The heroism of a hen

Hens to the rescue!

       A contest of rather an unusual nature took place in the house of a respectable innkeeper in Ireland. The parties concerned were, a hen of the game species, and a rat of the middle size. The hen, in an accidental perambulation round a spacious room, accompanied by an only chicken, the sole surviving offspring of a numerous brood, was roused to madness by an unprovoked attack made by a voracious cowardly rat on her unsuspecting chirping companion. The shrieks of the beloved captive, while being dragged away by the enemy, excited every maternal feeling in the affectionate bosom of the feathered dame ; she flew at the corner whence the alarm arose, seized the lurking enemy by the neck, writhed him about the room, put out one of his eyes in the engagement, and so fatigued her opponent by repeated attacks of spur and bill, that in the space of twelve minutes, during which time the conflict lasted, she put a final period to the nocturnal invader's existence; nimbly turned round, in wild but triumphant distraction, to her palpitating nestling, and hugged it in her victorious bosom.

A Strange Mouser

The chicken was a strange mouser.

        A gentleman once had in his possession a hen, which answered the purpose of a cat in destroying mice. She was constantly seen watching close to a corn rick, and the moment a mouse appeared, she seized it in her beak, and carried it to a meadow adjoining, where she would play with it like a young cat for some time, and then kill it. She has been known to catch four or five mice a day in this manner.

Paper Cuts of Farm Animals

        Below, I have restored a few paper farm animals: horse, cow, goat, duck, rooster, sheep, dog, bunny, pig and cat. These may be freely used by students and teachers for the classroom. Silhouettes on my blog are not to be redistributed by alternative websites and are not meant to be sold or purchased.

These paper cuts of animals found on the farm would make great design
elements in a classroom or any other art project a young
student might need them for.

The Fowls

THE FOWLS 

by M. Nightingale

Black hens, white hens, speckled hens and

brown.

Clucking in the sunshine, strutting up and

down;

Very vain and happy they for were the truth but

known

Each thinks the loudest cackle in the farm-yard is her

own,

And each declares the egg she's left behind her in the nest

Is bigger and much better than the eggs of all the rest.

"Cackle-cackle! Cluck-a-club!

Cock-a-doodle-do!

The cock is king of Farm-yard Land,

But I am queen there, too."

White hens, brown hens, speckled hens and black,

With lots of little yellow chicks a-toddling at their

Back;

Father cock must come and look, his red comb on his head;

"Cheep at him, my pretties! Sir, be careful how

you tread!

Now are they not a lovely brood? Just see them peck

and run;

And see how my two soft warm wings will cover

every one.

Cackle-cackle! Cheepie-cheep!

Ah, Cock-a-doodle-do,

Although you're king of Farm-yard Land

I'm prouder far than you!"

A letter from Grandpa about Easter eggs and ducks

Then one little fellow said, "Mister, will you sell me a hen; maybe she will lay us some red eggs.‚"

Dear Children:

       I am going to write something about Easter eggs and ducks. Two little boys came into our house this morning and wanted to buy some Easter eggs - the kind that their Grandma bought of us last week; but we did not have the kind that suited. They wanted blue eggs and red eggs, and all kinds of colored eggs. They said that Grandma told them that our hens laid all kinds of colored eggs. Their sadness at the thought of getting no blue and red eggs was so great that I thought their little hearts would break and bleed. I would have given a dollar apiece for just two colored eggs, rather than to have looked into their little faces and said no. Then one little fellow said, "Mister, will you sell me a hen; maybe she will lay us some red eggs.‚" I took these little men to a corner grocery and bought each of them the biggest stick of red-striped candy I could find.

       I drove to the country yesterday. I wish every little boy and girl could live in the country. There are so many things to see. Everything we eat and wear grows in the country. Nearly all of the hen's nests are in the country, and nearly all the bird's nests are there. Nearly all the good apples grow in the country, and it beats all how much home-made fun a boy can have at his Grandpa's home on a farm. Where do all the cows come from, and the little bossies? They all grow up in the country; and oh, so many flowers! I tell you children, Easter only comes once a year; but flowers last all Summer, and just keep on coming. Yesterday, we stopped at a farm house to keep out of the rain. Mrs. Nelson had an old mother duck, and ten little ducks; and she declared they would drown if they stayed out in the rain. So, out she went hunting for the ducks, and after hunting an hour she found old mother duck and her little ducks swimming in a big pond of water in a pasture near the house. The feathers are so thick and close on a duck that they can stay in the water all day and not get wet, and their feet are so wide that they can push themselves along through the water like so many little boats.

Love, Grandpa.

 

Chickens that lay Easter eggs? 

 

 Now you can see what the goose and the rooster saw in the barnyard by connecting the dots...

Connect the dots by counting 1, 2, 3...44.

Easter Index/ Previous Page/ Next Page

"If Pets, Why Not Useful Ones?"

By Percy Shaw.

I wonder how 'twould be if cows

And hens and ducks were household pets,

And banished far were growls and meows,

As witness in these silhouettes!

Mere man would look aghast no doubt

And voice a thousand vain regrets;

But though these ladies ne'er come out,

They look well in these silhouettes.