HATCHING AND REARING CHICKS 



two-thirds over; this is done because by this time 

 the empty egg shells are getting almost too numer- 

 ous for the size of the egg trays, and sometimes 

 there are large, perfectly dry chicks which have 

 failed to find their way to the nursery below, but 

 which should be quickly dispatched there to get 

 them out of the way of the chicks just hatching; 

 also, empty egg shells sometimes slip over pipped 

 eggs, shutting off the chick's supply of air by en- 

 closing its breathing place. 



Should there happen to be any crippled or de- 

 formed chicks in the lot, they should be promptly 

 killed. It usually is only a waste of time to try 

 to raise such chicks, and it always requires more 

 time and effort than the chicks are worth. This is 

 a point over which beginners always hesitate or 

 falter, but the law of Nature of " the survival of 

 only the fittest " is sure to obtain sooner or later, 

 and one might as well save himself unnecessary 

 trouble by taking the matter into his own hands 

 right at the very outset as I have suggested. 



Warm, dry, comfortable quarters should have 

 been provided for the old mother hen and her 

 brood some little time before necessary to remove 

 them from the nest. In the case of a brooder, the 

 lamp should be started at least twenty-four hours 

 before the chicks will need to be placed in the 

 machine, so that the flame may be regulated to 

 maintain the correct temperature. 



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