Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson I · Topic 1: Bird study: how a bird is made
1. Feathers as clothing
Goal: Your child can show how a hen's feathers overlap like shingles to shed rain, and tell a smooth outer feather from the fluffy down underneath.
You'll need
- A hen to watch up close (a friend's backyard flock, a farm, a petting farm or a fair)
- Two or three chicken or duck feathers (from the coop floor or a craft store)
- A hand lens if you have one
- Nature notebook and pencil
- A little water in a cup
What's in the book
The leading thought, a short method, and eleven questions about how the hen's feathers are laid on, the difference between back and breast feathers, down and pin-feathers, and how she oils her feathers. A short poem follows.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Any season works, so long as you can stand close to a hen. A backyard flock, a farm stand with chickens, a petting farm or the poultry barn at a county fair are all good. Ask the owner before you go in.
Safety: chickens and ducks can carry germs even when they look clean and healthy. Wash hands with soap and water after touching a bird, a feather or anything in the coop, and keep hands away from faces until then.
Keep the big idea in mind
Comstock's "leading thought" is for you, the parent. She asks that it not be read to the child at the start, so the child can find it out by looking. Read it to yourself now:
Feathers grow from the skin of a bird and protect the bird from rain, snow, wind and cold. Some of the feathers act as cloaks or mackintoshes and others as underclothing.
A mackintosh is an old word for a raincoat.
Watch the hen
Stand quietly by the hen for a few minutes. Look at her back, her breast and the underside of her body. Then ask Comstock's first questions:
How are the feathers arranged on the back of the hen? Are they like shingles on the roof? If so, what for?
How does a hen look when standing in the rain?
If it is not raining, let your child guess, then try the next step.
Feathers up close
Lay a back feather and a fluffy breast feather side by side. Look with the hand lens if you have one.
Compare a feather from the back and one from the breast and note the difference.
Are both ends of these feathers alike? If not, what is the difference?
Is the fluffy part of the feather on the outside or next to the bird's skin? What is its use?
Drip a drop of water on the smooth part of a feather and watch it roll.
Down and pin-feathers
Some feathers are all fluff and are called "down." At what age was the fowl all covered with down?
What is a pin-feather? What makes you think so?
A pin-feather is a new feather still wrapped in its sheath, like a little rolled-up brush. If the owner can show you one on a bird, look but don't pull it.
Oiling the raincoat
Watch the hen preen. She reaches back toward the base of her tail, where there is an oil gland, and draws feathers through her beak.
How do hens keep their feathers oily and glossy so they will shed water?
Where does the hen get the oil? Describe how she oils her feathers and which ones does she oil most? Does she oil her feathers before a rain?
Put it into words
Ask your child to tell you what the feathers do for the hen. Now you can share Comstock's leading thought and see how much of it your child found alone.
Nature notebook
Draw one back feather and one fluffy breast feather side by side, and label the smooth web and the fluff. Add the date and where you saw the hen.
Afterwards
Over the next week, look at any bird in the rain or just after it. Do its feathers look sleek or ruffled?
Tip
In the United States it is against the law to keep feathers of most wild birds, even ones you find on the ground. Use chicken, duck or craft-store feathers for this lesson, and look at wild bird feathers where they lie.