HATCHING AND REARING 



117 



only result from unhealthy aetion of some 

 kind or other beyond our ken — will pre- 

 sently give place, under healthier con- 

 ditions, to the exercise of the constant 

 attention on which depends the well- 

 being of the nest. Understand that our 

 rule is, in dealing with our breeding hens, 

 to leave well alone, and to content ourselves 

 with the best they feel inclined to do, if 

 that best be only a reasonable display of 

 care sufficient to keep things moving. 



But for young birds to stand still is for 



them to retrograde, and we generally find 



ourselves every morning not 



Hand=Feeding .. ^^^- something in a 



Young Birds. ^ . '^ 



temporary way with a tea- 

 pot," but with a hard-boiled egg in one 

 hand and a little spatula of Avood in 

 the other. And our mode of procedure 

 is this : We cut a hard-boiled egg in 

 halves, and having moistened a little of 

 the yolk with our saliva in the palm of 

 our clean hand — if a smoker use a tiny 

 drop of warm water instead — -mixing it 

 into a thick creamy substance, which is 

 kept warm by the heat of the hand. We 

 then visit the nest of the doubtful ones, 

 and where we find any empty crops we 

 give the yoimg birds a good feed of the 

 paste, putting it gently into their mouths 

 with the tip of the si^atula. They will 

 swallow it as fast as it is given to them, 

 but they should not be overfed. Just 

 sufficient should be given to fill up the 

 right side of the neck, which it will be foimd 

 quickly rises up like a yellow bladder. 

 They should be fed in this way about 

 every half-hour. 



There is no difficulty in making young 

 Canaries open their mouths ; it is almost 

 the first thing they do in this world, and 

 they never seem to forget the way ; the 

 difficulty is to fill them fast enough. 

 When the hens do not immediately com- 

 mence their duties never interfere with 

 the young birds till they are twenty four 

 hours old, because the yolk absorbed into 

 the stomach is sufficient to sustain them 

 for that time, and we like to give the hen 

 a fair chance of feeding for herself ; but 

 after that time the very youngest birds can 



be fed in this way, and if attended to at 

 intervals, can frequently be kept going till 

 the hen takes the work in hand. It will 

 be seen that the breeder who has the 

 opportunity of visiting his birds frequently 

 has a great advantage therein. The 

 man of business is perhaps compelled to 

 leave them from morning till evening, 

 or, at the most, is able to snatch a 

 few minutes in the middle of the day. 

 But in most households there is some person 

 who can be trusted to attend to these 

 matters, and when once it is taken in hand, 

 the interest felt in the little things, de- 

 pendent on our attention for their lives, 

 grows immensely, and no bird will be 

 allowed to die without a struggle having 

 been made to save it. 



^Vhen the young are two or three days 

 old just a little powdered biscuit should 

 be added to the yolk of egg, but the 

 creamy consistency should still be main- 

 tained, and when they are four or five 

 days old a little canary-seed, German rape, 

 and hemp-seed should be added. These 

 seeds should be first prepared by passing 

 a rolling-pin over them to crack the husks, 

 and these can then be separated from the 

 kernels by gently blowing them aside. 

 What remains should be ground into a fine 

 meal with a pestle and mortar, and then 

 egg-food should be added in the proportion 

 of about one-fourth seed to egg. The 

 whole should be mixed into a thick paste. 

 The spatula should be dipped into water 

 occasionally, so that the food will leave it 

 freely when put into the bird's mouth. 

 A little more of the powdered biscuit and 

 seed in the meal form should be added to 

 the egg as the birds get older. The 

 mixture must be given in a moist state, as 

 long as it is necessary to hand-feed the 

 young brood. They will be able to do for 

 themselves when four weeks old, though 

 some hand-reared birds will allow them- 

 selves to be fed as long as their owner likes 

 and will only look after themselves when 

 they are fairly starved to it. In any case 

 hand-feeding must not cease suddenly ; 

 it should be dropped by degrees, by feeding 

 at longer intervals until the birds are 



