7. When the hatching time comes, the chick inside the egg picks a little hole in his shell, so that he can get his bill out, and then he breaks the shell so that he can step out.
8. When first hatched, the chickens are covered with a fine down, which stays on until their feathers grow. They are able to run about the moment they are out of the shell.
9. The hen is a careful mother. She goes about searching and scratching for food, and, when she finds it, she calls her chickens, and does not eat any herself until they are supplied.
Coming out in the World
10. At night, and whenever it is cold, she calls them together and broods them, by lifting her wings a little and letting them cuddle under her to keep warm.
11. When anything disturbs her chicks, the old hen is ready to fight, picking with her bill and striking with her wings with all her might.
12. The cock is a fine gentleman. He walks about in his best clothes, which he brushes every day and keeps clean. He struts a little, to show what a fine bird he is.
13. In the morning he crows long and loud, to let people know it is time to get up; and every little while during the day he crows, to tell the neighbors that all is well with him and his family.