POULTRY: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE CHOICE, BREEDING, REARING AND MANAGEMENT OF FOWLS TEXT

farmer's wife despaired of her brood; but, to her surprise and pleasure, eight chickens were hatched. The tiled roof of the granary was fully exposed to the rays of the sun, and the temperature very high, probably above 80 deg. during the day, and not much lower at night." Valuable eggs, therefore, should not be abandoned on account of a rather lengthened absence; and ordinary eggs should not be discarded as worthless if the hen has already sat upon them for a fortnight or so; but if she has been sitting for only a few days, it is safer to throw them away, and have a fresh batch. During the hen's absence, always look at the eggs, remove any that may have been broken, and very gently wash any sticky or dirty eggs with a flannel dipped in milk-warm water. See that they are dry before putting them back. If the nest is also dirty, replace it with fresh material of the same kind. Gently drive the hen back to her nest as quickly as possible, to prevent any damage from the eggs becoming chilled. If a hen should break an egg with her feet or otherwise, it should be removed as soon as it is seen, or she may eat it, and, liking the taste, break and eat the others. Some hens have a bad habit of breaking and eating the eggs on which they are sitting, to cure which some recommend to boil an egg hard, bore a few holes in it, so that the inside can be seen, and give it while hot to the culprit, who will peck at the holes and burn herself; but hens with such propensities should be fattened for the table, for they are generally useless either for sitting or laying. Some persons examine the eggs after the hen has sat upon them for six or seven days, and remove all that are sterile, by which plan more warmth and space are gained for those that are fertile, and the warmth is not wasted upon barren eggs. They may be easily proved by holding them near to the flame of a candle, the eye being kept shaded by one hand, when the fertile eggs will appear dark and the sterile transparent. Another plan is to place the eggs on a drum, or between the hands, in the sunshine, and observe the shadow. If this wavers, by the motion of the chick, the eggs are good; but if the shadow shows no motion, they are unfertile. If two hens have been sitting during the same time, and many unfertile eggs are found in the two nests, all the fertile eggs should be placed under one hen, and a fresh batch given to the other. The eggs should not be moved after this time, except by the hen, more especially when incubation has proceeded for some time, lest the position of the chick be interfered with, for if taken up a little time before its exit, and incautiously replaced with the large end lowermost, the chicken, from its position, will not be able to chip the shell, and must therefore perish. The forepart of the chicken is towards the biggest end of the egg, and it is so placed in the shell that the beak is always uppermost. When the egg of a choice breed has been cracked towards the end of the period of incubation, the crack may be covered with a slip of gummed paper, or the unprinted border that is round a sheet of postage stamps, and the damaged egg will probably yet produce a fine chick. It is a good plan to set two hens on the same day, for the two broods may be united under one if desirable, and on the hatching day, to prevent the newly-born chickens being crushed by the unhatched eggs, all that are hatched can be given to one hen, and the other take charge of the eggs, which are then more likely to be hatched, as, while the chickens are under the hen, she will sit higher from the eggs, and afford them less warmth when they require it most. The hen of all kinds of gallinaceous fowls, from the Bantam to the Cochin-China, sits for twenty-one days, at which time, on an average, the chickens break the shell; but if the eggs are new laid it will often lessen the time by five or six hours, while stale eggs will always be behind time. For the purpose of breaking the shell, the yet soft beak of the chicken is furnished, just above the point of the upper mandible, with a small, hard, horny scale, which, from the position of the head, as Mr. Yarrell observes, is brought in contact with the inner surface of the shell. This scale may be always seen on the beaks of newly-hatched chickens, but in the course of a short time peels off. It should not be removed. The peculiar sound, incorrectly called "tapping," so perceptible within the egg about the nineteenth day of incubation, which was universally believed to be produced by the bill of the chick striking against the shell in order to break it and effect its release, has been incontestably proved, by the late Dr. F. R. Horner, of Hull, in a paper read by him before the British Association for the Advancement of Science, to be a totally distinct sound, being nothing more than the natural respiratory sound in the