BODY PARTS OF FOWL

BODY PARTS OF  OF FOWL

1) COMB

        In chicken, the fleshy outgrowth on the top of the head is called a comb.

     Many types of combs occur in the poultry

1. single comb                                                                     
2. buttercup comb                                         
3. pea comb
4. rose comb
5. strawberry comb
6. cushion comb
7. v shape comb
8. walnut comb
9. carnation comb

The comb helps the bird in thermoregulation. As there is no sweat gland in the poultry so, the comb is involved in thermoregulation process along with the wattles. Comb color mainly seems as red in the fowl. On the basis of the comb, we can also differentiate in different breeds of poultry.

2) BEAK 

         The beak is the outer hard protruding part of the mouth in the fowl that is used for the capturing of feed and push it towards the mouth, also used in fighting .picking. Beak consists of two parts  

• Upper mandible
• Lower mandible             

                                                    

                                        

poultrytechnology.blogspot.com

Upper mandible is fixed while the lower mandible has the ability to move.

In layers, beak trimming is done to avoid cannibalism.

The beak is made up od a protein name as KERATIN protein.

3) HEAD AND NECK 

             Behind the beak small rounded head is present which is the central nervous system . Head is covered with is the ear lobes and with the feathers. Two eyes are present and bristle feathers are present on the eyelids. Behind the headlong neck is present to combine the head area with the remaining body of fowl.

In the head and neck area, HACKLE  feathers are present which are used by birds to show the harsh behavior of fowl.

4) EAR LOBE AND WATTLES

   Wattles are the fleshy outgrowth of the body that are present below the beak and the ear lobes are present below the ear .wattles help in the thermoregulation. There were two colors of the earlobe 

• RED earlobe
• WHITE earlobe

Earlobe also helps in the identification of breeds of chicken and it also says that the color of the egg of breed is likely the as same as the color of the earlobe(with some exceptions).

 

 

    5) WING 

             Wing the part of the body which helps in the flying. In wings, alula bone is present which helps in making the direction and flight. There were three types of feathers are present 

• Primary feathers 
• Secondary feathers
• Axial feathers

Primary feathers are about 12-14 in numbers and in the outer portion of the wing helps bird intake direction during the flight.

Secondary feathers are about 8-10 in numbers and are located close to the body on the wing helps in the uplift and provide a push to the bird for flight.

Axial feather is a small feather that is present in between the primary and the secondary feathers. It is used to distinguish between the primary and the secondary feathers.

 

 

6) TAIL

    The tail is the part of the body that has tail feathers on it. At the tail, a gland is presently called the PRENE gland or UROPYGIAL gland which produces oil which the birds used for protection of feathers from the parasites.IN male the tail feather is in sickle shape.

The tail helps the bird in balancing of the body and to take a break during a flight.

 

7) THIGH AND DRUM STICK

       Towards the lower portion of the body thigh and the drumstick is present which connects the main body with the lower portion. The thigh and drum stick provides support to the body. These two combine to form the leg of the chicken.

8) SHANK 

     Shanks is the part of the body below the drum stick and are joined with the drum stick through the hock joint which moves like hinge. On the shanks, scales are present which provides protection to the bird. The foot is connected with the shank. Spur is present on the shank which is used by the bird during the fighting and for protection from the other birds. Spur is only present in males and is rudimentary in the female.