Raising chickens can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Fresh eggs every morning, cute little chicks pecking around the coop, and the satisfaction of caring for a small flock of feathered friends. However, to properly care for backyard chickens, it’s important to have a basic understanding of their anatomy. Knowing the parts of a chicken can help you quickly spot any potential health issues or injuries.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover all the major external and internal parts of a chicken’s body. Whether you’re a beginner chicken keeper or a seasoned pro, read on to learn the names and functions of the various chicken body parts
External Anatomy of a Chicken
Let’s start with the external physical features of a chicken that are visible on the outside of their body
Head
A chicken’s head contains several important parts:
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Comb: The red, fleshy growth on top of a chicken’s head. It helps regulate body temperature and can indicate health issues if discolored or abnormal in appearance.
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Wattles The red flaps of skin that dangle under a chicken’s chin. Also aid in temperature regulation
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Earlobes: The small, fleshy lobes on the side of a chicken’s head where the ears are located. Often a different color than the rest of the head.
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Beak: The hard, pointed mouthpart of a chicken. Since chickens don’t have teeth, they use their beak to peck, feed, groom, and more.
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Nostrils: The two holes located at the base of the beak through which chickens breathe.
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Eyes: Chickens have small, round eyes on either side of their head. Their eyesight is quite poor compared to humans.
Neck and Hackles
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Neck: The narrow part of a chicken’s body between the head and body. Allows range of motion for the head.
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Hackles: The long, narrow feathers that cover a chicken’s neck. Particularly pronounced in roosters.
Body
Moving down from the neck, a chicken’s body contains:
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Breast: The upper front part of a chicken’s body between the neck and abdomen. Contains the chicken’s crop organ for food storage.
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Wings: Located on the upper back, a chicken’s wings provide balance and allow short flights. The long flight feathers are called primaries while the shorter feathers closest to the body are the secondaries and coverts.
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Thighs: The upper segments of a chicken’s legs to which the wings are attached.
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Legs: The lower limbs of a chicken used for walking and scratching. Contains the hock joint and ends in feet and toes.
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Tail: Projection of longer feathers arising from the rear of the body. Helps with balance and expressing emotions. Roosters tend to have longer, more arched tail feathers.
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Vent/Cloaca: The single posterior opening through which a chicken urinates, defecates, and lays eggs.
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Abdomen/Belly: The underside of a chicken’s body between breast and vent containing internal organs. Becomes larger and more distended in egg-laying hens.
Feet
A chicken stands on two yellow-skinned feet called:
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Toes: Chickens normally have four toes on each foot with nails protruding from the tips. Some breeds may have more or fewer toes.
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Scales: Tough, overlapping plates cover the lower part of a chicken’s legs and top of their toes.
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Pads: Thicker, cushiony skin on the bottom of chickens’ feet helps support their weight.
Internal Anatomy and Organs
The internal systems and organs inside a chicken’s body carry out important biological functions:
Skeletal System
- Bones: A chicken’s skeletal system provides structural support and protects internal organs. Key bones include the breastbone, wishbone, leg bones, wing bones, and vertebral column.
Muscular System
- Muscles: Chickens have skeletal muscles throughout their body attached to bones by tendons. These muscles allow for locomotion, digestion, respiration, and other motions.
Respiratory System
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Trachea: Windpipe that transports air from the chicken’s nostrils and mouth to the lungs.
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Lungs: The pair of organs where gas exchange occurs in the respiratory system.
Cardiovascular System
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Heart: Muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the circulatory system via rhythmic contractions. A chicken heart has 4 chambers.
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Arteries: Blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart to the lungs and body.
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Veins: Blood vessels that return blood to the heart from the lungs and body.
Digestive System
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Crop: Pouch along the esophagus where chickens store and soften food before digestion.
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Esophagus: Tube connecting a chicken’s mouth to their crop and stomach.
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Stomach: Muscular sac that further digests food from the crop and passes it to the gizzard.
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Gizzard: Powerful organ containing swallowed stones that grinds up food.
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Intestines: Long, coiled tubular organs where absorption of nutrients occurs.
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Cloaca: The chamber and opening where the digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracts empty.
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Vent: External opening of the cloaca for releasing digestive waste.
Immune System
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Thymus: Organ where T cells mature to mount immune responses against pathogens.
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Bursa of Fabricius: Site of B cell maturation crucial for antibody production and immunity.
Reproductive System
Female
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Ovary: Organ that produces female hormones and yolks for eggs.
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Oviduct: Passageway where egg white, membranes, and shell are deposited onto the yolk.