lungs of the young chick, which first begins to breathe at that period. Of course there is also an occasional sound made by the tapping of the beak in endeavouring to break the shell. The time occupied in breaking the shell varies, according to the strength of the chick, from one to three hours usually, but extends sometimes to twenty-four, and even more. "I have seen," says Reaumur, "chicks continue at work for two days together; some work incessantly, while others take rest at intervals, according to their physical strength. Some, I have observed, begin to break the shell a great deal too soon; for, be it observed, they ought, before they make their exit, to have within them provision enough to serve for twenty-four hours without taking food, and for this purpose the unconsumed portion of the yolk enters through the navel. The chick, indeed, which comes out of the shell without taking up all the yolk is certain to droop and die in a few days after it is hatched. The assistance which I have occasionally tried to give to several of them, by way of completing their deliverance, has afforded me an opportunity of observing those which had begun to break their shells before this was accomplished; and I have opened many eggs much fractured, in each of which the chick had as yet much of the yolk not absorbed. Some chicks have greater obstacles to overcome than others, since all shells are not of an equal thickness nor of an equal consistence; and the same inequality takes place in the lining membrane, and offers still greater difficulty to the emergent chick. The shells of the eggs of birds of various species are of a thickness proportionate to the strength of the chick that is obliged to break through them. The canary-bird would never be able to break the shell it is enclosed in if that were as thick as the egg of a barn-door fowl. The chick of a barn-door fowl, again, would in vain try to break its shell if it were as thick and hard as that of an ostrich; indeed, though an ostrich ready to be hatched is perhaps thrice as large as the common chick, it is not easy to conceive how the force of its bill can be strong enough to break a shell thicker than a china cup, and the smoothness and gloss of which indicate that it is nearly as hard--sufficiently so to form, as may be often seen, a firm drinking-cup. It is the practice in some countries to dip the eggs into warm water at the time they are expected to chip, on the supposition that the shell is thereby rendered more fragile, and the labour of the chick lightened. But, though the water should soften it, upon drying in the air it would become as hard as at first. When the chick is entirely or almost out of the shell, it draws its head from under its wing, where it had hitherto been placed, stretches out its neck, directing it forwards, but for several minutes is unable to raise it. On seeing for the first time a chick in this condition, we are led to infer that its strength is exhausted, and that it is ready to expire; but in most cases it recruits rapidly, its organs acquire strength, and in a very short time it appears quite another creature. After having dragged itself on its legs a little while, it becomes capable of standing on them, and of lifting up its neck and bending it in various directions, and at length of holding up its head. At this period the feathers are merely fine down, but, as they are wet with the fluid of the egg, the chick appears almost naked. From the multitude of their branchlets these down feathers resemble minute shrubs; when, however, these branchlets are wet and sticking to each other, they take up but very little room; as they dry they become disentangled and separated. The branchlets, plumules, or beards of each feather are at first enclosed in a membranous tube, by which they are pressed and kept close together; but as soon as this dries it splits asunder, an effect assisted also by the elasticity of the plumules themselves, which causes them to recede and spread themselves out. This being accomplished, each down feather extends over a considerable space, and when they all become dry and straight, the chick appears completely clothed in a warm vestment of soft down." If they are not out in a few hours after the shell has been broken, and the hole is not enlarged, they are probably glued to the shell. Look through the egg then, and, if all the yolk has passed into the body of the chicken, you may assist it by enlarging the fracture with a pair of fine scissors, cutting up towards the large end of the egg, never downwards. "If," says Miss Watts, "the time has arrived when the chicken may with safety be liberated, there will be no appearance of blood in the minute blood-vessels spread over the interior of the shell; they have done their work, and are no longer needed by the now fully developed and breathing chick. If there should be the slightest appearance of blood, resist at once, for its escape would generally be fatal. Do not attempt to let the