Do your chickens have names?
The first of my chickens that I ever named were the original six Cornish cross meat birds we raised. As a farm kid, I’ve always known where food comes from and it didn’t bother me that we would eventually eat these chickens. So we named them Marsala, Extra Crispy, Pot Pie, and so on with the littlest one known as Popcorn Chicken.
Admittedly a little twisted, but when I first got chickens, I guess I didn’t really think of them as animals with such big personalities. We had chickens growing up on the farm, but I never really interacted with them much. That also could have been because we had a mean Polish rooster who delighted in chasing us if we got too near.
Do your chickens have names? I’d love to hear how they got them!
Fast forward a few decades and now I have a flock of over 50 chickens – with more than a few interesting names. My daughter pretty much named our White Plymouth Rocks – our first chickens – but since then, the name game has taken on a life of its own.
Not all the chickens have names, but the ones that do have names inspired by something about them. It could be their look, their personality, a certain way they behave, or even from something that happened to them as a chick.
Here’s a glimpse at some of the names in our flock, past and present.
The Boring Names for Chickens
This Buff Orpington is my best broody. We call her Mama.
This seems to happen more with the roosters, but sometimes a chicken just gets stuck with a boring name. My Barred Rock rooster had the very unoriginal name of Stripes. My Rhode Island Red rooster’s name was even less inspired – Red. My broody Buff Orpington is Mama.
The Group Names
Sometimes, when I acquire a group of chickens, they end up sharing a collective name. When we added a few dozen Isa Browns to our flock, we called them The Littles. Two years ago, I added three Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets that used to run in circles when we tried to catch them. We still call them The Dodos. That same year, I also added three Barred Rocks that were always together, just like the Three Stooges. I only have one left today, and on her own I call her Stoogie.
The Funny Names for Chickens
Nugget – also know as Nuggie.
Blue Butt
Nugget is the very first chick we ever hatched here. She hatched two chicks of her own – Fuzzball and Chucklehead. My Buff Orpington rooster Blue Butt got his name as a chick when some blue antiseptic coating on a small wound turned his entire back end blue for weeks. Stanky Butt – Stanky for short – also got her name as a chick when she was constipated and needed an enema daily for about a week. Not Carl is, not surprisingly, Carl’s sister. Buttercup got her name as a chick because every time I looked at her, I said, “What’s up buttercup?”
The Weird Names for Chickens
Foofy McFluffyface
I have a chicken named Foofy McFluffyface. One look at her and it’s pretty obvious why. I have a Black Australorp named Psycho. We also had a rooster named Arby because my daughter said his tail looked like curly fries. I still call one poor hen Poopy Baby because as a friendly little chick, she pooped on me.
The Bird Names
As you can see here, when she was little Dove kind of looked like a dove. That’s how she got her name.
For some reason, I have a bunch of chickens named after birds. There’s my pretty little Dove. I also have a ChickenHawk and a Vulture.
The Disney Names
We love all things Disney in this house, so it’s no surprise that there have been many Disney names in my flock. Belle, Thumper, Flower, Sneezy, Hopper, Squirt, and even a black hen named Vader because she hatched on May 4, also known as Star Wars Day. We had a brave little hen named Merida and her sister, Elinor. Last summer, I added two light Brahmas named Evangeline and Rey.
The Nicknames
This is Cocoa Puff. Mostly I call her coqui, pronounced co-key.
Oreo is my daughter’s bantam cochin rooster. He’s a dapper fellow that goes by several nicknames. I mostly call him RoRo.
Ok, a bunch of our chickens have names, but on top of that? They also have nicknames. Nugget usually becomes Nuggie. I call Elinor either Ellie Ellie or Miss Ellie. My daughter’s bantam rooster Oreo will answer to RoRo. We shorten Ivory to Ivy and her late sister Ebony to Ebbie. I often call Penny, my most special hen, Nootsie. Coqui is the preferred nickname for Cocoa Puff.
What are the names of some of your chickens? I’d love to hear about them!
It’s the one and only Penny. Her full name is Penny Penootz, and I often call her Nootsie.
These sisters, not surprisingly, are Ebony and Ivory – shortened to Ebbie and Ivy.
Traci DeLore grew up around chickens on her family’s farm, but didn’t start keeping her own chickens until she was in her 40s. Her desire to keep chickens came from a desire to have her own fresh eggs from chickens she knew were well cared for and happy. Traci started with six chickens – and then chicken math took over. These days, she has about 60 chickens — and three “rotten” ducks. (I say this because having ducks is like living with toddlers.) Traci also raises and processes her own meat chickens on occasion. Follow her on Instagram.
20 Comments
isnt it crazy that whatever you name your chickens always turns into a different but better name?
rosie- peep peep
charlie- char char
mohawk- momo
dustmop- lorca
pengiun- penguini
dwane (the bawk) johnson
1 black silkie named Nugget
1 white silkie named Mumble because she tap dances in my hand.
