An organ, a part of the oesophagus, located at the base of the neck and used as a storage

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 place for food after eating but before digestion.
31. Crossbred: A bird with parents of two or more different genotypes (or breeds or varieties).
32. Crude protein: The nitrogen sources in feed. It is not true protein, as nitrogen is found in dietary
compounds other than protein.
33. Cull: The identification and removal of non-productive birds from the flock.
34. Cuticle: The outer membrane or bloom on the egg’s shell.
35. Dead-in-shell: Chicks that fail to hatch from the egg.
36. Deep litter: The system of housing where a suitable material called litter is provided on the poultry
house floor for the birds to live on.
37. Disease: Any condition that affects the proper functioning of the bird’s system(s), organ(s) or
tissue(s).
38. Dry bulb thermometer: A thermometer with a dry, uncovered bulb used to measure temperature.
39. Egg bound: An afflicted hen is one that is unable to complete the egg formation and laying
process and retains the partially or fully formed egg in the oviduct.
40. Embryo: The developing chicken in the egg.
41. Free range housing: A system of housing where the birds have a shelter house and access to an
outside area during the hours of daylight.
42. Feed hopper: A semi-automatic feeding system which has the capacity to hold food in addition to
that in the feeding trough associated with the feeder.
43. Fertile egg: Those eggs in which fertilisation of the blastodisc has occurred to create the blastoderm.
Resulted from the joining of the female ovum and the male sperm to create the embryo.
44. Flighty: Excitable flock inclined to fly at the slightest provocation.
45. Flock: A number of birds of the same origin (genotype), age and managed in the same way.
46. Food conversion ratio: The relationship between feed production and production (eggs or growth). It
is usually expressed as a ratio.
47. Floor eggs: Eggs laid on the floor of the shed and not in designated nest sites/ boxes.
48. Fowl: The term used to describe all members of Gallus domesticus (domestic fowl) irrespective of
age, sex or breed.
49. Germinal disc: The fertilisation site on the egg yolk. Alternative names include blastodisc and
blastoderm.
50. Germocidal solution: A solution of chemicals that will kill microbes.
51. Gizzard: The muscular stomach of the fowl where the food is ground and mixed with the digestive
compounds produced by the proventriculus (glandular stomach).
52. Growers: The term used to describe all stock between the end of brooding and till they reach sexual
maturity.
53. Hatchability: The number of saleable chickens that hatch from all eggs incubated – usually expressed
as a percentage.
54. Hatch of Fertile (HOF): The number of saleable chickens that hatch from all eggs classified as fertile.
55. Hen: A female after the first moult. It is often used to describe females after they have started to lay.
56. Hen day average: Progressive egg production record calculated on a survivor basis and expressed as
a percentage.
57. Hen housed average: Progressive egg production record calculated on the basis of the number of
birds placed in the laying house at point of lay.
58. Hock: The joint of the leg between the lower thigh and the shank. It is most commonly the region
where the feathered portion of the leg ends and the scaly shank of the lower leg starts.
59. Hover: A canopy used on brooders to direct the heat downwards to the chickens.
60. Incubation: The process by which fertile eggs are subjected to conditions suitable for the initiation
and sustaining of embryonic development and the hatching of strong, healthy chickens.

