Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-05-01
ALEXANDRIA 6ax&tte
TUESDAY. MAY l, 1877.
That Prolific Hen.

Two or three weeks ago an account was pub
lisbcd 10 The American uf he remarkable per-
iormaDccs of ben 10 the way Of laying eggs,
with good deal of incrcduIity. Nevertheless.
the story WAS strictly true. and has since been
abuodantly cop6rmed The hen is owned by
Mr.. 6. w. Young, who resides near Leicester,
Howard eoucry, aud is highly repu' able geu.
| tleuao, whose word alone would be quite sufl-
cient to establish even so extraordinary fact
as that heretofore related. Bu: Mr. Young.
Knowing that cautious people are iucllued t.,
doubt stories that do not accord with the ordl-
nary operations of nature, invited his neighbors
10 como aud sec for themselves. Sometimes
the heo produced half dozen Of eggs iu tn,
presence Of thirty or forty spectators.
Mr. Young's attention was first called to ths
hea early 10 February, when he found her one
very cold morning sitting on the flor of the
chicken house with eighteen eggs under her.
1t did not occur to him that she had laid all
the eggs herself but he thought it remarkable,
that she should have furnished herself with 50
many eggs and had begun Matching on suCll
short notice. 4 pest was made for her, how.
ever and 10 due time she brought out twelve
chickens, pine Of which are still living. Tho
weather being very cold, the hen and her
brood were pu. into the kitchen, where they
remained four weeks. Ga the 4.h of April shu
went out on the porch and laid an egg. A
nest was made for her, and on the next day
she deposited twelve eggs iu it. Mr. Youog'l
family we're astonishcd and even somewhas
alarmed at this remarkable exhibition OF fecun.
dity. People in the nelghborhood heard Of the
extraordinary feat, and came to see 1t repeated.
The box 10 which she had her nest was carried
into the yard, and here, 10 full view Of rs mapy
spectators as chose to como land they some
times numbered as many as iory}, sho drop.
ped her eggs. Ou April { she produced eight,
90 the following day seven, and on the pex1
day (Which was Sunday she rested from her
labor. On Monday, April 9. four eggs wcrh
laid; Tuesday fifteen, Wednesday teo, Thurs
day fifteen, Friday ten, and Saturday six, max
iug sixty Tor the week. On Sunday, the Is b,
she again rested Durlug the next week she
laid sixteen eggs, six belug the highest number
dropped On one day. She rested 90 Saturday,
and laid one egg on Sunday, the 22l. During
the succeeding three days she laid 'welVe eggs.
which seemed to exhaust Der stuck on hand.
Between April aod April IS this marvellous
hen produced 1T eggs. -Four heus are now
setting on the eggs, but 20 chicks have ye5
been balcbed The eggs shown Us by MIR.
Young were of average II, and differed III Oh
respect whatever from ordinary heps eggs.
This remarkable instance Of tecuudlty 10 !,
hen is SO we'll sLlestcd that it would be lde tn
dispute it's correctness. More than hundred
witnesses, many IF then being people Of tho
highest respectabuy and Intelligence, could bn
summoned to prove that they themselves raw
the ben drop llef doZ of eggs 10 quick sue.
cesson. Scleutltlc mcn are at liberty 10 fur.
nish theory for this extraordinary pbenome.
uop; but 90 amount OF scion'i61 demonstration
will disprovc the Iac's-R RaH An