ANATOMY
 CHICKEN COMBS

All chicken have combs on their heads, but it does not always look the same.  Comb is a fleshy growth on the top of the chicken head. Both male and female chickens have combs, but the ones on the male are larger. Combs of different breeds may look different in shape and even in color. While most combs are red, some breeds have purple combs.
Combs are not just for the good looks. They actually have a very important role for chicken because they cool the chicken down. The way this works is that blood circulates between comb and the wattles.

What types of combs can chicken have? Here are 7 common combs


BUTTERCUP
Buttercup comb has fine texture. It has a single leader. It looks like a crown.
CUSHION
Cushion comb is small and solid comb. This comb has no spikes.
PEA
Pea comb is low comb with three low ridges. The middle ridge is a little bit higher than the other two
ROSE
The rose comb is almost flat on the top and very fleshy. It is broad and solid and the main part has a curved surface with small round protuberances.
SINGLE
Single comb is thin and attached to the beak along the skull. On the top there are five or six deep grooves. They make sharp points. These points are higher on the middle part.  This comb stands up
STRAWBERRY
This comb is very low. It is called strawberry because of its shape as well as rough surface. It actually looks like a strawberry.
V-SHAPED
This comb is V-shaped and has two pieces that look like horn. The two pieces are joined in their base.

 CHICKEN BONES

What did you think when someone asks you to describe a bone? We usually think of human or other mammal bones. But chicken bones are very different than mammal bones.

Chicken bones are much lighter than the mammal bones. This is probably because chicken is a bird, and birds have to fly. Lighter bones allow them to be lighter when flying. The chicken bones are lighter because some bones in body have air sacs. Some other bones, like those in the skull have spaces in them

Another difference between chicken and mammal bones is that chicken bones have more minerals in them. Some of the minerals that chicken bones are rich with are calcium and phosphate. Mammal bones contain those minerals as well, but not  as much as in chicken.

THE SKELETON
SKULL
Skull of the chicken is made up many small  bones. The face of the chicken is Meade up of the nasal and the premaxillary bone. The largest bones in the chicken face are called frontal, parietal and temporal bone. They make up the cranium which is the back of the chicken head. There is also a mandible which is another word for the jaw bone.



BREAST
Skeleton of the chicken in made up of many bones. One of the largest bones in the breast bone or sternum. It is so large that it covers more than half of the body cavity. Sternum has a carina, which is a large kneel.  Carina is used to attach the wings so that bird can fly. Chickens are not good flyers and usually can fly only a very short distance. This is why their carina is not as large as in the flying birds.
The breast bone attaches to the ribs.  Chicken has five or six pairs of ribs and these bones protect the organs inside.

BACKBONE
Chicken are vertebrates. Vertebrates are animals that have a backbone. Chicken backbone starts with the atlas. This is the small bone on top of the spine. This bone is important because it allows chicken to move their head.  Chicken usually have about 20 vertebrae, but this depend on the breed. The spine ends with a cervical bone

THE WISHBONE
Everyone has heard of a wish bone, The slingshot looking bone is sometimes pulled apart and a person who gets a larger part makes a wish. The wishbone is actually a clavical or collar bone. It connects the shoulders of a chicken. It also makes an opening so that digestive and respiratory tract can pass into the chicken body.
 CHICKEN EYES

Chicken eyes are huge. Orbits of the skull in which eyeballs are attached are also much bigger than in mammals such as humans. Orbits are made of many small bones that merged together. They made a thin plate.
 CHICKEN FEET

Chicken feet are very complicated. The foot has 16 small bones. The bones that make up toes are called phalanx. The last phalanx of the toe is claw like. There are four toes and the third is the longest. Many birds have webbed toes, but chicken does not.

 Feathers

Chicken uses feathers for protection from weather conditions such as rain, cold, and sun. It also protects the body from injuries. Feathers come in different colors and usually male and female are different colors. Color of feathers depends on the bread. The best protective feathers are wide, firm and closely knitted. Some chicken have frizzle feathers which means that feathers curl at the ends.

 Wattles

Wattles are located under the chin. They are meaty, red growths. Chicken has two wattles. Both male and female chicken have wattles. Wattles do not just hang there, they actually have an important function. One of the things that wattles do is cool the chicken down. This happens when the blood circulates from the comb to the wattles. The circulating blood lowers the temperature of the chicken during the hot weather.




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