Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

Types of Hens & Chicks

Hens are usually thought of as the female of poultry or game birds. However, female ostriches, rheas, cassowaries and other large flightless birds are called hens. Even a female lobster is called a hen by lobster fishers, although her offspring are larvae, known as "bugs." Different hens and chicks have developed helpful survival and reproductive strategies over the course of their evolution.

Chickens
- A chicken lays one egg every other day or so and only starts to incubate them once all of them are laid. She will sit on them for 21 days and will growl or even peck at anything that tries to disturb them. When the chicks hatch, she stays on the nest with them for a day or two and any eggs that haven't hatched after that time will be left when she takes the chicks for the first walk. A hen who protects, cares for and teaches her chicks is called broody. Broodiness isn't always a desirable trait for a hen expected to lay many eggs. The chicks instinctively follow their mother till they are old enough to fend for themselves.
Rhea
- Rhea males mate with several hens, and a flock of chicks may have different mothers.
  
  The rhea is a 51-inch-long flightless bird found in South America. After mating with one male, the rhea hen lays her eggs in the nest that he's built. Then she leaves, possibly to mate with another male and leave more eggs in his nest. She takes no care of her eggs or chicks, and indeed, if she approaches a nest, the male will most likely chase her away. Yet at the end of summer flocks of hens, cocks and chicks congregate to stay together for the winter. Chicks form flocks as yearlings, which stay together until they're 2 years old and old enough to breed.
Lobster
- A female lobster is a hen. The hen mates right after a molt, which is the only time she's physically able to mate. She stays in the den of her mate until her new shell hardens. Her eggs aren't fertilized right away; when she's ready to lay them, she will turn on her back, cup her tail and push 10,000 to 20,000 eggs out of her ovaries that will be fertilized as they pass through her sperm receptacle. The eggs are glued to the bottom of her tail. Lobster fishers will refer to her then as a "berried" female. When it's time for the eggs to hatch, the lobster hen raises her tail and lets the ocean currents carry them away.
Hen and Chicks
- Hen and chicks are succulent plants from the species sempervivum and others. They're also known as houseleeks. Usually planted in sunny spots in a rock garden or a dry stone wall, they form artichoke like rosettes that can range in color from green to bronzy crimson and propagate by growing shoots on which tiny new plants appear. The main plant is the "hen" and the smaller plants are the "chicks."

Nature