chicken out at once, but help it a little every two or three hours. The object is not to hurry the chicken out of its shell, but to prevent its being suffocated by being close shut up within it. If the chick is tolerably strong, and the assistance needful, it will aid its deliverance with its own exertions." When the chicken at last makes its way out, do not interfere with it in any way, or attempt to feed it. Animal heat alone can restore it. Weakness has caused the delay, and this has probably arisen from insufficient warmth, perhaps from the hen having had too many eggs to cover thoroughly, or they may have been stale when set. Should you have to assist it out of the shell, take it out gently with your fingers, taking great care not to tear any of its tender skin, when freeing the feathers from the shell. Mr. Wright says: "We never ourselves now attempt to assist a chick from the shell. If the eggs were fresh, and proper care has been taken to preserve moisture during incubation, no assistance is ever needed. To fuss about the nest frets the hen exceedingly; and we have always found that, even where the poor little creature survived at the time, it never lived to maturity. Should the reader attempt such assistance, in cases where an egg has been long chipped, and no further progress made, let the shell be cracked gently all round, without tearing the inside membrane; if that be perforated, the viscid fluid inside dries and glues the chick to the shell. Should this happen, or should both shell and membrane be perforated at first, introduce the point of a pair of scissors and cut up the egg towards the large end, where there will be an empty space, remembering that, if blood flows, all hope is at end. Then put the chick back under the hen; she will probably squeeze it to death, it is true--it is so very weak; but it will never live if put by the fire, at least we always found it so. Indeed, as we have said, we consider it quite useless to make the attempt at all." The fact is, it is scarcely worth while to attempt to assist in the case of ordinary eggs, but if the breed is valuable the labour may be well bestowed. Some hens are reluctant to give up sitting, and will hatch a second brood with evident pleasure; but it is cruel to overtask their strength and patience, and they are sure to suffer, more or less, from the unnatural exertion. Some breeders use a contrivance called an "artificial mother" for broods hatched under the hen, and it may be employed very advantageously when any accident has happened to her. It is made in various forms, such as a wooden frame, or shallow box, open at both ends, and sloping like a writing-desk, with a perforated lid lined with sheep or lamb's skin, goose-down, or some similar warm fleecy material hanging down, under and between which the chickens nestle, heat being applied to the lid either by hot water or hot air, so as to imitate the warmth of the hen's breast. When chickens are hatched by artificial means, such as by the Hydro-Incubator, or the Eccaleobion, or in an oven according to the method practised by the Egyptians, these protectors are essential; for without a good substitute for the hen's natural warmth the chickens would perish. Artificial incubators are now extensively used, and where gas is laid on they are easily managed, but the chief difficulty is in rearing the chickens. For information on the subject see the works of Tegetmeier, Dickson, and Wright, on Poultry. CHAPTER VII. REARING AND FATTENING FOWLS. The first want which the chick will feel will be that of warmth, and there is no warmth so suited for them as that of the hen's body. Some persons remove the chicks from under the mother as soon as they are hatched, one by one, placing them in a basket covered up with flannel, and keep them there in a warm place, until the last chick is out, when they are put back under the hen. But this is very seldom necessary unless the weather is very cold and the hen restless, and is generally more likely to annoy than benefit her. Nor should the hen be induced to leave the nest, but be left undisturbed until she leaves of her own accord, when the last hatched chickens will be in a better condition to follow her than if she had been tempted to leave earlier. In a few hours they are able to run about and follow their parent; they do not require to be fed in the nest like most birds, but pick up the food which their mother shows them; and repose at night huddled up beneath her wings. The chicken during its development in the egg is nourished by the yolk, and the remaining portion of the yolk passes into its body previous to its leaving the shell, being designed for its first nourishment; and the chicken, therefore, does not require any food whatever during the first day. The old-fashioned plan, so popular with "practical" farmers' wives, of cramming a peppercorn down the throat of the newly-hatched chick is absurd and injurious. The first food must be very light and delicate, such