How to Draw a Chicken Step by Step (Easy for Beginners)

Hens are one of the friendliest animals to draw, because their shape is basically a round ball with a small head on top. In this lesson I'll walk you through how to draw a chicken step by step, from two faint guide shapes to a colored hen with a chick at her feet. If you can draw a circle and a wobbly line, you already have the skills you need.

Each picture has one job: the bright blue lines are what you add in that step. Everything in gray is already on your page, and the pale blue shapes are soft helper lines that get erased before you color.

Quick overview
⏱️ Time: about 25 to 35 minutes
🎯 Level: easy, good for kids from about 6 up
✏️ Steps: 12
🐔 You'll draw: a brown hen in side view with a red comb, a feathered wing and a small yellow chick

Supplies for a Farmyard Hen Sketch

• An HB pencil for light guide lines
• A clean eraser
• A black fineliner or felt-tip pen
• Colored pencils or markers in three browns plus red, yellow, orange and a green
• A sheet of paper turned sideways

Three browns help a lot, but one brown pressed lightly and then harder works fine too.

How to Draw a Chicken Step by Step

Step 1: Sketch the head, body and ground guides

Draw a long, flat line near the bottom of the page for the ground. Above it, sketch a wide oval for the body that stops a little above the line. Then add a small circle up and to the left of the oval for the head. Keep all three very light.

💡 Tip: The head circle should be about a quarter as wide as the body oval. Hens have tiny heads compared to their bodies.

Step 2: Add the tail, leg and chick guides

From the upper right of the oval, draw three straight lines fanning up and back. They show where the tail feathers will stand. Under the belly, drop two short lines to the ground for the legs. On the right, sketch a small circle on top of a slightly bigger oval for the chick.

💡 Tip: Space the leg lines close together, about a finger apart. Wide legs make a hen look like she's doing the splits.

Step 3: Draw the round head and neck

Start at the front of the head circle and trace over its top to the back. Instead of closing the circle, let the line flow down and curve out to the right, forming the back of the neck. Stop where it meets the top of the body oval.

💡 Tip: Give the neck a gentle S-curve. A straight neck makes the bird look stiff.

Step 4: Shape the plump teardrop body

Continue from the neck along the back, rising a little toward the tail guides. Round off the rear, sweep under the belly and bring the line up the front into a full, pushed-out breast. Finish with a short curve under the face. I always exaggerate the breast, because that round chest is what makes a chicken look like a chicken and not a duck.

💡 Tip: Let the back climb gently toward the tail. A flat back turns the hen into a sausage.

Step 5: Add the small beak and eye

On the left side of the head, draw a short pointed beak, like a little triangle with curved sides. Add a line through the middle where it opens. Place a round eye just behind and above the beak, with a tiny circle inside for the shine.

💡 Tip: Keep the beak short. A long beak changes the hen into a heron or a crow.

Step 6: Draw the bumpy comb and wattle

On top of the head, draw the comb as four rounded bumps sitting in a row, the middle ones a bit taller. Under the beak, hang the wattle, a soft drop shape that dangles toward the chest. These two red pieces are the quickest way to tell anyone this bird is a chicken.

💡 Tip: Make the bumps slightly different sizes. Identical bumps look like a crown instead of a comb.

Step 7: Outline the wing and its feather rows

In the middle of the body, draw a long rounded wing that ends in a soft point near the back. Inside it, add three rows of small U-shaped scallops, one under the other. Most beginners make these scallops too big. Small ones look like real overlapping feathers.

💡 Tip: Start each scallop row a little further right than the one above it, so the rows look stacked.

Step 8: Draw the upright tail feathers

Follow the three tail guides to draw three tall, pointed feathers, each one starting behind the body and ending in a rounded tip. Let the front feather stand the straightest and the back one lean out the most. Draw a line down from each notch between feathers.

💡 Tip: Hide the bottom of every feather behind the body line. Tail feathers that sit on top of the back look glued on.

Step 9: Add the thin legs and toes

Go over the leg guides with two thin legs, each a narrow tube. At the bottom of each, spread three toes forward and one tiny toe back. Here's the honest bit: feet are fiddly, so small kids can draw three simple lines per foot instead.

💡 Tip: Point the toes toward the beak. Feet that face the other way make the hen look like she's walking backward.

Step 10: Draw the fluffy chick and the grass

Trace the chick guides into a round head on a round body, with a tiny beak pointing at the hen. Add a dot eye, two little curls of fluff on top and a C-shaped wing on its side. Give it short legs. Then turn the ground line into a strip of grass with zigzag blades along the top.

💡 Tip: Vary the height of the grass blades. Even zigzags look like a saw blade.

