POULTRY. 



chirp of her young, she has a tendency to walk 

 off with them, leaving the unhatched eggs to their 

 fate. It is therefore advisable to watch the birth 

 of the chicks, and to remove each as soon as it 

 becomes dry, which may be in a few hours after- 

 wards. By this means the hen will sit to hatch 

 the whole ; yet she should not be wearied by too 

 long sitting. If all the eggs are not hatched at 

 the end of twelve or fifteen hours after the first 

 chick makes its appearance, in all probability they 

 are addled, and may be abandoned. It is a good 

 arrangement to ' set ' two or more hens at the 

 same time, so that in the event of only some half- 

 dozen chickens from each nest, two broods can 

 be taken charge of by one hen. 



The chicks must be kept warm the first day or 

 two. The food given to the young chicks should 

 be split grits, which they require no teaching to 

 pick up ; afterwards, the ordinary food of the 

 poultry-yard, or what the mother discovers for 

 their use, is sufficient Some give the yolks of 

 hard-boiled eggs or curd, when a nourishing diet 

 seems advisable. The extreme solicitude of the hen 

 for her young, or the brood which may be imposed 

 upon her, is well known. She leads them about 

 in quest of food, defends them by violent gesticu- 

 lations and the weapons which nature has given 

 her, calls them around her by a peculiar low 

 clucking cry, and gathers them carefully under 

 her wings, to shelter them from danger, or to keep 

 them warm at night. This maternal care is 

 bestowed as long as the chickens require her 

 assistance ; as soon as they can shift for them- 

 selves, the mutual attachment ceases, and all 

 knowledge of each other is very speedily lost. 

 The young now go to roost, and the mother again 

 begins to lay. Young hens, usually called pullets, 

 begin to lay early in the spring after they are 

 hatched. As heat is all that is necessary to 

 develop the chick in the egg, eggs may be hatched 

 artificially, without the intervention of the hen. 

 The art has long been practised in Egypt, and 

 has since been adopted in many other quarters, 

 but with indifferent success. In the variable and 

 moist climate of Great Britain, at least, there is 

 little chance of Eccaleobions, or Patent Incu- 

 bators, ever superseding, to any great extent, the 

 office of the brooding-hen. 



Capons. 



By removing the reproductive and oviparous 

 organs from the male and hen chickens respect- 

 ively, a great change is produced in them as 

 regards voice and habits, and they can be made 

 remarkably fat for the table. Fowls thus operated 

 on are called capons. They are chiefly reared in 

 Sussex, Essex, and one or two other counties 

 around London, and can be trained to watch 

 chickens, hatch eggs, and do many useful offices 

 of the poultry-yard. Upon the whole, however, 

 the special benefit derived from rearing capons 

 does not counterbalance the trouble which they 

 give, and the danger of the primary operation ; 

 and the consequence is that the number of capons 

 is decreasing. 



Diseases. 



Though on the whole fowls are naturally healthy, 

 chickens are liable to various diseases, demanding 

 attention from the poultry-keeper. The//)> is the 

 most common ; it consists of a catarrhal thicken- 



ing of the membrane of the tongue, causing a 

 dangerous and obvious obstruction to respiration. 

 It may be cured in most cases by throwing the 

 fowl on its back, holding open the beak, and 

 scraping or peeling off the membrane with a 

 needle or the nail. The part may be wetted with 

 salt or vinegar afterwards, and a little fresh butter 

 pushed over the throat Thirst sometimes attacks 

 fowls like a fever, and often arises simply from 

 dry food, though more frequently symptomatic 

 of indigestion or some internal and deep-seated 

 derangement Careful attention to diet is the 

 first and great point in all such cases. If consti- 

 pation appear to be present, bread soaked in 

 warm milk, boiled carrots or cabbages, earth- 

 worms, chopped suet, or hot potatoes with drip- 

 ping, will be found useful. A clyster of sweet oil 

 should be tried in severe cases. Where a tonic 

 seems to be required, a little iron rust may be 

 mixed with the food, and will generally relieve 

 atrophy or loss of flesh. Where diarrhoea or 

 scouring is observed, iron or alum may be given 

 in small quantities. Where general fever has 

 been observed in fowls, the use of a little nitre 

 has been found very advantageous. Saffron is 

 another remedy very often employed in relieving 

 the symptoms of sickness in fowls. 



TURKEYS. 



The turkey, like the common fowl, has been 

 included by naturalists in the Gallinaceous family 

 of birds, and possesses the main characteristics 

 common to the whole. It is a native of the woods 

 of North America, and is certainly one of the 

 most valuable fowls which have been naturalised 

 in this country, but is very difficult to rear. The 

 turkey-hen lays from fifteen to twenty eggs, and 

 then sits upon them. She will bring out two 

 broods in a year. The eggs are of a pale yellow- 

 ish-white colour, finely streaked and spotted with 

 reddish-yellow. They are a most delicious food, 

 more delicate in flavour than the egg of the 

 common hen. There is an interval of a day 

 between the laying of each egg. It is said that 

 the first two eggs which she lays are unfruitfuL 

 A turkey-hen can seldom hatch more than from 

 sixteen to eighteen eggs. The time of incubation 

 varies from twenty-seven to twenty-eight days, at 

 which time the young begin to pierce their shelly 

 prison, and emerge from it. The varieties most 

 common in this country are the Norfolk and 1 

 Cambridge turkeys. The former is entirely black, 

 and if not quite so heavy as the Cambridge, is 

 second to none in beauty and symmetry. 



General Management. 



The turkey-chick is the most delicate of the 

 poultry tribe to rear, and the utmost care is 

 required to bring it past the tender age. II 

 the poults get the slightest damp or frost, the 

 chances are they will either, die or be spoiled 

 about the legs and joints. For the rearing of 

 these valuable birds, special accommodation is 

 absolutely necessary, and the floor should be laid 

 with wood. Dampness from above or below, as 

 well as strong sunshine, they must be protect 

 from for some weeks. Should thev accidentally 

 get wet, they may be carefully dried with a towe^ 

 placed near a fire for some time, and fed on bread 

 mixed with a small quantity of ground pepjper 



