Wait, What Did He Call Him?

NY Times:

"House Republican leader John Boehner has used a vulgar expression to refer to Democrat Barack Obama and his voting record in the Illinois legislature.

While campaigning for Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday, Boehner told a small crowd at a bar in Oxford that failing to vote ''yes'' or ''no'' on an issue meant a lawmaker was a ''chickens---.''

Why did the Times have to bleep out the expletive? Now I can't figure out what Boehner actually said. My money is on "chickenshit," but that doesn't even make sense.