CHICKEN - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

CHICKENAuthored

The Law Mind • 822 words

Definition

In law, "chicken" functions not as a term of art but as a factual descriptor appearing across several legal contexts wherever the keeping, sale, transport, or welfare of domestic fowl is at issue. Anderson's Dictionary of Law cross-references the term to substantive entries rather than defining it independently, directing researchers to ANIMAL: DAMAGE-FEASANT, CRUELTY, NUISANCE, TRESPASS, and WORRY — each of which governs conduct involving chickens as a species of domestic animal.

In these contexts, chickens are treated as personal property capable of being the subject of trespass, theft, conversion, and damage claims. Their status as livestock also brings them within the scope of animal cruelty statutes, agricultural regulations, food safety law, and zoning ordinances governing the keeping of fowl in residential areas.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Cowardly.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A young bird or fowl, especially a young barnyard fowl; also informally, a young woman or child.

The ordinary-language meaning of "chicken" presents no particular gap when the term appears in legal sources referring to the animal itself. The informal meaning — cowardice — carries no legal weight and does not appear in legal doctrine under this term. Researchers should note that older agricultural statutes and local ordinances may use "fowl" or "poultry" as the operative term even where chickens are the primary subject; searching only for "chicken" will undercount relevant materials.

Common Confusion

Chickens occupy an ambiguous position in some regulatory schemes as both livestock and household pets, particularly in urban agriculture ordinances. The legal treatment can differ sharply depending on classification: a chicken classified as livestock may be exempt from certain anti-cruelty provisions that protect companion animals, or may be subject to slaughter regulations that would not apply to a pet. Researchers should not assume uniform classification across jurisdictions or across different bodies of law within the same jurisdiction.

Why It Matters in Research

Anderson's cross-referencing structure is the key navigational signal here. The dictionary declines to define "chicken" directly and instead disperses its legal treatment across five substantive headings. Researchers using Law Mind's historical corpus should treat those five entries — ANIMAL: DAMAGE-FEASANT, CRUELTY, NUISANCE, TRESPASS, and WORRY — as the primary research nodes, not "chicken" itself.

Several practical traps exist in historical sources:

First, "damage-feasant" (animals caught doing damage on another's land) was a common vehicle for chicken-related disputes in the 19th century, particularly involving chickens straying onto neighboring property and destroying gardens. These cases index under the damage-feasant heading, not under any chicken-specific term.

Second, "worry" — the legal term for a dog or other animal attacking livestock — is where chicken-killing-by-dog cases appear in historical sources. This is counterintuitive to modern researchers who would not think to search "worry" when looking for poultry depredation cases.

Third, the regulatory landscape for chickens has expanded dramatically in the modern period with the growth of commercial poultry operations and, more recently, urban backyard-chicken ordinances. Historical sources will be silent on both. Federal regulation under the Poultry Products Inspection Act and analogous state schemes sits entirely outside the common law framework reflected in 19th-century legal dictionaries.

Fourth, food safety and labeling disputes involving chickens — grading standards, organic certification, country-of-origin labeling — appear in administrative law sources and agency materials that have no counterpart in Anderson's era.

Historical Dictionary Support

Anderson's Dictionary of Law (the sole source here) does not define "chicken" as a legal term. Its entry is a pure cross-reference list, which is itself informative: it signals that the legal significance of chickens in the late 19th century was entirely absorbed by general animal law categories rather than any poultry-specific doctrine. This reflects the period's legal structure accurately — there was no specialized poultry law in the modern sense.

The Webster's 1913 definition confirms the ordinary meaning without legal elaboration. No divergence between historical dictionaries is present because the legal dictionaries of the period do not treat the term independently.

Jurisdictional Note

Urban and suburban chicken-keeping is now regulated at the municipal level, and ordinances vary widely — some jurisdictions ban all backyard poultry, others permit hens but not roosters, and others are permissive with minimal restriction. State agricultural codes also vary in how they classify chickens relative to other livestock for purposes of cruelty statutes and property damage claims.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

See ANIMALS (Law Mind Encyclopedia) for the governing framework on domestic animal liability, damage-feasant, and the worry doctrine as they apply to poultry.

CHICKENmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

See ANIMAL: DAMAGE-FEASANT; CRUELTY, 3; NUISANCE; TRESPASS; Certified check. A check marked "good" WORRY. by the banker. Implies that there are funds in the bank with which to pay it, that the same are set apart for its satisfaction, and that they will be so applied when the check is presented for payment.4 The act of certifying is equivalent to an acceptance of the check. The object is to enable the holder to use the check as money. The bank charges the check to the account of the drawer; credits it in a certified check account; and, when paid, debits that account with the amount. The bank thus becomes the debtor of the holder. Memorandum check. A check having "Memorandum" or "Mem." written across its face. A memorandum of indebtedness given by a borrower. In the hands of a third person, for value, has the force of a check without restriction." The check takes the place of a note, as for a temporary loan. It is not designed to be presented at bank, but is for redemption at the time agreed upon. Raised check. A check increased in the amount for which it was drawn, by fraudulent alteration, q. v. When money has been been paid upon a raised check by mistake, neither party being in fault, it may be recovered as paid without consideration. If neither party's negligence caused the injury the holder must bear the loss. When a person sends such paper to the bank upon which it is drawn, for information, the bank 1 Bank of the Republic v. Millard, 10 Wall. 156 (1869), See generally 26 Cent. Law J. 339-42 (1888), cases. 2 Poorman v. Woodward, 21 How. 275 (1858); Downey v. Hicks, 14 id. 249 (1852). State Nat. Bank of Springfield v. Dodge, 124 U. S. 346 (1888), Blatchford, J. Merchants' Bank v. State Bank, Espy v. Bank, Bank v. Whitman, ante; Bank of British North America, 91 N. Y. 110 (1888). Story, Prom. Notes, § 499; 16 Pick. 535; 32 N. J. L. 96; 11 Paige, 612. • See Turnbull v. Osborne, 12 Abb. Pr. 201-7 (1872),

CHICKENn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A young bird or fowl, esp. a young barnyard fowl. A young person; a child; esp. a young woman; a maiden. "Stella is no chicken." Swift. Chicken cholera, a contagious disease of fowls; - - so called because first studied during the prevalence of a cholera epidemic in France. It has no resemblance to true cholera.

chickenadj

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

Cowardly.

chickenverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To avoid a situation one is afraid of.

chickennoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

plural of chick

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