Step 11: Ink the lines and erase the guides

With the fineliner, trace every line you want to keep. I like to ink the face first while my hand is fresh, then the body, the wing, the tail and the chick, and the grass last. Leave the guides alone. Once the ink has dried, erase the circles, the oval and the straight helper lines.

💡 Tip: Ink the wing scallops slowly, one bump at a time. Rushed scallops turn into a scribble.

Step 12: Color the hen and chick

Color the head and body light brown, then add a slightly darker band along the bottom of the belly so she looks round. Use brown for the wing and dark brown for the tail. The comb and wattle are red, the beak and legs golden yellow. Make the chick bright yellow with an orange beak, and finish with green grass.

💡 Tip: Leave the tiny eye shine white. That speck of paper makes both birds look awake.

Spots Where a Hen Starts to Look Like a Duck

• A flat chest. Without a rounded breast pushing forward, the bird reads as a duck. Bulge the front curve well past the head.
• A head that's too big. A large head makes the hen look like a chick. Keep the head circle small next to the body.
• Missing comb or wattle. Skip them and you have a plain brown bird. Even a quick red comb fixes it.
• Thick, short legs. Chicken legs are thin and scaly. Draw them as narrow tubes with long, spread toes.
• Tail feathers lying flat. A hen's tail points up. Aim the feathers toward the top of the page, not straight back.

Rooster, Speckled Hen and Other Barnyard Twists

Once this hen feels easy, change her colors. A white hen with pale gray shading under the wing looks great, and a black hen with a green shine on the tail is fun to try. For a rooster, make the comb taller, the wattle longer and the tail feathers long and curved like a fountain. You can also add more chicks, a nest of eggs or a wooden fence behind her. If you'd like another farm bird next, the duck drawing tutorial uses a similar round body, and the bird drawing tutorial is good practice for wings and beaks.

Hen and Chick Coloring Page Plus a Printable Guide

Prefer paper? The free chicken coloring page shows a colored hen and chick at the top with a key that names every color and the part it goes on, then a big clean outline to color below. The PDF drawing guide has all 12 steps with their tips and prints on Letter or A4.

📱 On a phone? Tap a download button, then open the file and choose Share → Save to Files or Print. On a computer, the PDF opens or saves straight to your Downloads folder.

One Pin With the Whole Hen Lesson

Hen and Chick Done? Draw Feathers, Fur and Fins

Below are more step-by-step tutorials you can follow at your own pace, with a picture for every stage.

• Mask Drawing: Draw a purple masquerade mask trimmed in gold, with a teal gem and three feathers, in the masquerade mask drawing tutorial.
• Lion Drawing: Learn how to draw a lion step by step, from the big mane to the tail tuft that waves hello.
• Ladybug Drawing: A red ladybug on a leaf and a small one in flight fill the easy ladybug drawing tutorial.
• Dove Drawing: Another bird to try is the flying dove with an olive branch in this dove drawing step by step lesson.
• Hoodie Drawing: The hoodie drawing tutorial shows the front and back of one sage green hoodie with a mustard lining.
• Fish Drawing: Finish a goldfish with its scales and a bit of seaweed using how to draw a fish.
• Shoe Drawing: A red high-top with a heart patch and a low-top sneaker sit side by side in the shoe drawing tutorial.
• Cardinal Drawing: Give a perched bird red feathers, a black mask and an orange beak with this cardinal drawing step by step guide.
• Spider Drawing: Draw one friendly spider on a round web with the easy spider drawing tutorial.
• Feather Drawing: A teal feather and a smaller orange one both grow from a curved line and a leaf shape in this feather drawing tutorial.
• Shark Drawing: Learn how to draw a shark step by step and end with a smiling great white.
• Suit Drawing: A navy jacket, a red striped tie and a yellow pocket square are the goal of the suit drawing tutorial.

Chicken Drawing Questions Kids Often Ask

What is the easiest way to draw a chicken?

Start with a small circle for the head and a wide oval for the body. Join them with a curved neck, add a red comb and a short beak, and the bird reads as a chicken right away.

How do you draw a chicken for kids?

Keep the shapes round and skip the small feathers. Kids around 6 and up can follow all 12 steps, and younger ones can stop once the legs are on and go straight to coloring.

What is the difference between drawing a hen and a rooster?

A rooster has a much taller comb, a longer wattle and a long, curved tail that arches over its back. A hen is rounder with a short upright tail and a smaller comb.

What colors are chickens?

Chickens come in many colors: white, brown, red, black or speckled gray. Warm brown with a red comb and yellow legs is a classic choice, but any of these will work with the same outline.

Your hen is ready for company, so add another chick or two if you like. I hope your barnyard keeps growing. 🐔🐣

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