There are certain birds we see every day that are similar. We might think of them as the same, but they are not. Most of the time, this is because they belong to the same species having similar appearance or features. The best examples of such birds are Hen and Chicken. Most people get confused between both birds and think of them as the same, as they look the same, belong to the same species, have similar other characteristics, but they are not the same. They both are different from each other.
Hen vs Chicken
The main difference between Hen and Chicken is in their growth. A hen is a bird that is completely developed and is capable of laying eggs while the chicken is still under development process and may or may not be capable of laying eggs. Chicken does not always include a hen but other species too. For example, roosters and capons are both called chicken, whereas it is not the same with hens. A Hen can never be a male, while a chicken can be a male. Except for all these differences, they also differ in terms of their physical appearance, species, and relation.
A hen is an adult female chicken that is used mostly for eggs and meat. A hen is always a chicken. It mostly depends on their type of bread, that when they’ll start laying eggs. Some breeds start breeding early, while some may take more time in comparison. They are using a domestic pet for several reasons, the main being laying eggs and breading. They don’t require a rooster for this purpose. It is believed they are evolved from dinosaurs.
Chicken is an omnivore’s bird, meaning they eat meat as well as vegetables. Male and females can both be chickens. They can also lay eggs. They have great memories that they can even remember 100 different faces. They make noises in the morning when the sun rises. They are also used as meat for eating. They also dream while sleeping like humans. Different species of chickens lay eggs of different colors.
Comparison Table Between Hen and Chicken
| Parameters of Comparison | Hen | Chicken |
| Physical body | They are fully grown. | They are still growing. |
| Gender | Always a female | Can be a male or female |
| Fertilizing | Can lay eggs | Can or cannot lay eggs. |
| Species | Varies | Gallus domesticus |
| Relation | They are always chicken. | They may or may not be a hen always. |
What is Hen?
A hen is a chicken over a year old. A hen is a providing female egg. Some breeds of them start laying eggs in the 15 or 16 weeks, while some take time and start laying in their 20th week. Therefore fertilizing entirely depends upon the breed of hen.
Some of its breeds continue laying eggs every day, while some might lay after a day r two or even change the pattern, it depends upon them. Middle-aged hens lay more eggs, and older and younger ones lay comparatively fewer eggs. Speed of laying also depends upon the weather and environment.
It is said that rooster presence is not required for laying the eggs, although it might help in increasing the chances but is not compulsorily required. Some even said that a chicken becomes a hen as soon as it starts laying eggs, while some argue with this statement.
They are also a good source of meat; therefore, it is also one of the reasons to domesticate them. It is eaten mostly as it is rich in protein and considered to be the healthiest for gaining mass or weight.
What is Chicken?
Chicken are among omnivorous birds that eat seeds, grass, etc., and also insects, toads, and lizards, etc. Chicken can remember the faces of their family or, in general, faces of more than 50 people. Not only this, along with human faces, they also recognize different animals. Some people believe that chickens are colorblind, which is not correct at all. They have a very strong color vision, even better than human vision. They can communicate with different vocalizations, each with its own and specific meaning. Studies have proven that the ancestors of chicken are dinosaurs that are also a reason both of them have a similar physical appearance.
Unlike hen, there are varieties of chicken all over the world. There are more than 30 million chickens with their specific characteristics. People thought chickens are dumb, but then recent studies have proven this wrong, and that chickens are smarter than the expectation, they can solve problems, and they have super sensory powers. Chickens also teach their babies what to eat and what to avoid and other food-related information. Chicken are playful and like to play most of the time. They can run faster and are also able to fly to a certain height.
It is believed that some species of chickens are becoming extinct.
Main Differences Between Hen and Chicken
- A Hen is a grown-up female that can lay eggs and is also used for meat, while chickens are babies of the female (a hen) that are mostly used for meat but may or may not lay eggs.
- They also differ in terms of gender. A hen is a female, always a male can never be a hen, whereas a chicken can either be a male or female. For example, a rooster belongs to a chicken family and is a male capable of fertilizing.
- All the chickens have not been considered as hens as not all of them have capabilities of hens, while all the hens can be considered or called chicken.
- Chicken is from Gallus domesticus species exactly, whereas Hen is from various species.
- Chicken is relatively a broader term that includes more than one type of bird, such as rooster, capons, and pullet, etc., while a hen is not a broader term. It is just a fully grown fertilizing chicken.
Conclusion
Therefore, now there should not be any confusion or difficulty while distinguishing them. As mentioned above, they indeed have similarities as chickens are babies of hens. Therefore, both of them have the same body parts (two eyes and legs), they eat the same food for living by searching and scratching the ground, due to same blood both of them have the same genes, the same number of bones in the body and make a similar noise.
Differentiating them might not be much difficult as if it is small and younger, it might be a baby, therefore a chicken. For general awareness and knowledge, it is important to know these little differences in birds/animals.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0305049177900554
- https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/1401/1/V04N08_190.pdf