Several homeo box sequences were isolated from a chicken (Gallus domesticus) genomic library. One phage, lambda GG7, was chosen for further study and the single homeo box sequence it contains was characterized. The sequence of the homeo box revealed it to be a distant member of the Antp class of homeo boxes. Expression of the CHox7 gene results in four transcripts, 1.4, 1.9, 2.4 and 3.5 kb in size. Transcript accumulation of the CHox7 gene peaks twice during embryogenesis, once with the 1.4 kb transcript during early somitogenesis and the second time with the 1.9 kb transcript during organogenesis.