What is the difference between a hen and a chicken?

Question

I was at a fine dining restaurant yesterday and commented on the poached egg (part of my entree). The waitress mentioned that it was a hen's egg. I was like....'oh...of course'....but then thought....what the heck is the difference! Is there a difference in taste? (i couldn;t tell but I had had a couple of glasses of bubbles by that time!)

Answer 1

Hens lay eggs, but you don't order "hen" at the restaurant - you order chicken.

You can buy hens from poultry farmers if you need to keep them for eggs, meat, pets, etc.

many birds lay (edible) eggs, such as ostriches, ducks, etc.

Answer 2

Chicken refers to both male and females.  Hen refers to the gender of a chicken. A hen is a female chicken, while the male chicken is refered to as a rooster.

Just like the word "human" refers to both males and females.  A lady is a female human.  A man is a male human.

Answer 3

a hen is an old lady  & the chicken is a young lady

Answer 4

Per Wiki:

"Hen (bird), a female bird, a female of any member of the bird family, including species of poultry, duck, fowl, ostrich or emu."

Answer 5

A chicken is a young hen. Just the same way as a calf is a young cow. Having said that, these days it is difficult to differentiate between the two. Most of the eggs you buy come from chickens. They can produce a lot of eggs from one bird. Hens eggs tend to be bigger. Hens aren't profitable to the farmer because they lay bigger eggs but less of them. Chickens are what you eat. Hen's would be slightly tougher due to their age.

A pullet may also be described as a chicken. Their eggs tend to be quite small.

Answer 6

Chicken is the general term for roosters, hens & chicks; hen is the female chicken.  She was probably letting you know it wasn't a duck egg!

Answer 7

Hen = female chicken, rooster (c**k) = male chicken.

I think???