[Vecten]

I was talking to someone on the allotment at the weekend, he keeps chickens and is very knowledgable about chicken problems. I asked him if he ever visited this forum as I felt he could probably answer a lot of queries on here. He said that he had seen the forum but had been put off by the number of people referring to their chickens as girls, ladies etc.

I was a bit stumped by this, then noticed that most people who post here are female and that they do indeed refer to their chickens as girls or ladies (instead of chickens).

Does this put men off? I have never called my chickens girls or ladies (why would I want to?) so is this just a female thing?

Just curious really.

[Aidy]

Nahhhh, don't understand that! I have always called mine lasses (sometimes worse) or chucks.

[8doubles]

Should not really call them chicken but we do , my girls/hens are never ladies.............

[themagicaltoad1]

I usually call mine little b*****s but when they're behaving their my girls.

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

Both me and my other half refer to our chickens as "the girls" and they all have proper lady names.

Two of my favourite names for them as a flock is either the feathery brethren or the feathery mafia, it does depend on what they're doing though!

[Dominic]

Mine are all being called Dave

[rachelr]

maybe we are a little sentimental about our hens. But we want whats best for them so they can gives us the bestest eggs ever.

[joyfull]

my posh dainty ones are called ladies, the others are my girls and the boys are called the boys of course 

[Junie]

I call my the 'girls' probably to console myself that I am not the only female here.  OH 2 boys and a half male dog!!! Without my 'girls I would be truly outnumbered!

[grenhouse]

I can't see why that would put anyone off! I call mine the girls because.............they are girls! 

steve

[Aunt Sally]

If anyone is put off of joining in just because of what people call their hens then more fool them - their loss 

[GrannieAnnie]

Me too!  They are the girls, or ladies but when they are not laying they are little s***s ! 

Can't understand why anyone would be put off because he prefers to call them chickens and we don't.

Still, like they say, nowt so strange as folk!!! 

[Vecten]

Mine are all being called Dave

Lol. That's odd because I call all mine Rodney.

[Lindeggs]

I think the reference to calling them 'girls' or 'ladies' is just pointing at a wider issue.  I think the 'culture' of this forum is to treat our chickens as pets, or even part of the family, and become sentimentally attached to them.  Obviously that doesn't suit everyone.

For some people chickens are simply a unit of production - eggs or meat.  IMO there is nothing wrong with that, on condition they treat their animals humanely. 

So each to their own.  I will keep giving my 'girls' names, chatting with them while I clean their coop or feed them, and chat on here about their antics.  If that puts anyone off, I'm really not bothered!

[Chickway]

I am a little confused because are hens not the female of the chicken world, would be very wrong to call them gentleman, although I do have a black hybrid who is very stubborn and it just comes naturally to me  to call him a he.
I am married to a man with two sons and when I decided to have a cocker spaniel (which I have now have three) I insisted on them being girlies so I did not feel so out numbered.  It is lovely now (because of neighbours) that my chickens have to be girlies too.
I think its a shame that the gentleman feels like that because he would probably have alot of useful ideas and be very helpful but after all they are ladies/girls/female.
chickway.