PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 73 



appears as a little, shrivelled, hard, dark yellow or light 

 brownish pellet of about the size of a pea, death has not 

 come to the chick because of the yolk's non-absorption. 



CHILLING THE CHICKS. 



When eggs are hatched by the natural method, the 

 mother hen, if left to herself will remain on the nest 

 for a day or more, after the chicks are out of the shells. 

 During the first days after leaving the nest she hovers 

 her brood frequently, especially, if the weather is chilly. 

 There is practically no danger of chilling the chicks. 

 When artificially hatched there is no excuse for suffer- 

 ing them to get chilled. 



That they will stand considerable change is abund- 

 antly proved by the fact that newly hatched chicks have 

 been sent safely by express several thousands of miles 

 during changeable spring weather. 



Nevertheless, chilling of the chicks is to be care- 

 fully guarded against because when it does occur, it Is 

 usually fatal in its results. It is a cause of discomfort, 

 induces crowding and piling up together, with resulting 

 suffocation of the chicks that go under. Chilling is one 

 of the most fruitful causes of diarrhea and other diges- 

 tive disorders, of halting in growth, of irregular feath- 

 ering and too often of lingering existence ending in a 

 miserable death. 



THE NATURAL METHOD OF BROODING. 



Feeding the sitting hen with whole corn (maize) 

 and allowing her to drink water while the chicks are 

 coming out of the shells and for a day thereafter, will 

 help to keep her contented and enable the chicks to get 

 well dried off and strong upon their feet. The hen may 

 usually be left to decide herself, when to come off with 

 her brood. 



She should not, and usually will not, lead her little 

 ones far the first day after leaving the nest. She will 

 scratch about, within a short distance of the nest and 

 stop to hover her chicks frequently. The force of habit 



