Parts Identification
If you have half of the breast with the wing and back portion attached, what is this part called?
This is the breast quarter
What are the two top factors for placement when judging live hens for past egg production?
The first and most important is pigment loss! The second is abdominal capacity. (The third is abdominal fat condition and the fourth is molt)
Shanks
If there is a spot of exposed flesh on the thigh that is 1/4 inch, what grade could it have?
Grade A.
Grade B thigh could have from 1/4 inch up to 1/3 of the thigh.
What is that big yellow sphere in the middle of the egg called?
The yolk.
If you didn't know that, I should quit.
The inner pectoral muscle, a long slender muscle that is removed from the inner portion of the breast meat, that lines up against the keel bone is called what?
The tenderloin
Where are the last two places a hen will lose pigmentation?
The hocks and the tops of the toes
Where is the chicken's hock?
It is the joint at the top of the shanks, where it connects to the body of the bird.
If there is a blood clot on the thigh, what grade would that make it?
It would be grade C. There caan be no blood clots on grades A or B.
What is the name of the space that you measure when you candle an egg?
The air cell.
The thigh and drumstick with the back portion removed, either with or without the tail, is called what?
The whole leg
Abdominal width is measured as the number of fingers that fit between the pubic bones. Where is the finger placement for measuring abdominal depth?
Measure from the bottom of the pubic bones to the tip of the keel bone (the long bone dividing the breast).
Remember to NOT use specific finger widths for placing live hens. Only for comparing one hen to another.
What type of hens will we be judging?
They will be white Leghorn production hens and should be referred to with those words when giving oral reasons.
If more than 1/4 of a lung is present on a Split Breast, what grade would it receive?
It would be No Grade.
What is the name of the twisted strands of egg white that holds the yolk in place inside the shell?
The chalazae. It's always white... know how to identify this so you don't mistake it for a meat spot :)
What is the lower portion of the leg, separated at the hock and knee joints, with the bones removed?
This is the boneless drumstick
If a hen has a bleached hock, shank, and tops of toes, except for a few bright yellow scales at the base of the shank, is it a good egg producer?
Yes! It is not uncommon for a few scales of bright yellow to remain and that should not affect how they are ranked!
If a hen has good abdominal fat condition, what does that mean and how will she look?
A hen with good abdominal fat condition will look lean and trim, without excess fat in her abdominal cavity. That means she is laying more eggs than a hen who has been storing her energy as fat.
For a drumstick, how many 1/2 inch or shorter feathers can a Grade A piece have?
Two!
If it has 3, it's grade B. If it has 4, it's a Grade C, if it has more than 4 feathers, it's a no grade!
What is that thick white stuff that you measure the height of when looking at broken out eggs?
The albumin
What is the part of the wing between the second and third joint (shoulder) called?
The wing drumette
What is the order of pigment loss?
The hen will lose color in this order: (think top down)
Vent, Eye Ring, Earlobe, Beak
Bottom of the foot, Shank, Hock, Tops of toes
When a hen is molting, what does that mean and how can you tell?
A hen that is molting is not usually laying eggs at the same time. You can tell a hen is in molt when any of the first ten feathers from the axial feather to the wing tip are missing or shorter.
Any disjointed whole wings are automatically what grade?
Grade B
Are brown eggs and white eggs judged the same?
Yes! The color of the shell does not affect the grading.