Hen

A hen is a bird that lives on a farm or in the countryside with her grandparents. She has soft feathers, two legs and a beautiful tail. She clucks a lot and it sounds really funny!

Did you know that chickens were the first birds that people learnt to keep close to them? This happened a long time ago, even before people domesticated horses and cats. Chickens came to us from faraway forests in Asia, where their wild relatives still live among bamboo and scrub.

Magic eggs

The most amazing thing that hens can do is lay eggs! You can make many delicious dishes from these eggs: scrambled eggs, omelette or pie. And if you let the egg lay, a little chicken can hatch from it!

A mum hen and her fluffy babies

You can imagine that a hen isn't just a bird that clucks and pecks grains. She's also a very caring mum! When she has eggs, she incubates them so that new life can emerge inside the egg. She warms the eggs with her warm body and waits until the babies are ready to hatch.

One day, quiet pee-pees start to be heard from the eggs. And now the little fluffy yellow chicks are starting to come out of the eggs! They are so cute and inquisitive.

The mum hen is always near her babies. She protects them from any danger, be it a huge cat or rain. And the hen not only protects her babies, but also teaches them. For example, she shows them which grain to peck and which small stones to avoid.

When it gets dark outside, the chickens go to bed. They hide under their mum's warm wing. There they are warm and cosy and feel safe. Under this wing they can rest in peace and dream of new adventures!

Friendly hens

Hens usually live together in a coop. They love pecking grain, swimming in the sand and basking in the sun. When it gets dark, they go to sleep by sitting down on special perches.

Coloured feathers

Chickens can be different. There are small ones, weighing only a few apples, and there are very large ones, almost as big as a small rucksack. Some have white feathers, others are brown or even black. But all of them delight us with their cheerful cries and healthy eggs!

So, the chicken is an amazing and very useful animal for us!