Surprise, Surprise for One Lae Hen

One Lae Hen

A more surprised hen there’ll never be, than one in Lae, New Guinea, if she hatches out a certain egg, and if she lives to tell the tale.

The hen, a very ordinary one, is at present sitting on a setting of duck eggs. That’s all right-it’s been done before. But what makes this hen extraordinary, is that her young master, lan Hendrick, has popped a crocodile egg under her. lan bought the egg a,t the native market one Saturday morning, and thought he would try his luck at breeding his own crocodiles.

Daily examination reveals that the embyro is steadily growing although lan’s parents had hoped the egg was not fertile.

However, they, too have become interested, mainly from a humane sense, and to avert a tragedy. .

The gestation period for crocodile eggs being an unknown quantity, there is always the possibility that the stranger the nest may breakfast on mother and ducklings, if not carefully watched.