POULTRY. 



557 



hatching, as they fill up the nest, and are also liable to slip over the unhatched eggs, and 

 sometimes prevent their hatching. Handle the hen always with the greatest gentleness and 

 care, as she is easily disturbed and annoyed at such times. It is a good plan to set hens just 

 at night; in such cases the eggs, if fresh when set, will generally begin to break at night or 

 in the afternoon. Towards night remove all the broken shells from the nest, give the hen 

 food and water, and darken her place of sitting so that she will not be liable to come off with 

 her little brood in the morning before it can be ascertained whether all the eggs that will, are 

 hatched. 



It will be well on setting a hen, to tack a card to each nest, with the date of the time 

 of setting, the number of eggs set, and chicks hatched. These cards, when preserved, 

 will show how many eggs were set, and chicks hatched during the season. The cuts on the 

 previous page represent the internal condition of eggs that have been taken from under hens at 

 different periods, while being incubated such as have been sat upon from three and four, up 

 to nineteen and twenty days. Or, commencing with the appearance of the interior of fertile 

 eggs (in process of incubation) with the third day, and ending with the condition of such 

 eggs upon the twentieth or twenty-first day, when the shell is naturally cracked, prior to the 

 emerging of the living chicken. The first stages of the embryo are thus exhibited, and the 

 several stages toward the successful hatching of the chick delineated, until ready to break 

 its covering, and emerge alive. 



Period of Incubation of Yarious Fowls. The following table gives the shortest, 

 average, and longest period of time in relation to the incubation of various fowls. Newlv 



laid eggs will always hatch earlier than stale eggs, while the degree of temperature in the 

 body of the sitter will also make some difference in the period of incubation. Chickens, on 

 the average, will break the shell at the end of the twenty-first day. If proper care has been 

 taken to preserve moisture during the period of incubation no assistance will be needed. To 

 disturb the hen more than to take the chicks out of the nest as fast as they hatch and are 

 dried off, does more harm than good. When the shell has been chipped for some time, with 

 no farther progress made, the chick may be helped a little by gently cracking the shell all 

 around, without tearing the membrane that lies underneath. If that be torn, the fluid will 

 be apt to dry and glue the chick to the shell. &quot;We have sometimes assisted chicks from the 

 shell when the membrane has thus become torn and dried on, and had them live; but 

 generally they will be weak and soon die. If blood oozes from the membrane in the operation, 

 there will be but little hope of success. 



Sex of Eggs. Many experiments have been tried, and much written upon determining 

 the sex of the future chick by the appearance of the egg. The theory entertained in the 



