Everyone knows that you should not point your finger at something or someone, but for sailors this is not an empty phrase, since it is believed that you can anger the gods, cause a storm or become a victim of a shipwreck.

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Signs about chickens

In the city, among concrete high-rise buildings, it is not easy to find a live chicken today, but in dachas, towns and even in private houses located within the city limits, this unpretentious bird is found in sufficient numbers. And once upon a time it was impossible to imagine a single farmstead without chickens and roosters. It was during those times that the majority appeared folk signs about chickens.

• The most unusual sign among them is that a chicken crowed like a rooster.

Popular beliefs tell us that this actually happens. And then expect something very unusual, more often bad. It is recommended to catch an unusual chicken and touch its legs. If they are very hot, then expect trouble from fire or boiling water. If they are cold - from severe frosts. If a chicken sings in the newlyweds’ house, this is a very good omen and indicates that the newlyweds will have a long and long life ahead. happy life in spite of everything bad.

Chicken and eggs

Since chickens were kept on farms most often to obtain fresh eggs, it is not surprising that a number of signs are inextricably linked with them.

To run well

• Signs for chickens to lay eggs well include a ban on males approaching the nests. It is believed that if a man removes the eggs from the nests, the laying hens will sharply reduce their clutches. To ensure that chickens that roam freely around the site return to lay in the nest, several feathers trimmed from their tails are placed in it. You also need to ensure that there is always fresh straw in the nest. And you can’t borrow a hen - then your chickens will get sick and lay poorly.

When to plant eggs?

• When should you put a chicken on eggs? Signs say that it is best to do this on the waxing moon, then the offspring will be healthy. The hen should lay her eggs at dusk (late evening or early morning). The hen leaves an odd number of eggs in the nest.

small egg

• A chicken laid a small egg - a sign that promises futile troubles for the owners.

Other signs

When a bird walks freely around the yard and garden, it can fly into a window or enter a house.

• Seeing a chicken through the window is a sign that promises a quarrel with a female person.
• The sign of a chicken knocking on the window indicates that you should prepare to receive news.
• The sign the chicken came was very positive. It promises unexpected wealth. If the bird also lays an egg, then there is no doubt about the special mercy of fate in the near future.

Black chicken

The signs of a black chicken stand out. A bird with this color is considered an excellent amulet for the owners of the farmstead against the evil eye and the envy of their neighbors. If you also get a black rooster, then you don’t have to be afraid of thieves and evil people.

If a cow scratches its horns during milking, it means there will be a strong thunderstorm.

A pregnant cow refuses to go to pasture - a sign that the calf may be kidnapped. To calm the cow and prevent theft, you need to hide St. John's wort root tied with red thread in the barn.

If the cow eats red clover, the milk will be full fat and very healthy.

A bull left for breeding needs to be lightly whipped on the back with a bank bathhouse broom for 3 Sundays in a row. Then the offspring will always be healthy.

If a cow gets caught in the rain on the way home, the milk yield will be generous.

To prevent the cows from getting sick, scatter the peas with which the woman attended the church service in the corners of the barn.

When a goat reluctantly returns home, it is believed that an evil spirit is pulling it aside by the horns. To correct this, you need to blow into its left ear three times.

If an anthill has appeared where the goats are kept, it must be destroyed, otherwise the animals’ wool will become matted by the fall, and it will not be possible to turn it into yarn.

If the milk from your goat has a deteriorated taste, you need to give her her morning milk in the evening. The milk will be good again.

If pigs are sick and do not gain weight, you need to add amaranth to the feed, and add a little holy water to the drinking bowl on Fridays.

To make a pig fatten quickly, you need to feed it buckwheat porridge on any church holiday.

Horses behave restlessly, anticipating a fire. If you notice this behavior of animals, you should be on alert!

To help a horse with an injured leg, lightly tap the opposite healthy leg with a spoon. The illness will pass faster.

A girl braiding her horse's mane attracts marriage.

After the horse has had a good run, dry it with a towel and place it in the coop. Chickens will break all records for the number of eggs laid.

In order for the sheep to reproduce well and grow fat, the pen for keeping animals must be generously sprinkled with a decoction of St. John's wort, spruce branches and mint.

If the sheep behave quietly during shearing, it means that the wool will be sold very profitably.

If the rabbits began to die, they may have been jinxed. You need to give them water in which you rinsed a clean frying pan.

To prevent the rabbit from eating the baby rabbits, you need to put more chicken fluff in the cage.

Signs in the poultry yard

To prevent the bird from being stolen, pig hooves should be buried in the corners of the yard.

If a bird pecks the owner's shoes, this portends a big profit for him.

To protect the bird from attacks by cats, you need to hang a rabbit's foot in the house.

To prevent the bird from wasting away, you need to pour water into the drinking bowl through a sieve.

Diseases will not bother the bird if handfuls of salt are sprinkled in the corners of the house.

It’s a good sign if you notice a hedgehog where the chickens are kept. This means that they will lay eggs well throughout the year.

When the rooster has lost interest in the chickens, you need to feed him poppy seeds dipped in holy water. After that he will start stomping again.

To make chickens lay eggs better, you need to bury an old ladle under the chicken coop.

shell from easter eggs, added to food for chickens, will protect them from illness.

If rats attack chickens and spoil eggs, you need to put dog hair in the nests.

A brood of chickens will be strong and grow well if a birch broom is placed next to them.

If a goose is sick, it must be “salted.” Place a pinch of salt on the bird's back and spit three times over its left shoulder. The goose will be fine.

To ensure that geese and ducks grow well, sweep the house with a walnut broom once a week.

Outbuildings

To prevent a fire from ever breaking out in the barn, you need to hide a bundle of goat droppings under the roof.

A building for keeping animals will be warm if you start its construction on a hot, dry day, without wind.

The barn will be durable and will not cause any trouble if a young girl sweeps the prepared area before starting its construction.

Before introducing horses into the stable for the first time, give milk to the cat in the stable. This will appease the yard spirit, and he will take care of the animals.

Hang a wormwood broom in the basement for storing supplies or in the cellar. This will protect the vegetables from spoilage.

It is better to build a pen for cattle on a waxing Moon, so that the herd will grow.

You cannot build a barn or stable in the place where there was a fire. Such sites are generally unfavorable for construction.

The threshold of the new poultry house should be tapped with a ladle, saying: “Scoop but not scoop.” There will always be a lot of eggs.

The stable needs to be fumigated with wormwood smoke, this will drive out the spirits that pester the horses at night and deprive them of their strength.

The well needs to be dug where there is fog in the mornings and evenings.

To find out whether a place is suitable for building a stable or barn, you need to dig a hole and then fill it with the excavated soil. If it turns out to be a slide, the place is good.

When the nightingale sings late in the year, there will be a decline in the economy.

Don't trample your scarf with your feet - your head will hurt.

Girls are not allowed to braid their hair in public.

Do not knit brooms on Saturday - there will be losses on the farm.

Don't look in the mirror when there's a dead person in the village - you'll get sick.

Do not step over the poker or rocker - you will get sick.

You can't sweep trash over the threshold - you'll sweep out one of the family members.

Do not carry an uncovered sieve; it must be covered with a scarf.

You can't sit at the table wearing a hat.

You can't play cards during a thunderstorm - you can be killed by lightning.

If a squirrel crosses your path, it is not good.

It is good to plant a birch tree near the house for the well-being of the family.

You cannot plant willow and willow near your house.

Until the cherry leaves fall, no matter how much snow falls, it will all melt.

The springs coming out from under the stone have healing powers.

A tree that creaks after being cut cannot be used on the farm; it is only suitable for a stove.

If it rains on Trinity Sunday, there will be a mushroom harvest.

You cannot look into a broken or cracked mirror; you must throw it away.

If you start having hiccups, read the prayer “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” three times.

To prevent mice or rodents from spoiling the stack of hay or straw, you need to sprinkle ash on all four sides.

When an unknown voice calls you at a crossroads at night, never look back.

To prevent milk from turning sour for a long time in jugs and pots, they must be steamed in a decoction of the celandine herb.

A bar of soap carried in your pocket helps against the evil eye.

If eyelashes get into your eyes, you should dissolve cherry glue in warm water and wipe your eyes with this solution.

The tree on which a person hanged himself should be cut down and burned.

Throwing salt into the fire means there will be a quarrel.

You cannot hunt on annual church holidays.

The bird cherry tree has bloomed - it’s time to catch bream.

If there is no rain for a long time, then you need to take a poppy blessed on Maccobeus, go to the field to the spring and sprinkle it on the spring.

When during a flood the ice does not float, but sinks, then this year in spring and summer there will be many dead.

An eagle owl screams while sitting on a house - to early death

When passing or driving past a church, a Christian must take off his hat and cap and cross himself while praying.

When entering the temple, you should stop near the door and make three bows (earthly - on simple days, and on Saturday, Sunday and holidays - waist).

According to ancient custom, men are supposed to stand in the temple at right side, and for women - on the left.

Tips for livestock and poultry

On annual holidays, under no circumstances should anyone be given matches or fire, because the cattle will die.

In order not to spoil the animals on the pasture, it is necessary to sprinkle them with blessed salt three times before the first pasture and let them lick the salt from their hands.

On Maundy Thursday, cattle are lashed with heather to prevent them from being hit by their hooves.

Never tell anyone how many milk cows, livestock or various birds you have, so as not to harm your farm.

Don't cut the goat's beard - there won't be enough milk

To prevent the shepherd from losing his animals, he cannot have his hair cut all summer.

When you graze cattle in the summer, before noon they should face their heads to the west, and after noon - to the east, there will be a large milk yield

To keep pig meat and lard juicy and tasty, you should not cut them on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A person who slaughters pigs should not skin dead cattle, beat or kill dogs, cats, crows, magpies, or in general all birds and animals that are not eaten, otherwise the meat of the pig he kills will be tasteless

If pigs diligently dig holes in the ground, they will die.

The hen is placed on unwashed eggs.

In order for chickens to lay eggs well in winter, it is necessary to add them to their feed. dried nettles dioecious.

To make chickens lay eggs better, you need to sprinkle ash on the floors in the chicken coop,

When the hen is laid on eggs on Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be more cockerels among the chickens; on Thursday and Friday, there will be more hens.

On Monday, Saturday, and on the days of the holy martyrs, the hen is not placed on eggs.

Thin and transparent eggs, as well as those with black spots on the shell, should not be placed under the hen - the chicks will not hatch.

Do not place the first or last of the eggs laid for incubation.

It is best to lay eggs for incubation at dusk or early dawn. Eggs for incubation must be in odd numbers: 11,15,17,19, etc.

To protect against the evil eye, the hen is covered with a sieve.

Try to place the hen during the new month. Hens planted on Thursday and Friday will hatch more hens.

Do not bring bird cherry into the house if there is a quonk sitting on the eggs - the chickens will be weak.

Eggs laid for the Annunciation and Easter cannot be placed under the hen - the chickens will be weak.

When you have a goose sitting on eggs, you cannot knock anything near the nest - there will be no goslings.

In order for the chickens to lay eggs well, from Maundy Thursday the ashes should be taken out into the chicken coop.

In order for chickens to lay eggs well in your yard, you need to put Christmas straw in the hen's nest.

You can't borrow a chicken - your chickens won't sit on their eggs.

Do not take eggs from the nest when the sun sets - the chickens will peck their eggs.

Do not throw egg shells into the oven - the chickens will not lay eggs.

When raising chickens, you should not sell any until the “plant” is firmly established.

When buying chickens, make sure that they have all the feathers under their wings - otherwise such chickens will lay eggs very poorly.

If you find a natural stone with a hole and hang it in the chicken coop, the chickens will be safe.

In order for the hen to produce many chicks, it is best to plant it when the cattle leave the field. The hen must be planted so that no one else can see. In the place where the hen sits, you cannot whistle or fry eggs.

In order for the chickens to lay eggs well, it is necessary to place empty broken pots on the roost, and to prevent the chickens from being spoiled by witches, it is advisable that one of the roosters be black.

Do not take eggs from the nest after sunset - the chickens will drink the eggs.

If a chicken crows like a rooster, it is necessary to cut off its head immediately, because it is crowing unluckily. Its meat cannot be eaten; it is best to burn it and bury it.

To make your pigeons breed, take a broom from the church and throw it in the attic.

On major annual holidays, you should not comb your hair - so that the birds do not eat the garden.

What color cat will take root in the house, what color it is necessary to keep livestock.

Whoever keeps rabbits in the yard will not produce livestock.

What a year for bees, such a year will be for sheep.

Sheep's wool lengthens in wet weather and shortens in dry weather.

You cannot slaughter pigs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and before winter Nicholas (December 19) - the meat and lard will be bad.

You cannot stab pigs during the third lunar quarter - the meat and lard quickly disappear.

When sheep are driven out to pasture for the first time, they must be sprinkled with holy water.

You cannot drive sheep out to pasture for the first time on Monday, Saturday or on the days of the holy martyrs.

It is the girl who must drive the sheep out to pasture for the first time.

On Maundy Thursday they whip their animals with heather to prevent them from kicking.

You cannot cross places where horses or dogs are running in circles, as this will cause red circles to appear on your body.

If pestilence has begun among the livestock, you should draw crosses on the gates with birch tar.

Traditional means of expressing the ideas of the peoples of the world about Nature are mythological images of animals. Moreover, from these images from fairy tales we can judge the human relationships of ancestors, and from song folklore - about family ties.

The chicken, unlike other animals, does not carry a clearly defined meaning.. But still, it often symbolizes motherhood - a chicken’s love and care for its offspring have no boundaries. It should be noted that the image of a hen evokes two opposite feelings in the minds of Europeans: on the one hand, comparing a person with a chicken, they talk about his diligence and perseverance in learning, and on the other hand, he is judged as a person with a chicken brain or " stupid chicken." This denotes the spiritual poverty of narrow-minded people whose thoughts incoherently jump from one thing to another, which is comparable to chickens who often fall into a stupid panic.

In the legends of most peoples of the world, the hen personifies underground wealth and treasures; she lays golden eggs, and her head is often twisted. It's stupid, but nevertheless, this happens in mythological stories. Why? This is explained by pagan rituals with sacrifices in the era of myth-making.

What superstitions are associated with chicken? They can be divided into the following groups:

1. Superstitions associated with increasing chicken productivity (egg production, etc.):

"To prevent chickens from losing their eggs, they rub it anus salt. When a young hen lays the first egg, then the housewife should take this egg and stroke her husband’s head with it, saying: “Let Chernushka (the name of the hen) have as many testicles as ... (the husband’s name) has hairs on her head” (Polesie) .

“To raise chickens, especially a good breed, a peasant will never give his neighbor eggs for hatching chickens. Otherwise, all the chickens will die out” (Central Russia).

“Peasant chickens often lay eggs in other people’s yards. For such chickens, so that they lay eggs in their own, a few feathers are cut off in the tail and the feathers are placed in their nests” (Central Russia).

If a chicken stops laying eggs or gets sick, the culprit is considered to be the yard or kikimora. “Very often, the kikimora plucks the feathers of chickens. To prevent the kikimora from harming the chickens, they hang rags of calico, a neck from a broken clay washbasin, or, finally, a “chicken god” under the chicken infestation. “The chicken god” is a stone that is often found in the fields with one or several through holes" (Polesie).

A killed magpie serves as a talisman for poultry. In Polesie it is hung in the yard to protect chickens from magpies and others birds of prey. In the Grodno province, the feathers of a magpie killed on the first day of March are placed under a chicken sitting on its eggs to protect it from the evil eye. Bulgarians have a belief that the magpie is able to repel the disease that attacks chickens. Therefore, it is hung near the chicken coop or magpie feathers and stomach are used as a talisman.

2. Superstitions associated with signs that help a person and improve his existence:

In Macedonia, to protect livestock from wolves, peasants on the eve of St. Martina chop off the head of a black chicken on the threshold of the house, sprinkle its blood on the threshold, or draw a cross with its head above the doors. The headless chicken is left here all night, plucked and eaten in the morning, and the head is threaded three times through the knot of the hearth chain and suspended from it on a thread, with one hair from each animal on the farm inserted into the beak. Then the crushed head is given to livestock to eat.

“If someone brings a hen into the newlyweds’ house and makes it crow like a rooster, it will be a good sign for the young family” (Yorkshire, UK).

A chicken standing on one leg means it’s cold.

A hen who crows like a rooster and a woman who whistles are fit neither for God nor for man. (In Normandy they say this: “Une poule qui chante le coq et une fille qui siffle, portent malheur dans le maison” (“A hen who crows like a rooster and a daughter who whistles bring trouble to the house”).
And in Cornwall: “A whistling woman and a hen that crows like a rooster are the two greatest misfortunes in the world.” Whistling women caused particular fear among residents of the Yorkshire coast. When a group of our acquaintances boarded a ship in Scarborough, the captain surprised everyone by refusing to take one woman on board. “Not this lady,” he said. “She whistles.” By a strange coincidence, this ship nevertheless disappeared during the voyage. In Devonshire and Cornwall, no miner ever whistles underground. In the border counties, a crowing hen is considered a harbinger of death. A remarkable event was recorded in the parish of East Kilbride, which greatly contributed to the strengthening of this superstition. An old woman once heard her chicken crowing loudly on an earthen embankment near her house. She told her neighbor about this and added that now something bad was bound to happen/A few weeks later her husband died. A month later, the hen crowed again, and a few days later the old woman’s son was killed. When the hen screamed for the third time, the old woman’s daughter died. Then she finally broke the chicken's neck. And after that, no one in her family died for quite a long time. In the Church of St. Thekla (the village of Llandegla, Wales) they tried to treat epilepsy with the help of a chicken or a rooster. In fact, the disease should have spread to the bird. The sick person first had to wash his hands and feet in the sacred spring located next to the church, throw a four-pence coin into the spring and read the Lord's Prayer three times. After this, the bird - a rooster or a chicken, depending on the gender of the patient - was placed in a basket and walked with it first around the source, and then around the church. Then the sick person entered the church and, immediately after dawn, prostrated himself to his full height under the Communion table. He then donated sixpence and left the church. The chicken (or rooster) was left in the church. If she died, it was believed that epilepsy had passed on to her from the patient, who was thus freed from his illness. If you doubt the effectiveness of this treatment, then here are the words of the parish clerk: as recently as 1855, he saw a bird in the church , who was in convulsions from epilepsy transmitted to her. But, on the other hand, a chicken left in a cramped basket and deprived of food was undoubtedly doomed to a quick death. In Wales there was a superstition that if New Year If the chickens are not fed all the varieties of fruit that are in the house, then they will begin to think: should they stop laying eggs? The fruits should be finely chopped and mixed. If the chicken stops laying eggs or gets sick, then the culprit is considered to be the yard or kikimora. “Very often, the kikimora plucks the feathers of chickens. To prevent the kikimora from harming the chickens, they hang rags of calico, a neck from a broken clay washbasin, or, finally, a “chicken god” under the chicken infestation. “The chicken god” is a stone that is often found in the fields with one or several through holes" (see NIGHTMARE). "If a hen crows like a rooster, then this is not good: there will be a dead person in the house." "To prevent chickens from losing their eggs, they rub their anus with salt. When a young hen lays the first one. egg, then the housewife should take this egg and stroke her husband’s head with it, saying: “Let Chernushka (chicken’s name) have as many testicles as NN (husband’s name) has hairs on her head.” “In the family where the kidnapping happened, always Many people are suspected, especially in villages. There, the right and wrong are gathered in the same hut in the evening, the fire is put out, and a chicken covered in soot is let in. The chicken, bypassing those on the right, touches them; but when approaching the thief, he seems to scream, runs away and does not let him near him. In this case, all those who are right, but of necessity, are stained with soot; The kidnapper alone does not receive this honor. Then they bring in the fire and see who is painted with soot and who is not. If there is a person who is free from this, then he is found guilty." "To raise chickens, especially of a good breed, a peasant will never give his neighbor eggs for hatching chickens. Otherwise, as they say, all the chickens will die." "Peasants' chickens often lay eggs in other people's yards. For such chickens, so that they fly in their own home, a few feathers are cut off in the tail and the feathers are placed in their nests." If a chicken crows as a rooster, then in Russian villages this is considered an extremely unfavorable sign - someone in the family will die. (See the corresponding superstition in English folklore). But such a chicken is not always chopped off. They catch it and begin to measure it from the wall to the opposite threshold, turning the bird over its head. If it is on the threshold, its head is cut off; if it is with its tail, then the tail is cut off and released. . ABOUT unfavorable meaning whistle, see the article of the same name.
Chickens bathing in dust means rain. If someone brings a chicken into the newlyweds' house and makes it crow like a rooster, this will be a good sign for the young family. (Yorkshire).