Harvest time comes; again, Peter and Donald claim belly aches, but the hen sees through this when boards of their clubhouse fall off showing their little act when they shake hands with each other for evading responsibility.

She cooks up a tantalizing assortment of corn dishes, and heads over to Peter and Donald to help her eat them, but before she can open her mouth, they already fake their belly aches.

Though distributor United Artists gave June 9, 1934 as the cartoon's release date, it was actually first shown on May 3, 1934, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles for a benefit program, while it was later given its official debut on June 7 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City as a short subject to its showing of Sisters Under the Skin.

During the call, Nash performed a rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as a duck, and Jackson sent the music into Walt Disney's office.

[11] The Wise Little Hen had its world premiere as the underbill to Gulliver Mickey at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, California, on May 3, 1934.

Dr. Tracey Mollet suggests that the short's narrative reflects the economic reality of the time, the Great Depression, and President Roosevelt's efforts to bolster the agricultural sector.

Mollet surmises that Peter Pig and Donald Duck's actions, not helping to cultivate and harvest crops, is a rejection of "early New Deal policy of self-sufficiency in farming".

[14] The short reinforces the belief in New Deal policy by having Donald and Peter pay a consequence for their rugged individualism by being fed castor oil as the Hen and her chicks eat their crops.