The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-03-27
Wisdom Of the Hen.


A fresh egg has the yoke perfectly bai-
anced ID the middle ~ the white. Tn
less II remains thus balanced he chances
are decidedly against its hatching.
Brooding hens understand that when
dlllng the nest kan turns over AZ the
eggs ia q before she quits il after lay
ing q new one
She knows. too. that in not weather
the sun viii addle her eggs. 50 she
chooses a shady nesi-spoL But ID win
ter a nest Is often made where the full
est sunshine streams into H.
Brooding is throughout fun q quaint
surprises. Eggs Nin hatch II kept at
blood heat-9s degrees. But they hatch
more certainly and turn out stronger
chicks II the temperature IS degree or
20 higher. just how il Is done nobody
knows. but mother hens some way con-
trive 70 raise the normal heat Of their
bodies 70 the requisite pitch. Further.
they strip the whole breast Of feathers.
So the eggs may have the benefit of full
heat. Twice a day they turn over every
egg IN the nest. cuddiing them separately
up beneath their beaks making little,
soft. half-fretful chuckling noises the
while.
Hens are most unealculating egg steal
ers. All eggs IN sight viii be drawn into
the nest, though tie stolen eggs may
crowd out those legitimately there. stin
IN 4 way hens take stock of what they
brood Win few eggs they sit prim,
with trinity folded rings With too
many they sprawl All over the nest
wings loose enough 70 let light between
the feathers and frequently turn them
selves about. reaching for uncovered
eggs, and drawing them underneath the
breast
A hen Of average size can not profta-
bly, cover more than fifteen eggs. IN cold
weather thirteen is a better limit. al
though in midsummer he same hen
might brood and hatch twenty. Left 10
themselves. says one Of tho know-aiis o.
the New York Sun. the unchecked in
stlnct OF egg-stealing with hens is apt
10 result IN a nest fun Of spoiled eggs,
with maybe one or tKo feeble chicks.
Twenty-four hours Of breeding makes
hardly a percepuble change ID an egg.
Sometimes In warm weather there is the
least reddish tingc beside the whitish
clot IN which the germ lies. After thir-
ty-six hours the clot shows a Weli-de-
fined drop or very red blood. IN two
days the blood drop has spread 10 veins
and arteries. Al the end Of ten days the
head is fairly well formed though the
trunk Is stll ragged. IN two weeks the
chick Is recognizable as a chick, and II
the shell envelope is broken viii quiver
All through and feebly move the head.
II has, however. no vestiges Of the fine.
downy coat Il will wear a little later.
The coat forms rather raaldly.
The period OF incubation for a chick
en- is twenty-One days. and for two days
before leaving the shell the young fowl
i practically perfect Yet It would not
live were the shell forcibly removed II
spends the last two days gathering vital
force TO make lts own way out into the
world il lies snug within the shell, the
head bent upon the breast. In such po-
sition as brings the beak fun against the
skell
The beak Is armed with a tiny deiach-
able piece Of horn. fiint-hard, and set
upon the very zip OF the upper mandibie.
Al fun Matching time the chick presses
tnis triangle against the brittle shell.
and breaks triangle hole " Il, possi-
bly, a quarter inch across. An hour Ia
ter the chick. having turned itself slight
~. presses the beak aginst a new spot
and makes a fresh break. As more air
comes in the little creature grows
stronger IL writhes stil more efronRlv I
IN rs prison. turning always from left
10 right In two hours or ten q breaks
The she'll IN two, ana slips out into the /
nest, wet and weary spraWler.
Egg production varies enormously. A I
hens capacity f. about four hundred /
eggs divided pretty equally through the
lrst three years Of her existence.