The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1877-05-10
That Prolific Hen.

/ Two or three weeks ago an account wal
published in The American Of the remarka
BILE performances of hen in the way Of lay
ing eggs, which was received by some Of oil
exchanges with a good deal Of incredulity.
Neysrtheless,the story was strictly true, and
has since been abundantly confirmed. The her
is owned by Mr.. G.. w. Young, who resides
near Leicester, Howard county, and is high
ly reputable gentleman, whose word alone
would be quite sufficient to establish even so
extraordinary fact as that heretofore relat-
ed. But Mr.. Young, knowing hat cautious
people are inclined to doubt stories that do
not accord with the ordinary operations Of
nature, invited his neighbors to come and
see for themselves. Sometimes the hen pro-
duced half dozen of eggs in the presence
Of thirty or forty spectators. 81
Mr.. Young's attention was first called to
the hen early in February, when he found
heroine very cold morning sitting on the
floor Of the chicken house with eighteen
eggs under hert, It 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 SO many eggs and had
begun Matching on such short notice. A
nest was made for her, however, and in due
time she brought out twelve chickens, nine
Of which are still living. The weather being
very cold, the hen and her brood were put
into the kitchen, where they remained four
weeks. On the 4th of April she went out
on the porch and laid an egg. A nest was
made for her, and on the next day she de-
posted twelve eggs in it. Mr.. Young's fami-
ly were astonished andeven somewhat alarm
ed at this remarkable exhibition Of fecundi-
ty. People in the neighborhood heard Of
the extraordinary feat, and came to see it
repeated. The box in which she had her
nest was carried into the yard, and here, in
full view of as many spectators as chose to
come (and they sometimes numbered as
many as forty, she dropped her eggs. On
Aprill6 she produced eight, on the following
day seven, and on the next day (Which was
Sunday she rested from her labor. On Mon
day, April 9, four eggs were laid; Tuesday
fifteen, Wednesday ten, Thursday fifteen
Friday ten, and Saturday 6, making 60 for
the week. On Sunday, the 18th, she again
rested. During the next week she laid is
eggs, 6 being the highest number dropped
on one day. She rested on Saturday, and
laid one egg on Sunday, the 2sd. During
the succeeding three days she laid twelve
eggs, which seemed to exhaust her stock on
hand, Between April and April % this
marvellous hen produced III eggs. Four
hens are now setting on the eggs, but no
chickens have yet been Matched. The eggs
shown us by Mr.. Young were Of average
size, and differed in no respect whatever
from ordinary hens eggs.
This remarkable instance Of fecundity ina
henis so we'll attested thatit would be idle
to dispute its correctness. More than hum
dred witnesses, many Of them being people
Of the highest responsibility and intelligence.
could be summoned to prove that they them
selves saw the hen drop half dozen Of eggs
inquick secession. Scientific men are at
liberty to furnish theory for this extraor-
binary phenomenon; bat noamount of scien-
tific demonstration will disprove the facts.
Baltimore Anserican.