Mad as a Wet Hen

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Most of us have heard the idiom "Mad as a wet hen", but have you ever wondered where this phrase comes from? I didn't either until I began looking up idiom from the Civil War area for a different project. I am sure we all can guess that it means you are past angry and into the really, really, really mad stage. Hens hate to get wet and go kind of crazy with anger when they do. Years ago, in the south, hens would lay eggs and sit on them until they hatched. They stayed sitting on the nest even after the eggs were taken away. To get the hens to lay more eggs and stop sitting on the nest the farmer would take the chicken and dunk it in a bucket of water. The first time this happened the hen would typically go back to sitting on the nest. After two of three times the chicken would become enraged and start running around and clucking. It seems that this broke the hen of trying to nest and protect eggs that were no longer there. Soon after, she would once more start laying eggs.