poularde

thumb|Poularde de Bresse Poularde is a culinary term for a chicken that is at least 120 days old at the time of slaughter and fattened with a rich diet that delays egg production. In the past it was common to spay the chickens early in life to ensure desirable meat quality, similar to the castration of a capon.

Similar terms are often confused: in English, pullet refers to a young hen, generally under one year old. Sometimes it is more specific, indicating a hen that is fully grown but has not reached 'point-of-lay', i.e. has not yet started laying eggs, which often happens between 16 and 24 weeks of age, depending on breed. Poulard (no 'e') can be used to mean "roaster", i.e. a young chicken weighing up to and living 10–12 weeks, as opposed to smaller "broiler" chickens weighing less than . In French, poussin is a newly hatched chick (either sex), poulet is a young chick (either sex), poulette is a young female chicken (one form of a poulet, and corresponding to the male coquelet), poularde is a poulette deliberately fattened for eating (often spayed, and the equivalent of the castrated male chapon or capon), and a poule is an egg-laying hen (corresponding to the coq or cockerel). Poularde is used in English in the context of cooking (as opposed to poultry farming); Larousse Gastronomique lists around 98 recipes for "Poulardes et poulets" with a further 100 or more for "farm-raised chickens".