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61. Incubator: The machine used to incubate fertile eggs.
62. Insoluble grit: Hard, insoluble material such as granite, flint or bluestone chips consumed by the
birds to aid in the grinding of the food in the gizzard.
63. Intensive system: Any system of housing poultry where the birds are indoors all of the time and do
not have access to the outside. It usually entails higher stocking densities.
64. Keel: The breastbone or sternum of the fowl. This bone has a large surface area to provide for the
attachment of the large muscles of flight (the breast muscles).
65. Layer: A female in lay. Usually used to refer to females kept solely for egg production for human
consumption.
66. Layer cycle: The period from the onset of lay until the natural moult causes a cessation of
production. Usually used to describe the period during which an economic level of production is being
maintained.
67. Lighting (artificial): The use of controlled artificial light to regulate the day length under which the
stock are kept.
68. Liveability: The expression used to describe the number of survivors in a flock.
69. Lux: A unit of illumination equal to one lumen per square metre. Used to measure the brightness or
intensity of light.
70. Meat chicken: See Broiler.
71. Metabolisable energy (ME): The energy in a food ingredient or diet available for metabolism (use by
the animal for normal body functions and activity).
72. Metabolism: The sum of the chemical changes in living cells which provide energy for the vital
activities and processes of the body.
73. Methionine: One of the essential amino acids.
74. Micro-ingredient: An essential ingredient in the diet that is required by the bird in very small
quantities.
75. Moult: The process whereby the bird sheds its feathers and ceases egg production. It is usually
initiated by hormonal influences but is often triggered by stress.
76. Peck(ing) order: The social organisation of a flock ranging in a ladder formation from the most
dominate to the most subordinate member of the flock.
77. Pendulous crop: An enlarged crop usually due to impaction and which hangs downwards in an
abnormal way.
78. Perchery system: A system of housing consisting of a litter floor plus a number of perches installed to
increase the number of birds that the house will hold. Some of the perches carry feeders and drinkers.
79. Point of lay: Females just prior to starting to lay.
80. Preen gland (uropygeal gland): A gland located at the base of the tail which produces a special “oil”
secretion for the conditioning or preening of the feathers.
81. Primaries: The ten long, stiff flight feathers at the outer extremity of the trailing edge of the wing.
They are separated from the inner group or secondaries by the “axial” feather.

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82. Production efficiency: The relationship between the various major production factors which,
depending on the class of stock, will include feed consumption, live weight gain, egg production and
mortality.
83. Proventriculus: The glandular stomach of birds located in front of the gizzard.
84. Pullet: A female in her first laying season. Often used to refer to young females post brooding to
point of lay.
85. Purebred: A group of birds having the same origin, and able to reproduce their own likeness in their
offspring. Purebred birds have the same genotype, but all birds with the same genotype are not
necessarily purebreds.
86. Relative humidity: The percentage of moisture saturation in the air. There is a direct relationship
between temperature and relative humidity – as the temperature increases, the relative humidity
decreases and as temperature decreases, the relative humidity increases.
87. Roost: The perch on which fowls rest or sleep.
88. Rooster: Male bird.
89. Sanitise: That part of the cleaning procedure aimed at killing as many microbes as possible.
90. Secondaries: See Primaries.
91. Semi-intensive: A system of housing where the birds have access to a shelter house and an outside
run enclosed by a fence to keep the birds in and predators out.
92. Sexing: The act of dividing the flock into its component males and females.
93. Skillion roof: A roof with a single pitch or slope.
94. Slatted floor system: A system of housing similar to the litter system except that wooden slats
approximately 2 cm wide with a similar gap between are used instead of litter. The faeces pass through
the gaps and out of reach of the birds housed therein.
95. Slave hopper: The short term food holding hopper integral to the food delivery system of a
mechanical feeding system and additional to the main food storage silo.
96. Soluble grit: Various sources of calcium in the diet – usually a granulated or grit form of limestone.
97. Spent hen: A layer that has reached the end of her economic egg laying life.
98. Started stock: Layer replacements post brooding to point of lay.
99. Stubbing: Removal of the short stub or pin feathers after plucking.
100. Thermostat: A device sensitive to temperature and usually used to control the operation of
temperature modifying equipment.
101. Vent: The common external opening from the cloaca for the digestive system, urinary system and
reproductive system.
102. Vitamin/mineral premix: A concentrated source of various vitamins and/or minerals mixed
together so as to make the adding of them to the diet much easier (beware of antagonistic materials).
103. Wet bulb thermometer: A thermometer with a wick covering the bulb. The wick keeps the bulb wet
by drawing water from a reservoir. Used in conjunction with a dry bulb thermometer, a reference to
appropriate tables comparing wet and dry bulb readings will indicate the relative humidity.

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