A small chicken very pale (5)

I believe the answer is:

ashen

'very pale' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a small chicken' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'chicken' becomes 'hen' (hen is a kind of chicken).
'a'+'s'+'hen'='ASHEN'

(Other definitions for ashen that I've seen before include "Grey, pallid" , "(Of face) pale with fear" , "Having gone pale" , "Bloodless" , "'Very pale, from shock say (5)'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.

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