Male
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Testes: Paired organs in the male that generate sperm and testosterone.
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Vas deferens: Tubes that transport mature sperm from the testes.
Common Chicken Breeds
There are over 200 breeds of domestic chicken recognized by the American Poultry Association. Some common backyard chicken breeds include:
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Rhode Island Red: A dual-purpose breed raised for eggs and meat. Hardy and docile.
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Barred Plymouth Rock: A popular black and white hen used for both eggs and meat.
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Australorp: A gentle, productive breed that lays lots of large brown eggs.
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Silkie: Known for fluffy, hair-like feathers and charming personality. Lay small white eggs.
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Orpington: A British heritage breed and ideal backyard pet known for being big, fluffy, and friendly.
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Leghorn: Smaller breed that matures quickly and is a very reliable egg layer.
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Jersey Giant: A very large chicken breed bred mainly for meat production due to its huge size.
Signs of a Healthy Chicken
When you’re familiar with chicken anatomy and know what’s normal, you can more easily spot signs of illness or injury in your flock. Here are some signs of a healthy chicken:
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Active, alert, and sociable behavior
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Smooth, well-groomed feathers
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Bright red comb and wattles
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Clear, bright eyes
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Smooth, symmetrical gait
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Good appetite and drinking regularly
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Normal egg laying in hens
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Well-formed droppings
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Clean, odor-free vent area
Bone-in chicken thighs
What sets bone-in thighs apart from their easier-to-handle boneless counterparts? Well, it all comes down to the fact that including the total package helps to improve the taste. All the flavor thats housed in the chicken bone gets released into the chicken flesh when you cook it — when you divorce the thigh from the bone, you miss out on all of that flavor. Plus, theres that fact that the bone prevents the thigh from drying out, which is especially important if youre not a total pro at cooking chicken.
Are bone-in chicken thighs a bit more difficult to handle on your plate? Sure. You have to contend with the bones and figure out how to cut around them to get the perfect bite onto your fork. But if you ask us, its worth the extra time and effort to enjoy more of that flavor. Lifes too short to throw away the bone, you know?
Lets face it: Inflation is hitting us in the pockets just about everywhere, but its particularly noticeable when you go to the grocery store. According to Fortune, the annual inflation rate from June 2021 to June 2022 was 9.1%. But when it comes to food, were technically spending 12.2% more than we did last year. Thats a huge jump in prices. And when youre trying to make your dollar stretch, its important to look for some lower-cost items at the grocery store.
Thats one of the reasons we love ground chicken so much: Often, its cheaper than other cuts of chicken youll find at the grocery store, which makes it a great budget buy. Plus, its just so versatile — you can use it in pretty much any recipe that calls for ground beef.
Yes, it can get dry, which is why it doesnt rank higher on our list. Its important to cook your ground chicken on a lower setting than you would typically use for ground beef, as chicken contains less fat. Of course, you can always add olive oil to add more fat to your dish as well, which will combat that dryness.
Chicken wing drumettes
Chicken wings are one of those foods that are pretty much always hit the spot no matter what. But its no secret that wing-eaters have their opinions about which types of wings are better. And here at Tasting Table, we must admit that we are, in fact, flats lovers. Now, are chicken wing drumettes bad? Not by any stretch of the imagination. A cute handheld drumstick doused in buffalo sauce or crisped to perfection? Magical. Transcendent. Life-affirming. How can you not love a fried tiny food? But unfortunately, its just too hard to get every little piece of meat off of a drumette without getting buffalo sauce all over your face.
Perhaps if youre the type of person whos never been accused of being a messy eater, who barely has to use their napkin when they eat wings, you dont have this problem and can consume your drumettes with joy. But for the rest of us, eating drumette chicken wings in public is just too perilous.
How to Butcher a Chicken: 10-Piece Country Cut
FAQ
What are the 12 parts of a chicken?
The basic external parts of a chicken include the comb, beak, wattles, ears, earlobes, eyes, eye rings, wings, tail, thighs, hocks, shanks, spurs, claws and toes.
What are the 12 pieces of chicken?
How many parts can you get from a whole chicken? Let’s run through a quick breakdown on how to get 12 parts from a whole chicken – 2 Wings – 2 breast – 2 drumettes – 2 drumsticks – 2 tenders – 2 thighs Save the carcass for chicken stock.
What are the 8 pieces of a chicken?
A whole chicken, when cut into eight pieces, yields two breasts, two thighs, two drumsticks, and two wings.
What are chicken parts called?
The parts of a chicken used in cooking are the breast, tenderloin, back, wing, leg, drumstick, and thigh.