4-H - A club for young people who want to learn farming skills, including how to raise animals for food.

Ammonia — A smelly gas that is bad for people and animals to breathe.

Anemia —A sickness that humans and animals can get when they don’t get enough iron in their food.

Anesthesia —A medicine that makes a human or an animal not feel pain in part or all of their body.

Angora — A certain breed of rabbit or goat with long, silky fur. These animals are sometimes raised for their fur.

Antibiotics —A certain type of medicine that kills the bacteria that cause sickness.

Avian flu —A dangerous illness that some birds can develop. Some scientists believe that this illness can be passed from birds to humans.

Barrow —A male pig who was neutered before he became an adult.

Battery cage — A small wire cage used to house egg-laying hens.

Bleat — The sound a sheep or goat makes.

Boar —A male pig who has not been neutered..

Brand —When a farmer burns a mark into the skin of an animal (like a cow or steer) to identify him or her from a distance..

Bray — The sound a donkey makes.

Buck —An adult male mammal, especially a rabbit or deer.

Burrow - To dig into the ground to form a tunnel or other safe space.

Castrate —To neuter a male animal.

Chick-hatching project —A school project in which students raise baby chicks from eggs.

Courtship —The way animals act in order to find mates..

Crow — The cry of a rooster.

Debeak —To cut off part of a chicken or turkey’s beak, usually quickly and painfully.

Dehorn —To remove the horns of cattle.

Diabetes —A serious disease that some humans and animals have. Those with diabetes have to be very careful about what they eat, and often have to watch how much sugar is in their food.

Dissect — Cut open or cut apart.

Doe —An adult female mammal, especially a rabbit or deer.

Down —The soft, fluffy feathers found under the wings of birds. .

Downed —The agriculture industry calls animals too sick or injured to stand, "downed" animals..

Drake — An adult male duck.

Dustbath —A way that birds and other animals have of cleaning themselves by moving around in the dust on the ground.

Ewe —A female sheep, especially when fully grown.

Exploit —To use someone or something unfairly or selfishly.

Factory Farm —A farm where many animals are raised together in a small space. Factory farms usually use more machines and fewer people than small family farms.

Farrowing crate —A crate where pigs give birth and nurse their piglets. These crates are usually made of metal and do not give the mother or piglets much space.

Feedlot —An area or building where animals live and eat while farmers wait for them to be the right size for slaughtering.

Fleece - A sheep’s wool coat.

Flock —A group of birds, sheep, or goats who travel, live, or feed together.

Flystrike —An infection on a sheep (or other animal) that happens when a fly lays eggs in the skin on the animal’s rump.

Foie gras (fah-graw) —Means "fatty liver" in French. It is produced when farmers force-feed ducks and geese excessive amounts of food.

Forage —To look for food or other necessities..

Gaggle — A flock of geese.

Gander —An adult male goose.

Gelatin —An ingredient in some foods and products that comes from animal bones and skin.

Gelding —A neutered male horse or donkey.

Gestation —The time between when a female becomes pregnant and when she gives birth..

Gestation crate —An uncomfortable metal crate where female pigs live while they are pregnant.

Global Warming —The problem of the Earth getting warmer than it should be.

Graze - When an animal feeds on grass or pasture.

Growth hormone —A chemical that makes a human or animal grow very quickly and unnaturally.

Habitat - The type of environment a certain animal usually lives in.

Halaal slaughter —A way that some people slaughter animals to honor the Islamic religion.

Heat prostration —A sickness an animal or human can get by being in the heat for too long.

Hen —An adult female bird, especially chickens, turkeys, and ducks.

Industrialized —Made faster and more efficient with the help of machines.

Jack — A male donkey.

Jenny — A female donkey.

Kitten — The young offspring of rabbits or cats.

Livestock —Domesticated animals, like cattle, who are raised for money.

Mad Cow disease —A very serious illness that cattle can get, especially from food that has parts of animals in it. Humans can also get this disease from eating sick cattle.

Manure - Animal waste.

Mastitis —A painful infection in a cow’s udder.

Matriarch —The female leader of a group.

Methane —A gas that comes from old cow manure and other natural products when they break down.

Migration —The traveling of a group of animals, especially in winter.

Milk fever —A disease in cows, sheep and goats who have just given birth. A female gets milk fever when she loses too many minerals by producing a lot of milk.

Mule —The child of a female horse and a male donkey.

Mulesing —When a sheep farmer removes a section of skin on a sheep’s rear, in order to keep him or her from getting fly-strike. Mulesing is extremely painful, and not necessary if the sheep are well taken care of.

Natural Resources - Useful things that nature gives us, like water, forests, minerals, land, and clean air.

Nitrous oxide — A colorless gas.

Obesity —The state of being very overweight.

Osteoporosis —A disease which makes bones get weak, break easily, and heal slowly.

Parasite - A living thing which lives in or on another living thing for survival.

Pathogen —Something that can cause disease.

Pecking order —A social system in which some animals are leaders, some followers, and everyone has a different position.

Porcine Stress Syndrome —A disorder that some pigs have that can make them die suddenly, especially if they are very stressed or handled violently.

Preen —To clean, smoothe or arrange the feathers with the beak (usually refers to birds).

Prohibit —To not allow. For example, most libraries prohibit loud talking.

Ram —An adult male sheep who hasn’t been neutered.

Ruminant —An animal (like a sheep or cow) who chews their cud, has hooves and has a stomach that has four parts, called “chambers” or “compartments.”

Shear — Cut the wool from.

Sounder — A herd of wild pigs.

Sow — An adult female pig.

Soymilk — A milk substitute containing soybeans.

Slaughterhouse - A place where farm animals are killed for meat.

Spent —The agriculture industry calls egg-laying hens whose production levels have dropped off "spent." Dairy cows whose milk production has slowed are also commonly said to be "spent."

Steer —A male from the cattle species, who has been neutered and cannot father children.

Stockyard — A place where farm animals are bought and sold

Stun - To make someone dizzy or unable to feel.

Synthetic — Artificial or fake.

Tofu — A soft food made from soybeans.

Tom — A male turkey.

Veal —Meat made from male calves.

Vegan —A person who does not eat meat, fish, dairy products, or eggs. Most vegans also don’t wear or use anything that comes from an animal.

Vegetarian —A person who does not eat meat or fish, but may eat dairy products and/or eggs.