# Are roosters chickens? and other apparently idiotic fowl questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824 "2004-10-29T09:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D0pBOt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@D0pBOt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D0pBOt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824/1 "2004-10-29T09:31:54Z")
Recently, a discussion with some friends turned to this question - are the chickens we buy frozen from a supermarket male or female? If they’re female, what happened to the males? On an egg-laying farm, what happens to males (even if they’re used for mating, what future lies ahead)? Are males chickens really even needed any more? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824/2 "2004-10-29T10:34:46Z")
A chicken marked “fryer” or “roaster” is a youngish male. Tender meat, but lacks a depth of flavor. A chicken marked “stewing” chicken, foul or hen is an old female, often slaughtered after being an egg producer for as long as she can. Her flesh is more tough, but also more flavorful, and you can get a richer broth from the carcass than you can with a roaster or fryer. A “capon” is a male chicken that has been castrated as a chick. Without the testosterone, he becomes huge and fat, with wonderful buttery-tasting flesh. He’s a eunich, basically. I highly recommend capon. It’s divine. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824/3 "2004-10-29T14:26:22Z")
**Why Not** gives valuable information on chicken-for-cooking. (Reminds me of the bad cannibal-and-missionary joke about them capturing a Franciscan and getting ready to boil him in the standard big ol’ pot when one of the cannibals calls a halt to the proceedings. “We can’t boil him.” “Why not?” “Simple: he’s a friar!”) As with a few other animals, the terminology for “member of a species” does not correspond with “adult male of the species” as it does with most animals (e.g., fox/vixen) but rather with female (e.g., duck/drake) or young – the latter being the case here. A chicken can either be an immature bird or the generic term encompassing baby chicken, pullet, hen, and rooster. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824/4 "2004-10-29T15:38:21Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > A “capon” is a male chicken that has been castrated as a chick. Without the testosterone, he becomes huge and fat, with wonderful buttery-tasting flesh. He’s a eunich, basically. I highly recommend capon. It’s divine. How does one castrate a chicken? Or do I not want to know? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824/5 "2004-10-29T16:06:52Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > How does one castrate a chicken? Or do I not want to know? You whack a fowl ball … ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roosters-chickens-and-other-apparently-idiotic-fowl-questions/271824/6 "2004-10-29T16:10:36Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > How does one castrate a chicken? Or do I not want to know? Ya don’t wanna know. The testes are located near the kidneys. They (the testes) are surgically removed _sans anesthesia_ in an assembly line fashion. A certain % mortality is expected . I have castrated roosters that are pets for people, but it is done with general anesthesia and sterile technique. I do not think my $150.00 bill would be easy to pass on to the consumer though. 🙂 Also, poultry “trivia”…the industry name for a laying hen that is beyond peak laying years and is going to be chicken soup is a “spent hen”.