Please help in connection with a sentence

English translation: chickens

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:cocks and hens
Selected answer:chickens
Entered by: Fuad Yahya

16:32 Jun 1, 2003
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Science - Zoology
English term or phrase: Please help in connection with a sentence
I am translating something from Hindi into English. I am not pretty sure about an expression, that is why I am taking the liberty to bother native speakers to ensure a foolproof translation.

Kindly go through the following sentence:

96 thousand cocks and hens of the poultry farms have been killed so far from last Friday in order to control 'Bird Flu'

I think cocks and hens feels somewhat awkward here. Should I replace it by chickens? But the problem here is that this word refers to baby cocks and hens and hence perhaps does not convey the sense.

Kindly help.

Sorry to bother you with this trivial question.
Rajesh
chickens
Explanation:
The word "chicken" is not restricted to young birds. It applies to the common domestic fowl, regardless of age. Baby birds are called "chicks."
Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya
Grading comment
Thanks to all for your great help. I am sorry I can't award points to all. But you all have supplied me with marvellous suggestions!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +7chickens
Fuad Yahya
5 +5chicks
Marian Greenfield
5 +4cocks is perfectly correct though you could use "roosters" if you prefer.
Terry Burgess
5 +4Young birds
David Moore (X)
5What I'd like to suggest is stick to your kind of explanation or it may be confusing for the reader
PRAKASH SHARMA


  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +5
chicks


Explanation:
baby chickens are <chicks>

and rather than <cocks> in the U.S. we would say <roosters>

But if you don't need to break them out by sex, I would simply use <chicks>

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 16:51
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michal Circolone
4 mins

agree  Ino66 (X)
39 mins

agree  Tudor Soiman: with slaughtered (asusisu) and since instead of from/hen, rooster,ock are grownups
5 hrs

agree  Bin Zhang
10 hrs

agree  J. Leo (X)
18 hrs

neutral  DGK T-I: forgive me, but I think Rajesh means he doesn't want to use'chicken'because one of it's meanings is'baby bird'(although also means adult hen/cock).Also rooster fine for US but in UK cockerel(spelt?).Agree sex distinction not necessary here.
18 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
cocks is perfectly correct though you could use "roosters" if you prefer.


Explanation:
Luck!
terry

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-06-01 16:39:08 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I too would be loath to use \"chickens\" as this might not be the case, particularly if they were adult birds that were slaughtered or killed.

t


    Roget's
Terry Burgess
Mexico
Local time: 14:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  RHELLER: roosters and hens is most appropriate
30 mins
  -> Thanks Rita:-)

agree  Ino66 (X)
36 mins
  -> Thanks Ino66:-)

agree  Will Matter
2 hrs

agree  asusisu (X): use the term slaughtered
4 hrs

neutral  DGK T-I: forgive me, but roosters is US specific, in the UK cockerels (sp?).In the UK chickens or poultry (again) is fine for this job. :-)
18 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +7
chickens


Explanation:
The word "chicken" is not restricted to young birds. It applies to the common domestic fowl, regardless of age. Baby birds are called "chicks."

Fuad Yahya
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks to all for your great help. I am sorry I can't award points to all. But you all have supplied me with marvellous suggestions!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  pcovs: According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 'chicken' refers both hens and roosters. A 'chick' is:'..esp. a young chicken just after coming out of its egg'.
53 mins

agree  Derek Smith: Indeed, I think you're safest with "chickens". Also "birds" might be useful here. Check this link (for example) http://www.hannibal.net/stories/123097/flu.html
57 mins

agree  Marie Scarano: also say "since" last Friday, not from.
1 hr

agree  Will Matter
1 hr

agree  Kardi Kho
7 hrs

agree  DGK T-I
18 hrs

agree  AhmedAMS
134 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Young birds


Explanation:
covers almost all ages from when the birds are first fledged through to adulthood, and the "poultry farm" in your text makes it obvious we are talking about chickens - ok, so turkeys are poultry too, but they are bred on turkey farms, aren't they? - so why not take it easy. Also please remember that "roosters" is peculiar to American.
We would just call them "cock birds".

David Moore (X)
Local time: 21:51
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 3

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ino66 (X)
5 mins
  -> TVM

agree  Will Matter
1 hr
  -> TVM

agree  Bin Zhang
9 hrs

agree  DGK T-I: agree about 'Rooster' -as I said -only being used in American English (and that in UK Eng. the adult male "chicken" is a cock or cockerel(sp?).Rooster is only understood there in the context of John Wayne & Marshall Rooster Cogburn.(Birds roost though !)
20 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
What I'd like to suggest is stick to your kind of explanation or it may be confusing for the reader


Explanation:
Dear Rajesh,
Being a native speaker of hindi, I'd like to suggest that you must stick to your choice and let the text be edited by some of the eminent and efficient editor in your region. As I do in such cases, hire their services and you'll see that the translation done by you will be a pearl for your client. That is what I do, and it 'll surely work in your case too.
For more details and explanations, contact me at
[email protected]

PRAKASH SHARMA
India
Local time: 02:21
Native speaker of: Native in HindiHindi, Native in NepaliNepali
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search