CAN A HEN I,AV TWO KdciS IX ONE DAY? Ml 



in her business she reached into the nest occupied by lien No. 2 ( which 

 the construction of the. nest permitted her to do) and '■swiped" the egg 

 of No. 2, carefully pushing it beneath her own body. Should the at- 

 tendant appear at this time he would naturally remove hen No. 1 and 

 credit her with the ego- found beneath her. bid actually laid by hen 

 No. 2. 



No. 1, although partially broody , has not ceased laying so she returns 

 to the nest later and lays an egg of her own. This also being credited 

 to her would give her two eggs for the day. Should she not lay she 

 would have simply received credit for one egg. laid by another hen. 



Now I will venture to let the reader in on a point that he is very 

 likely to discredit until he meets with it in his own experience, which 

 he may never do. 



Probably every experienced poultry observer knows the thieving 

 propensities of broody hens. They will appropriate egg* to their own 

 use, no matter where they find them, if they can, by hook or crook, get 

 "them under their bodies. Some broody hens, (not all) can persuade 

 ■some hens (not all hens) to lay an egg where she (the broody hen) holds 

 the fort. The language used is. to my ear, similar to that, 

 which she uses when calling her chicks. 1 have known such a broody 

 hen to induce such a laying hen to avoid her regular nest, day after day, 

 to deposit her egg where she (the broody) could get it. I am not en- 

 larging upon a single case that has come under my observation, but am 

 describing what has taken place a number of times in my pens and has 

 been carefully and personally observed. It is no dream. 



To return to the nest that we were just considering we will take up 

 the first instance that I ever knew of *uch an occurence. Such a broody 

 hen as the one that I have described had been using this nest regularly. 

 She appeared to lay two eggs a day so frequently that my suspicions 

 were aroused to such an extent that I placed a china nest egg on the floor 

 outside of the nest. Later J found the china egg inside of the nest in 

 possession of the broody hen (the reader will understand that with me a 

 hen is broody when she is broody whether she has stopped laying or not.) 



I took out the egg and laid it on the floor again and waited until I 

 saw her reach out and pull it in. Later, by remaining at a point of 

 vantage the greater part of the day. I observed the actions of her chum 

 as she approached the nest. I heard the cluck of the broody and waited 

 until the egg was laid and pulled in. The layer did not try to enter the 

 nest and she was a hen that had regularly used another nest. This 

 same thing could happen with hens that were accustomed to use that 

 nest and, finding the entrance barred, laid outside. So much for what 

 I know about mistakes that could be made regarding the laying of two 

 eggs in one day by one hen. 



