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Sometimes the little bird, on proceeding to 

 leave the broken slu'll, imexpectcilly fimls 

 itself retained in its place by some accidental 

 or irregular circumstance. The shell may, lor 

 instance, have been well crackod, and yet its 

 lining membrane may bo bo tough as to defy 

 all the eflbrta of the inmate to rupture it, and 

 thus still present a barrier — often, williout 

 assistance, an insurmountable one. Some 

 chickens wasfe their time striving to tear this 

 membrane before they have made a sulUcient 

 crack in the shell. These had better not 

 receive assistance, as they will speedily find out 

 their error, and go to work in a proper 

 manner." 



It is recommended that, in every case, the 

 egg should be looked through before helping the 

 ciiick. The chicken, whicli comes forth pre- 

 vious to the complete absorption of the yolk, 

 is sure to be an unhealthy, delicate little 

 thing, walking about like a gallinaceous ghost, 

 ready to fall olT its legs at every pull' of wind. 

 Before quitting the shell, a chicken ought to 

 have imbibed such a portion of nourishment 

 as will, at all events, support its existence for 

 twenty-four hours afterwards. The yolk is 

 designed for this purpose ; an I any excess of 

 light that may be permitted lo strike upon 

 the egg, or any injudicious handling of it 

 as the close of incubation approaches, will 

 generally be the cause of inducing the chicken 

 to strive to get out too soon, which, as a na- 

 tural consequence, is frequently productive of 

 considerable numerical loss. As every mem- 

 brane or shell is not alike in point of thickness, 

 another difliculty presents itself in preventing 

 the chick from easily coming forth. 



Dipping the eggs into warm water the day 

 before (some poulterers think they will be 

 pecked at), is a plan sometimes adopted ; but, 

 as this ca'.i produce no real difference upon 

 the consistence of the shell, the plan may 

 safely be pronounced futile. This practice 

 has, therefore, been objected to. Too much 

 heat is another obstacle in the way of the 

 egress of the chick, as the albumen with which 

 it is encompassed, sometimes becomes con- 

 verted into a kind of ^lue, which fastens them 

 to the extraordinary abode in which they are 

 inclosed. 



The only case in which interference can 

 prove useful; is said to be — '* When you find 



the fracture on tho outside of the shell re- 

 maining the Hamo for five or nix hourB, and 

 when, on examining tho ed/^ea of thia fracture, 

 you linil tlicm dry and uumoiatened by any 

 fluid, you may conclude that aHHistanco is 

 called for, and may procei'd to render it with 

 all possible caution. Tho best mode to bo 

 adopted, on such occasions, is to imitate, as 

 nearly as possible, tho natural eflbrta of tho 

 chicken itself, which may be done by Hharp, 

 short strokes with the back of a knife or key ; 

 or, what is better than either, tho point of a 

 pair of scissors. Bo, however, both gentle, 

 firm, and deliberate, and take care lest you 

 penetrate the cavity of the egg. Having suc- 

 ceeded in making a sufficient opening in tho 

 sliell, you may, by a careful and tender use of 

 your fingers, extricate the chick. Sometimes a 

 few scales of albumen, or of tho lining niejn- 

 brane of the egg, may remain on the bird's 

 plumage for some days. Do not be uneasy 

 about thera. Leave them alone, and, as they 

 dry, they will fiill off of themselves. In aftord- 

 iug your assistance to the embarrassed chick, 

 be extremely tender with your finger?. You 

 may otherwise often kill when your intention 

 is only to cure. 



" For my own part," continues tho same 

 authority, "my confidence in the unassisted 

 powers of nature is such, that I should be dis- 

 posed to permit, at least, eifjht hours to elapse 

 before I resorted to mechanical means of in- 

 terference. A chick so weak as to perish be- 

 fore that time, is not worth striving to extri- 

 cate ; and, on the score of humanity, its death 

 within the shell will be less painful than after 

 quitting it." 



"When the chickens are all hatched out and 

 dry, we think it a capital plan to move the 

 mother and her family into a clean warm ne?t, 

 because the one in which she has been sitting 

 will most likely be infested with hens' fleas ; 

 and if these get into the young brood — for they 

 love to prey on the young — the evil will be great. 

 In this the chicks may remain over the second 

 or third day, according to their strength, and 

 the state of the weather. 



In reference to the vermin " pest," affecting 

 the chickens, two anonymous writers supply 

 tlie following statements and suggestive reme- 

 dies, or preventives : — 



"Last year my chickens, as also those of 



855 



