"You've got to get up with the chickens and then run around like a chicken with your head cut off and keep trying to scratch out a livin' but don't put all your eggs in one basket and then you'll be able to get that little nest egg.  But, don't get cocky about it and don't count your chickens before they hatch!"

There are so  many common every-day sayings which immerged from the chicken yard. Chicken lingo along with myriad chicken art contribute an intricate part of Americana. This list is not exhaustive but with YOUR help it could be.  Can you think of any other chicken lingo?  Do any of these expressions remind you of anything special?  Please add your contributions in the comments section below.

Chickens have come home to roost - the past is catching up with you, facing consequences
Rule the Roost - to be the boss, call the shots
Pecking order - social dominance order

No spring chicken - well past youth, an old person

Old biddy - older woman of grumpy comportment

Flew the coop - left

Up with the chickens - waking early with the sunrise.
Going to bed with the chickens - going to bed early in the evening.
Walking on eggshells- treading softly where certain people are concerned; trying not to upset someone
Shake a tail feather - get moving, hurry
Strutting' your stuff - showing off
Strutting around like a banty rooster - banties are little so, showing off though perhaps not making a great impression
Bird brain - not thinking

Dumb cluck - senseless
Chicken! - afraid or cowardly

Chicken hearted (or chicken livered) - not brave
Chicken out - verb form of above, to not follow through due to fear or cowardice
That just flaps my wattles - it irritates or annoys me

Ruffle your feathers - get you worked up
Like a banty (or chicken) on a June bug - all over it

Hatch an idea - put a plan into motion
Egg on your face - looking foolish or embarrassed
Put up a squawk - argue over something
Squawking - putting up a fuss
Do chickens have lips? - response to question with obvious answer
Play Chicken - a stand off, a dare to see who will give in first, who will chicken out first
Something to crow about - exciting news to tell, or something to brag about
Brood over it - to worry, to hover over a problem
Chicken scratch - poor handwriting
Stick your neck out - go to bat for someone else, or taking a risk.
Stuck in your craw - upset about something you won’t talk about; carrying a grudge.
Cock sure - over confident

Settin’ pretty - waiting in a good position

In a stew - in trouble
Raise your hackle feathers - become visibly annoyed
Cock and bull story - tall tale or an elaborate lie
Nesting urge - desire to prepare a home (occurs in pregnant women just before a baby is due)
Empty nest syndrome - depression and loneliness when children leave home
Made from scratch - made from raw materials, by hand

Chicken hawks - politicians who are pro-war but declined to participate themselves
Chicken lights - tractor trailer running lights
Poppy cock - untruth, boloney

The feathers were flyin’ - big fight

Don't get your hackles up! - don’t get all upset, particularly being offended and ready to retaliate

Stewing in his own juices - staying angry about something

Cooped up - confined, stuck in doors 

Ruffled his feathers - provoked him to anger

Cocky - an arrogant or insolent attitude as in “Don’t get cocky with me young man!”

Fox guarding the hen house - someone with a conflict of interests, in a position to exploit for his own ends.

Running around like a chicken with its head cut off - in a frenzied manner. (Note: Poultry may run around in a frenzy for several minutes after decapitation).

Ain't nobody here but us chickens - Song lyrics, Louis Jordan

Tastes like chicken - to describe the taste of any number of other exotic meats
Use everything but the crow - waste nothing, use it up and wear it out
The Sky is falling! - from Chicken Little, a children’s fable
“Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken poop from chicken salad.” - Lyndon B. Johnson
The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'.
A chicken in every pot - 1928 Republican Party campaign slogan

If it ain't chickens, it's feathers - there are always problems

A chicken and egg situation - a dilemma in causality

Nest egg - a savings you want to protect
Scratching out a living - earning enough to get by on
Don't count your chickens before they hatch - don't plan on an outcome before it actually happens.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket - diversify.
Chicken feed - small amount of money, peanuts
Feather your nest - making ones self comfortable or saving for the future

Hen house - large number of females living in the same house
Mother hen - very protective, overly involved
Madder than a wet settin' hen - very angry
Fussing like an old hen - grumbling, complaining
Work as hard as a hen hauling wood - hard working
Hen cackle – to laugh
Feeling like Henny Penny – feeling like you're the only person doing all the work
Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A hen that struts like a rooster is often invited for dinner - pride goeth before the fall
Scarce as hen's teeth - extremely hard to find, rare
Long, long ago, when chickens had teeth - once upon a time
Chick - young girl or teenager

Hen-pecked - nagged, bossed

Rooster Sayings

The rooster may crow but the hen delivers the goods.
The rooster may crow, but this hen lays the egg!
Rooster games - willing to fight instead of trying to work out a problem.

Cock of the walk - top dog, head guy

Too many roosters in the hen house - too many chiefs, not enough Indians, heavy on leadership

Laid an egg – failed, bombed, blew it

Hatching rooster eggs - wasting time and/or resources

Bad egg - less than honest person; of poor moral standards
Scrambled eggs - Gold trim on Naval Officers Dress Hats
Have to break eggs to make an omelet - you must make a mess to get something done
Not everything it's cracked up to be - disillusion

Egged on - pushed to do something by daring or provoking

Don’t cackle if you haven’t laid - don't brag (or complain)  if you haven't finished your part of the effort

Sunny side up - cheerful
Hard-boiled - tough or hardened attitude

Over easy - soft inside

Don't lay an egg - meaning don't get so upset

Good egg - someone of admirable qualities

Egghead - bookish, intellectual