hen / hen/ • n. a female bird, esp. of a domestic fowl. ∎  (hens) domestic fowls of either sex. ∎  used in names of birds, esp. waterbirds of the rail family, e.g., moorhen. ∎  a female lobster, crab, or salmon.PHRASES: as rare (or scarce) as hen's teeth extremely rare.

hen while a hen may be taken as the type of a foolish woman, a hen with her chickens may symbolize Christ, in allusion to Jesus's words in Matthew ch. 23, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.’
as scarce as hen's teeth very rare; as hens do not possess teeth, the implication is that something is rare to the point of non-existence. Originally (mid 19th century) a US colloquialism.
like a hen with one chick absurdly fussy and over-anxious.

See also a whistling woman and a crowing hen.

hen female of the domestic fowl OE.; female of other birds XIV. OE. henn = MLG. henne, OHG. henna (G. henne) :- WGmc. *χannja, f. Gmc. *χanan- cock (OE. hana, OS., OHG. hano, Du. haan, G. hahn, ON. hani, Goth. hanō, rel. to L. canere sing.