The Chickens Lyrics
Someone opens the door and scatters crumbs and seed for the hungry chickens at the gate. The rhyme then watches the mother hen with her chicks: she calls them, feeds them before herself, and at night they nestle warm beneath her wings.
The Chickens
See, the chickens round the gate
For their morning portion wait;
Fill the basket from the store,
Let us open wide the door:
Throw out crumbs, and scatter seed,
Let the hungry chickens feed.
Call them; now how fast they run,
Gladly, quickly, every one;
Eager, busy hen and chick
Every little morsel pick:
See the hen with callow brood,
To her young how kind and good;
With what care their steps she leads -
Them, and not herself, she feeds:
Picking here and picking there,
Where the nicest morsels are.
As she calls, they flock around,
Bustling all along the ground.
When their daily labors cease,
And at night they rest in peace,
All the little tiny things
Nestle close beneath her wings;
There she keeps them safe and warm,
Free from fear, and free from harm.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-chickens/
- Type
- Animal Rhymes
- Tune
- A steady, walking rhythm, calm and kind, slowing down for the night-time lines
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Throw out crumbs, and scatter seed, | Pretend to scatter seed with a gentle sweep of the hand toward the floor. |
| Nestle close beneath her wings; | Tuck your hands under your arms like folded wings and wriggle. |
What Does The Chickens Mean?
The rhyme is a little farmyard morning in two parts. The first is a chore: the chickens wait at the gate for their morning portion, the speaker fills a basket from the store, opens the door and scatters crumbs and seed. A morsel is a small bite of food, and the poem says each hen and chick picks up every little one.
Then the rhyme watches the mother hen. She has a callow brood, which means young chicks not yet feathered, and she leads them carefully, feeding them rather than herself, picking here and there where the nicest morsels are. When the day's work is over they rest, and the chicks nestle close beneath her wings, safe and warm. The lines move in pairs that rhyme, such as gate with wait, store with door and seed with feed, which gives the rhyme its easy pace.
History and Origin
The rhyme comes from a collection of songs for small children compiled by Mary O. Ward, first made in 1884 and revised in 1911. The original ends with a closing verse that turns the hen and chicks into a lesson, and it is left out so the rhyme stays with the farmyard.
Learning Activities
- Feed the chickens: scatter pretend seed for toy chickens, or use a few crumbs of bread outdoors for the birds.
- Count the chicks: line up toy chicks behind a toy hen and count them as they follow her.
- Hen and chicks: one person is the hen, the others follow in a line, and everyone ends up in a heap under a blanket-wing.
- Morning chores: talk about what animals need each morning, and what jobs the child can help with.