Glossary of poultry slang and jargon
On the farm and in talks with a vet or integrator, abbreviations and words you will not hear anywhere else keep coming up: FCR, EPEF, batch, placement, withdrawal period. This glossary gathers poultry jargon and explains every term plainly — so that even a complete beginner gets it. No dictionary riddles, just clear, human explanations.
verifiedFrom the team that has organised work on poultry farms for years.
Why a glossary of poultry slang
Every industry has its own language, and poultry farming is unusually dense with abbreviations and slang. A beginner hears “what is your FCR?", “when is the placement?", “mind the withdrawal period" and often hesitates to ask, afraid of looking clueless. This glossary solves that: it collects the most common terms in one place and explains them in plain language. Broader entries are in our poultry encyclopedia.
Plain text, jargon only as the subject
At DlaFerm.pl we write in plain language and avoid slang — but somewhere it has to be calmly explained, because you will hear it on the farm anyway. So this page treats jargon as its subject: it lists industry terms and puts a human explanation of one or two sentences next to each. This is not about learning to talk “farm-speak", but a cheat sheet so you understand what is being said.
From indicators to everyday farm slang
We split the terms into categories: production indicators (like FCR and EPEF), facility and equipment, health and veterinary, feeding, documents and law, and everyday slang from the floor. If you prefer to learn through questions, see the set of 50 questions about broiler farming, and for the bigger picture our poultry farmer’s guide.
Words change more slowly than technology
Many terms in this glossary have circulated on Polish farms for decades — their roots are shown in the history of Polish poultry farming. Others, like EPEF or the withdrawal period, arrived with modern production and rules. Knowing both, you will talk easily with an old farmer and a young animal scientist alike. Plenty of myths have grown around poultry too — we set those straight in facts and myths about chicken.
Six groups that poultry jargon falls into
To make it easier to navigate, we split the terms from the floor, the vet’s office and the office into six areas. You will find the full list of entries with explanations below, in the questions and answers.
Production indicators
The numbers a farm measures results with: FCR (feed per kilogram of gain), EPEF (a combined performance index), daily gain, mortality. This is the language of settlements with the integrator and of comparing batches. We expand the abbreviations in the poultry encyclopedia.
Facility and equipment
Vocabulary from the house itself: hygiene lock, litter, drinking and feeding lines, stocking density, brooding. These are the terms you use to describe how the house is set up and how the cycle runs.
Health and veterinary
Terms from the vet’s office and the health programme: drug withdrawal period, biosecurity, footpad dermatitis, mortality, vaccination. This is the language you use with the vet and in the treatment records.
Feeding
Phase feeds — starter, grower, finisher — and terms linked to feed conversion and gain. They decide the growth rate and how much it costs to produce a kilogram of live bird.
Documents and law
Abbreviations and official names: IRZplus (the animal register), livestock units, the district veterinary officer, the health certificate. Without them you will not get through registration or an inspection.
Everyday farm slang
Words you hear over coffee in the house: batch, placement, day-old chick, culling, live bird. Short and handy — and often confusing to an outsider, which is why we explain them in the questions section.
Why it is worth understanding the industry slang
Knowing the terms is not a pose — it saves time, cuts misunderstandings and speeds up your entry into the trade. Here are six reasons to keep this glossary at hand.
Talking to the integrator and the vet
The integrator asks about FCR and EPEF, the vet about the withdrawal period and mortality. If you know these words, the conversation is to the point and fast, and you do not waste time asking again. That is the basis of a partnership instead of nodding blindly.
Reading contracts and reports
A contract and a batch report are packed with abbreviations. Without understanding them it is easy to miss an important clause about the rate, withdrawal period or stocking density. The glossary helps you read documents knowingly — more on broiler specifics is in 50 questions about broiler farming.
Avoiding misunderstandings
The same words can mislead: “placement" is putting birds in, not feed; a “batch" is a cycle, not a head count. One misunderstanding can lead to a wrong decision. A shared language means fewer mix-ups between farmer, supplier and office.
Learning the trade faster
A beginner who understands the jargon grasps guides, training and conversations faster. Instead of tripping over words, they focus on the content. A solid start is described in our poultry farmer’s guide.
Communication in the team
Several people work on a farm and each must understand the same thing: when the placement is, what the stocking density is, who watches the hygiene lock. Short, unambiguous terms speed up work and cut the risk of error during brooding or loading.
Where to ask further
You do not have to learn this glossary by heart — just keep it at hand and come back when needed. For broader entries reach for the poultry encyclopedia, and keep the current batch records in the digital Flock Card — that is where jargon turns into concrete numbers.
The key poultry jargon terms — explained plainly
FCR (feed conversion ratio)add
FCR tells you how many kilograms of feed it takes for a bird to gain one kilogram of weight. The lower the FCR, the cheaper and more efficiently the flock grows — one of the most important profitability indicators.
