Poultry Improvement
Project
The Normal Chicken
Heart Beats
• The normal heart beat per minute for a
baby chick is 350-450
• For a normal adult chicken it is 250-300
• For comparison, the average for humans
is 70
Taking a Heart Beat
• Take your own heart rate by placing your
fingers on your wrist and recording the
number of pulses for 15 seconds. Times
your answer by 4
• Take the heart beat of a chicken with a
stethoscope or by gently pushing against
an artery in the leg and counting the
beats
Respiration
• Normal respiration rates or breaths per
minute is 12-20 for a male chicken and
20-36 for a female chicken
• For comparison, the human is 12.
Usually the very tiny and the very large
animals have a high rate
– Elephant and the shrew both have 95
Body Temperature
• Average body temperature varies from
106.5 to 107.5 degrees F
– Body temperature of a human is 98.6
– A dog is 101.5-102
• Body temperature can be taken with a
rectal thermometer