The Little Felt Hen is a sewing pattern & instructions to make a charming female chicken. The finished hen measures approximately 11.5 cm (4 1/4″) from the top of its comb to its feet and 9 cm (3 1/2″) from the tip of its beak to its tail feathers.

Chickens are very nostalgic farm animals for me because we kept a few of them when I was little. Even though it was my brother who was in charge of feeding them, I do remember collecting their eggs, which were often still warm! So, how many eggs do you think a hen can lay in a year? Apparently it depends a lot on different factors such as the hen’s breed, feed and environment. But on average, 276 eggs per year seems to be the number! Is that a lot more, or far fewer, than you had guessed?

When I was contemplating what colors to use for The Little Felt Hen’s legs, I learned that there is a lot of variety in shank (leg) colors depending on the bird’s genes, and that the yellow pigment comes mainly from the greens and corn that chickens feed on! Interestingly, the yellow in the hen’s legs gradually fades while they are laying because that pigment is used to produce yolks. So basically you have many colors to choose from for your Little Felt Hen‘s legs. Pick the color that best suits your chicken, whether it be yellow, white, blue, grey or black!

As a side note for those of you interested in learning more about chickens, here is a long list of curious facts!

Would you like your Little Felt Hen to have chicks to accompany her? I have a free tutorial on how to make pom-pom chicks! I originally designed them as ducklings for another pattern, The Little Felt Duck, but they also make adorable chicks for The Little Felt Hen.

If you like The Little Felt Hen, you may also be interested in other Little Felt Animals, including: