Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

You probably know that chickens come from eggs. A female chicken or hen lays eggs and then they hatch into chicks. Well, not all of them. Some eggs do not have a baby bird.

So, at our farm, a hen produces 15 eggs. If the farmer counts the eggs, she might expect to have 15 chicks once the eggs are hatched. But then five of those eggs do not hatch. Her expectations were not met, so she feels disappointed. She tells her friend how sad she feels. The friend may say to her, “Well, don’t count your chicken before they hatch.

Another way of saying this proverb is: “Don’t count your chickens until they are hatched.”

So, this proverb means you should not depend on something that has yet to happen. It is unwise to make plans based on something that hasn’t happened. Another meaning of this proverb is this: Do not assume to have everything you want until you actually have it in your hands.

Now, let’s talk about the folklore part of our explanation.

“Don’t count your chickens until they are hatched” is a very old saying. Language experts say it appears in different forms and in many different cultures. It is also used in Aesop's Fables, a collection of stories from between 1,300 and 1,400 years ago.

hatch ഒന്നായി വിരിഞ്ഞ കോഴിക്കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങളും മറ്റും
folklore ഐതിഹ്യം, പുരാണം, പഴങ്കഥ
Fable നാടോടിക്കഥ, ഐതിഹ്യം