274 



Fecundity of Hens. 



Vol. IX. 



rich and stimulant food, such as toasted bread 

 soaked in ale or wine, barley half sodden, 

 tares and millet. 



M. Reaumur made several experiments 

 with a view to the object in question. A 

 .certain class of food, and of seeds, he says, 

 are much extolled in many places, as tend- 

 ing to promote the laying of eggs, but no- 

 thing has yet been determined by our choice ; 

 for in this way, the sum of the ecrgs laid by 

 the hens of a poultry-yard, might be distri- 

 buted in a far more equable manner, over 

 the several months of the year: and if, as is 

 probable, each hen can only produce a cer- 

 tain number of eggs, we should be glad to 

 have a portion of them yearly produced in 

 winter. The necessity we are under of 

 keeping great quantities of eggs in the sea- 

 eon when they are laid, causes an uncommon 

 quantity to be spoiled every year, from too 

 long keeping or want of proper caution in 

 preserving them; and hence the importance 

 of the question — "Whether it may not be 

 possible to make hens lay in winter!" 



With respect to fecundity, some hens will 

 lay only one egg in three days, some every 

 other day, others every day, and a hen was 

 exhibited at the Fair of the American Insti- 

 tute, at New York, in October, 1843, that 

 was said to have laid two eggs in a day, and 

 Aristotle mentions a breed of Ilyssian hens, 

 which laid as often as thrice a day. 



According to our experience much de- 

 pends on circumstances, such as climate, 

 accommodations, feed, and the attention paid 

 to the hens, as to the number of eggs annu- 

 ally produced. It is asserted by Buffon, that 

 a hen, well fed and attended, will produce 

 upwards of 150 eggs a year, besides two 

 broods of chickens; and a writer in the Con- 

 necticut Courant, says, " a dozen hens pro- 

 perly attended, will furnish a family with 

 more than 2,000 eggs in a year, and 100 

 chickens," but from our experience we think 

 this an over-estimate, especially for this cold 

 climate. From 70 to 75 eggs per hen, a 

 year, would be a fair estimate, for any num- 

 ber of fowls kept together. 



We find .statements from practical writers 

 recorded in our American journals, several 

 instances of extraordinary products of hens, 

 which will enable us to form some judgment 

 on the subject; but it must be borne in mind, 

 however, that these statements have been 

 given generally as extraordinary products. 

 Mr. E. A. Colman, of Chelsea, Mass., ob- 

 tained from eight hens, from July 7th to 

 August 29th, seven weeks, 293 eggs. 



The editor of the Newburyport Herald 

 gives an account of an experiment made 

 with ten hens, which produced 1,116 eggs, 

 besides 15 chickens, within the year. I'he 



avails of 41 dozen eggs sold, paid all the 

 expense of keeping. 



It is stated in the Farmer's Journal, that 

 from 150 hens, 1,900 eggs were obtained in 

 the month of January; and that five pullets 

 produced 300 egga from the middle of Octo- 

 ber to the middle of April, which is the cold- 

 est part of the year. 



"Mr. E. Tucker, of Milton," says the' 

 editor of the Massachusetts Ploughman, 

 " tells us that he obtained 600 dozen^,200 

 eggs in one year, from 83 hens; this was 

 his highest number of fowls ; he sometimes 

 had less; that for 562 dozen — 6,744 — he 

 took $100 within one cent. The whole 

 amount of his cash expenditures was $56 43, 

 leaving him a balance of $43 57." 



]Mr. Westfall, of Rhinebeck, in the Culti- 

 vator, says, " From 45 hens, I have the past 

 year, 1840, raised more than 150 chickens, 

 although I had rather poor success in hatch- 

 ing the eggs. I have sold eggs to the 

 amount of $21 29: have now over 300 on 

 hand, and the year since the receipt of the 

 first egg last spring, will not be up till the 

 last of this month, February, and we are 

 now getting from 20 to 25 eggs per day, 

 from about 80 hens." 



A writer in the Cultivator of 1842, says, 

 "This year, 1842, I have about 40 hens, 

 mostly pullets, and three cocks. They com- 

 menced laying in the latter part of January, 

 and, up to the last of April, about 90 days, 

 have given me about 120 dozen — 1,440 

 eggs." 



A correspondent in the Cultivator, who 

 writes more in detail, says, " that when his 

 fowls commenced laying he had 37 hens 

 and three cocks, and when they ceased lay- 

 ing he had 26, the average being 32. In 

 about SCO days, between January and No- 

 vember, they yielded 3,298 eggs." He raised 

 no chickens. 



The following remarkable instance of fe- 

 cundity is furnished by Mr. Morent, in the 

 Cultivator. He had three pullets of the 

 Poland or top-knot variety, which were 

 hatched in June. December the 15th of the 

 same year, they began to lay, and from that 

 time to December following, laid*524 eggs. 

 Cost of keeping not exceeding $3 71. They 

 were fed on barley, rice and peas. 



A correspondent of the Mascachusetts 

 Ploughman, gives a most extraordinary ac- 

 count of the sales from the produce of one 

 hen, amounting to the sum of $18. 



The following singular case is related in 

 an English publication. "Mr. James Drink- 

 water, of Harpenbery, has a hen two years 

 old ; it has not a white feather on it, but is 

 as black as jet. For upwards of eighteen 

 months it has laid an egg every other day, 



