Domesticated fowl, most commonly of the Galliformes or Anseriformes (palmiped) orders, raised for its flesh and eggs. In France, the legal definition of the term poultry covers “any bird raised or held in captivity for the purposes of reproduction, meat production or egg consumption or any other product and the restocking of the game bird population”. This encompasses chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowl but also pheasants, quail and pigeons and more recently, in Europe in any case, ostriches. Poultry farming is called aviculture.

poultry