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In slang 'chickens' were small pewter pots mixed with larger pots (known as 'hens') and this looks a tempting source for the pub names. Before the seventeenth century however, a hen and chickens were symbolic in Christian art of God's providence and that is probably the original reason for their use in street signs of various kinds, including taverns. In the seventeenth century the expression was also used to describe the pleiads, the group of stars in the constellation taurus. However, the most likely explanation in this case is from the first licensees occupation as a farmer.