1 blue and red laced Wyandotte named Merlot.
1Lavender Orpington named Popper.
1 golden laced Wyandotte named Cheetah.
1barred rock named Blackie.
1 white leghorn named Foghorn
4 nameless ISA browns.
1 black sexlink named Raven.
1 speckled Americana who remains nameless.
Mr J is my rooster, named after Jeffee Star because we originally thought he was a girl. Every time he crows I just imagine him shouting “Yaaaaass”. Then we have Sassy, my blind chicken. She is certainly special with a big attitude. Charlie (Charlotte) is my adventurer. Melody used to sing, now she’s just a drama queen, crying wolf all the time. 7 of 9 is a star trek reference and she lives up to her name. Altogether, we have Mr J. and his Diva Squad, producing Diva eggs. My family loves them.
I have 2 pet Silkies named Omlet and Scramble.
From our editorial staff — we all smiled at these names. Thank you.
My kids have named ours:
Chickoletta
Camilla
Hei hei
Fluffy
Sergeant (our rooster)
Kowalski (his omega brother)
Peepers
Carter Ann
Peanut and coconut (twins)
Lulu
Ariana
CJ (Carter Ann Jr)
PJ (Peepers Jr)
Emily and Lacey (sisters)
I can’t keep up
Four ISA Brown hens: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Theodore the rooster is a Buff Rock. My husband named the Lavender Orpington…Blue.
I had 2 polish sisters I named Phyllis and Dolly. The head of feathers reminded me of Phyllis Diller and Dolly Parton. I have a rooster named Feather, didn’t know it was a Roo when I got him. He had feathers on legs, that’s why he got his name. Buff Orpington- Buffy, a huge barred rock- Heffer. One is a bit of a diva- Prissy. Others have names related to their colors.
some of my chicken names – fuzzy (that’s what her face is), brownie ( cause she reminds me of those type of fairies), baby (because “nobody puts baby in the corner”), tarzan (because that’s what he exactly sounded like when first started crowing – just like Johnny Weismuller), bigfoot, yellowfoot, ozzy ozborne (beak and toenails look like their painted black just like Ozzy’s make up), hennifer lopez (shimmering green streaks when the sunlight hits – she’s such a diva. DAughter named the winning rooster Jerry (from rick & morty cartoon) I don’t know why but he is the best daddy rooster protecting his flock. A real fighter! Gretchen and Matilda can be real bitches (daughter named them too). I renamed one to scaredy cat (she shakes, runs and hides because I have now too many roosters).Big mama (my buff orp)
My daughter’s cockatiel is named Ozzie Ozbird!
In the five-hen gift that started me in Chicken World were Elanor the Fair, Gandalf, Legolas, and Pippen (whose original name I couldn’t keep: Hashtag LOTR). Gandalf not surprisingly is an Ameraucana with wonderful fluff on her face. Recent acquisitions include Michelle Wolf (Shelly) a Buff Orpington, Starlight a Barred Rock, Lacey a gold Lace Wyandotte and Buttercup a gold Ameraucana. And, yes, you have to name them so they know you’re talking to them.
Love those names!
When you just have three ISA Browns you have to name them so that the family knows who’s doing what or who needs what. It was difficult to tell them apart at first so we chose names inspired by their looks or mannerisms based on tv characters.
Ginger from Gilligan’s Island went to the one with the darkest feathers. Xena the warrior princess went to the most adventurous one who also has a distinctive beak. And Miss Prissy from the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons went to the most demure one whose feathers are a lighter color.
Without names there’s no way of telling my wife that Ginger has a poopy bottom or that Xena needs some extra meal worms because she’s lowest on the pecking order or that Miss Prissy is trying to escape the coop again. Perhaps we should have called her Miss Houdini.
I do believe they know their names although they don’t really respond to them. Diminutive forms of their names have also arisen; Ginger has become Gingy and Xena is mostly Xeny and Miss Prissy is just Prissy. They’re now not just egg layers but pets like our dog and they are all different in their own sweet way.
Great names! We’ve cheated in the past when we have a bunch that look similar and used colored bands on their legs to tell them apart. And I’m convinced they know their names!
I have two buff Orpingtons. One is a huge bird with a big fluffy butt so her name is Fanny. The other is Flo cause it sounds nice with Fanny. Fanny and Flo! I also have an Americana with lovely feathers on her cheeks. I’ve begun calling her Sweet Cheeks, but originally she was Maxine. I have two other Americanas named Roxie and Lexie.
Fanny and Flo – perfect!
How could you NOT name your chickens? How would you talk to them? My chickens’ names range from Souffle to Harriet, Chicken Tikka to Schnitzel, and many other food related names in between. And no, none of my chickens get eaten, I just like the whimsy of giving them “foodie” names.
Totally get it. We do still have our Nugget. 🙂
my first two barred rocks I named “Thelma and Louise”, then I added a buff orpington and named her “Sunshine”.
Thelma and Louise – great names! Do they have a convertible? LOL