The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-05-29
Wisdom, of the Hen.

A fresh egg h.s .he Ss!k perfectly
balanced in the middle Of tie white.
Unless it remains thus balaaced the
chances are decidedly against its
Matching. Broodings hens understand
that. When filing the nese q hen
turns overall the eggsfinsit before shs
quits it after, laying q new one. Ss
T She knows, Two, that In hotiveather
the sun will addle her eggs, so She.
chooses shady nest spot. Bat in
winter nest is often made whore the
fullest sunshine streams into il.
Brooding Ia throughout full Of
quaint surprises. Eggs will hatch If
kept at blood heat, SO degrees. But
they hatch more certainly and turn
out stronger chicks il the temperature
is degree or GO higher. J:s: ho~ ;t
is done, nobody knows, but mother
hens some way contrive to raiso the
normal heat Of their BODIES to the
requisite, pitcs. Further, they strip
the whoie breast Of feathers, so the
eggs may have the benefit Of full heat.
twice day they over every egg
in the nest, ouddling them separately
up underneath their, beaks, making
little soft half fretf1l5chuckling noises
the while.
Hens are NEST unoalculating egg
stealers. All eggs ID sight will be
drawn into the nest, though the stolen
eggs may crowd out those legitimately
there. Still, in a way. hens take
stock of what they brood With few
eggs, they sit prim, with. .tiimly fold
ed wings. With too many: they sprawl
oil over the nest, wings Hose enough
to let light between tho Feathers, aud
frequently turn themselves about
reaching for uncovered eggs and draw
ing them underneath the breast.
A hen of average size cannot profit
ably cover more than fifteen eggs.
In cold weather thirteen is q better
limit, although in midsummer the
same hen might brood and hatch.
twenty. Left to themselves, the un-
checked instinct Of egg stealing with
| hens is apt to result ih a nest full of
spoiled eggs, with maybe one or two
feeble chicks.
Twenty-four hours of brooding
makes hardly peroeptible change in
an egg. Sometimes in warm weather
there is the least reddish tinge beside
the whitish clot in which the germ
lies. After thirty-six hours the clot
shows well-defned drop of very red
blood. In two days the blood drop
has spread to veins and arteries At
+, the end of ten days the head is fairly
/ well formed, though the trunk is still
ragged. In two weeks the chick is
recognizable as q chick, and If the
shell envelope is broken will culver
all, through and feebly move the head.
It has, however, no vestige Of the
downy coat it will wear little later.
The coat forms rather rapidly.
The period Of incubation for chick
en- is twenty-one days and for two days
before leaving the shell the young
fowl is practically perfect. Yet it
would not live were the shell forcibly
removed. 1t spends the last swo days
gathering vital force to make it's own
way out into the world. 1t lies snug
within the shell, the head bent upon
the breast in suoh position as bring
the beak frlA ageine. the shell.
The beak is armed with tiny de-
taohable piece Of horn, flint hard and
aet nren .ho very tip Of the upper
mandible. At full Matching time
tas chick presses this triangle against
1.-THE brittle shell and breaks a triangle
hole in it, possibly a quarter of an
inch .across. An hour later the chick,
having turned itself slightly, presses
the break againsta new spot and makes
a fresh break. AS more air comes in
the little creature grows stronger. It
writhes still more strongly; in its pris-
on, tarning always from left to right,
in two hours or ten it, breaks the she'll
| in two and slips out into the nest, a
wet and weary sprawler.
Egg production varies enormously.
| A hens capacity is about 400 eggs,
divided pretty equally through the
first three years of her existence
Neso York Sam.