EPEF (European Production Efficiency Factor)add
EPEF rates a batch in a single number — it combines survival, growth rate and FCR. The higher the EPEF, the better the cycle was run; it is used to compare flocks and farms with one another.
Batch (rzut)add
A batch is one full production cycle — from placing the chicks to sending them for slaughter or sale. For broilers it usually lasts a few weeks, and a farm runs several batches a year.
Placement (wsad)add
Placement is the moment a new flock is brought into the house — putting the birds in at the start of a batch. Note: it has nothing to do with feed, even though the Polish word sounds like “pouring in".
Hygiene lock (śluza)add
A hygiene lock is a transition room at the house entrance where you change footwear and clothing and wash your hands. It separates the dirty zone from the clean one and is a cornerstone of biosecurity — protecting the flock from disease.
All-in-all-outadd
This is the rule that the whole house is filled with birds at once and emptied at once, and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between batches. That breaks the chain of infection and lets each flock start in a clean facility.
Withdrawal period (karencja)add
The withdrawal period is the number of days that must pass from giving a drug to slaughter or selling eggs, so that no residue is left in the meat or eggs. Observing it is a legal duty and a basis of food safety.
IRZplusadd
IRZplus is the ARiMR online system for animal identification and registration, in which the farmer keeps flock records. This is where stocks, placements and removals of birds are reported. The portal can be awkward, so in DlaFerm.pl you can — optionally — have these reports sent to IRZplus automatically, straight from the Flock Card.
Day-old chick (jednodniówka)add
A day-old chick is a chick in its first day of life, straight from the hatchery, with which a broiler batch begins. Its quality and the first days of brooding strongly affect the whole later cycle.
Culling (brakowanie)add
Culling is removing weak, sick or sub-standard birds from the flock, so they do not burden production or infect the rest. In laying flocks it also means retiring hens that have stopped laying well.
Livestock units (DJP)add
A livestock unit is a notional measure of the number of animals reduced to a common denominator (one unit equals a 500 kg cow). In poultry it is used to assess a farm’s scale under environmental and building rules.
Candling (owoskopia)add
Candling is shining a strong light through eggs to check whether an embryo is developing inside. It is used in hatcheries to reject unfertilised eggs or eggs with a dead embryo.
Stocking density (obsada)add
Stocking density is the number of birds or kilograms of weight per square metre of floor. Too high a density worsens welfare and results, which is why maximum values are set by animal-protection law.
Mortality (upadki)add
Mortality is the birds that died during a batch — usually given as a percentage of the flock. Low mortality shows good health and management; a sudden rise is an alarm signal.
Brooding (odchów)add
Brooding is the first period of the chicks’ life, when they need raised temperature and easy access to feed and water. These first days decide the start and the uniformity of the whole flock.
Litter (ściółka)add
Litter is the material on the house floor — most often straw, shavings or sawdust — that absorbs moisture and droppings. Its dryness and quality translate directly into the health of the birds’ legs and skin.
Footpad dermatitis (pad)add
This is inflammation of the birds’ footpads, most often caused by wet, caked litter. It is assessed at the slaughterhouse and treated as an indicator of welfare and of how well the house was run.
Integratoradd
An integrator is a company that supplies the farmer with chicks and feed and then collects the finished live birds, usually under a contract. The farmer is responsible for brooding, the integrator for the flock in and out and the settlement.
Live bird (żywiec)add
Live bird refers to living birds destined for slaughter, sold by kilograms of weight. The “live bird price" is the rate per kilogram of live weight on the day the flock is collected.
Starter, grower, finisher (phase feeds)add
These are three successive feed types matched to the bird’s age: starter at the beginning, grower in the growth phase, finisher before slaughter. Each has a different composition, because the bird’s needs change during a batch.
Biosecurity (bioasekuracja)add
Biosecurity is the set of rules protecting the flock from diseases brought in from outside: hygiene locks, disinfection mats, entry control, splitting into clean and dirty zones. It is the first line of defence against avian influenza and other infections.
Age in days (doba)add
A broiler’s age is counted in days, not weeks, because every day matters for growth and feeding. A “bird on day 21" is simply a flock that is 21 days old.
Daily gain (przyrost dobowy)add
Daily gain is the average weight a bird puts on in one day, given in grams. A higher gain with a low FCR is a sign the flock is growing fast and efficiently.
District veterinary officer (PLW)add
The district veterinary officer is the official who supervises animal health in a given area. They assign the farm its veterinary number and carry out inspections.
Health certificateadd
A health certificate is an official document confirming that the birds or eggs come from a healthy, supervised flock and may enter trade. It is issued by a vet and accompanies the transport of live birds.
Sources & resources
Turn jargon into concrete numbers with DlaFerm.pl
You know the terms now — time to use them in practice. With DlaFerm.pl you run a batch in the digital Flock Card, and FCR, mortality and the withdrawal period turn into clear records ready for settlement and inspection. Create a free farm account.
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