as crumbs of bread soaked in milk, the yolk of an egg boiled hard, and curds; but very little of anything at first except water, for thirst will come before hunger. The thirsty hen will herself soon teach the little ones how to drink. If your chicks be very weakly, you may cram them with crumbs of good white bread, steeped in milk or wine, but at the same time recollect that their little craws are not capable of holding more than the bulk of a pea; so rather under than over feed them. As soon as the hen leaves the nest, she should have as much grain as she can eat, and a good supply of pure, clean water. In winter, or settled wet weather, she should, if possible, be kept on her nest for a day, and, when removed, be cooped in a warm, dry shed or outhouse; but in summer, if the weather be fine, and the chickens well upon their legs, they may be at once cooped out in the sun, on dry gravel, or if possible on a nice grass-plot, with food and water within her reach. The hen is cooped to prevent her from wearying the brood by leading them about until they are over-tired, besides being exposed to danger from cats, hawks, and vermin, tumbling into ditches, or getting wet in the high grass. They can pass in and out between the bars of the coop, and will come when she calls, or they wish to shelter under her wings. It is a good plan to place the coop for the first day out upon some dry sand, so that the hen can cleanse herself comfortably. The common basket coop should only be used in fine weather, and some straw, kept down by a stone, matting, or other covering, should be placed on the top, to shelter them from the mid-day sun; otherwise a wooden coop should be used, open in front only, about two and a half or three feet square; well-made of stout, sound boards, with a gabled roof covered with felt; and at night a thick canvas or matting should be hung over the front, sufficient space being left for proper ventilation, but not to admit cold draught, or to allow the chicks to get out. Mr. Wright describes an excellent coop which is "very common in some parts of France, and consists of two compartments, separated by a partition of bars, one compartment being closed in front, the other fronted with bars like the partition. Each set of bars should have a sliding one to serve as a door, and the whole coop should be tight and sound. It is best to have no bottom, but to put it on loose dry earth or ashes, an inch or two deep. Each half of the coop is about two feet six inches square, and may or may not be lighted from the top by a small pane of glass. The advantage of such a coop is that, except in very severe weather, no further shelter is required, even at night [if placed under a shed]. During the day the hen is kept in the outer compartment, the chickens having liberty, and the food and water being placed outside; whilst at night she is put in the inner portion of the coop, and a piece of canvas or sacking hung over the bars of the outer half. If the top be glazed, a little food and the water-vessel may be placed in the outer compartment at night, and the chicks will be able to run out and feed early in the morning, being prevented by the canvas from going out into the cold air. It will be only needful to remove the coop every two days for a few minutes, to take away the tainted earth and replace it with fresh. There should, if possible, be a grass-plot in front of the shed, the floor of which should be covered with dry, loose dust or earth." The hen should be kept under a coop until the brood has grown strong. Some breeders object to cooping, on account of its preventing the hen from scratching for worms and insects for her brood, and which are far superior to the substitutes with which they must be supplied, unless, indeed, a good supply of worms, ants' eggs, insects, or gentles can be had. The hen too has not sufficient exercise after her long sitting. Cooping thus has its advantages and disadvantages, and its adoption or not should depend upon circumstances. If it is preferred not to coop the hen, and she should be inclined to roam too far, a small run may be made with network, or with the moveable wire-work described on page 21. Winter-hatched chickens must be reared and fed in a warm place, which must be kept at an equal temperature. They return a large profit for the great care they require in hatching and rearing. Chickens should be fed very often; every two hours is not too frequently. The number of these meals must be reduced by degrees to four or five, which may be continued until they are full grown. Grain should not be given to newly-hatched chickens. The very best food for them, after their first meal of bread-crumbs and egg, is made of two parts of coarse oatmeal and one part of barley-meal, mixed into a thick crumbly paste with milk or water. If milk is used, it must be fresh mixed for each meal, or it will become sour. Cold oatmeal porridge is an excellent food, and much liked by them. After the first week they may