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224 THE POULTRY-BOOK. 



Position of the chick immediately before hatching, and of the situation of the bill 

 in the act of chipping the egg. 



The first few strokes of the chick's beak produce a small 

 crack, rather nearer the larger than the smaller end of the egg-, 

 when the egg is said to be chipped. From the first crack, the 

 chick turns gradually round, from left to right, chipping the 

 shell as it turns, in a circular manner, never obliquely. 



All chicks do not succeed in producing this result in the 

 same time, some being able to perform the task within an hour, 

 others taking two or three hours, while half a day is most usu- 

 ally employed, and some require twenty-four hours or more, 

 rarely two days. 



Some chicks begin to break the shell too soon, that is, before 

 they have taken in the necessary provision of food, by the yolk 

 passing into their bodies through the navel-string. The chick, 

 indeed, which comes out of the shell before the yolk is thus 

 taken up, is as certain to droop and die as a calf would do| with- 

 out milk. 



Some chicks, it may be remarked, have greater obstacles to 

 overcome than others, from all shells not being alike in thick- 

 ness and hardness ; and hence the directions given for assisting 

 in the process. 





