Chicken a little tough (6)
I believe the answer is:
bantam
'chicken' is the definition.
(bantam is a kind of chicken)
'a little tough' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bantam that I've seen before include "Little clucker" , "Domestic fowl; small fighter" , "Lightweight boxer and chicken" , "Diminutive breed of hen" , "poultry" .)