I never thought the scary death guy would do something that scared ME!!! 😭 LMAO.

Why did the Callisto cross the road? To be a nasty horrible jerk, of course.🖤
“Little hen” is a blend of villainous insult, (4th wall-breaking) gay feminizing slang, and if “baby boy” was crueler.
Is it purposeful misgendering for the goal of torture? That varies depending on the scene. The first time Callisto says it, yes. It’s to freak Ellery out, make him feel helpless, and burn an afterimage of himself in Ellery’s mind so he becomes paranoid. It’s also, funnily, a bit literal because they’re surrounded by actual chickens in a feed shed, Ellery’s agency is being taken from him, he’s reduced to animalistic responses and emotions like fear and arousal.
It becomes a genuine term of endearment, in a sassy way, in later use. Ellery just kind of rolls his eyes and accepts it at a certain point when it’s not scary anymore.
Not that Callisto would have this knowledge canonically, but in our own world, “Chicken” is a gay slang term denoting a young / inexperienced gay man (or a young male sex worker)… Always intended for the meaning of “little hen” to blossom into a pun on that for those in the know.✨