What is a young female chicken called? A young female chicken is called a Pullet. This is the term that is typically given to female chickens that are less than a year old. When they are laying eggs they are classified as hens.
There are various other names, terminology, and classifications for chickens, here’s a breakdown of what all the different names mean:
Table of Contents
Terms for Baby Chickens
Sexed Chicks – These are chicks that have been sexed and separated into males and females. Basically, pullets and cockerels.
Straight-Run Chicks – Stright run chicks are just groups of chicks bought “as-hatched” without knowing if they are male or female.
Chick – The common name for a baby chicken.
Peep – Another term for baby chickens.
Terms for Female Chickens
Pullet – A female chicken that is less than a year old and typically not laying eggs yet.
Point-of-Lay – A point-of-lay is a female chicken that is about to start laying. This is breed-dependant, but will typically be around 5 months of age.
Broody – A broody hen is a mother hen that is either sitting on eggs waiting for them to hatch, or mothering new hew chicks.
Hen – A term we’re all familiar with. A female chicken becomes a hen when she starts laying eggs and is mature.
Terms for Male Chickens
Cockerel – A cockerel is the male equivalent of a Pullet. It’s an immature male that hasn’t started mating yet.
Capon – A capon is a neutered rooster.
Rooster – Rooster, or cock, is the term for a fully mature male chicken. Generally speaking, they are roosters once they are a year old or have started mating.
Roo – The term “roo” is just a shortened version of rooster, like a slang term.
Collective Nouns for Chickens
Here are the terms used for groups of chickens:
Flock – This is the most commonly used term as it is the word that generally describes a group of birds.
A flock can mean a group of male and female chickens or a group of hens.
Brood – A brood is a group of baby chicks that were hatched together. It’s also sometimes the word used to describe a group of hens.
Clutch – Clutch is the term used for the group of eggs a broody hen sit sitting on, and the group of just-hatched chicks.
Other Chicken-Related Terms
If all of these terms were not enough, here are some other commonly used terms you’ll need to understand:
Bantam – Bantam chickens are breeds of smaller chickens. They are typically a third to half the size of a regular chicken (and are super cute).
Boiler – A not so commonly used term to describe a chicken that is between 6-9 months of age.
Broiler – A broiler is a chicken that is bred and raised for its meat.
Chook – This is just a slang term for chickens. It’s used mostly in the UK and Australia, I use it myself because I think it sounds kinda cool.
