HATCHING TIME. 51 



them remain for at least twelve hours undisturbed. We say 

 undisturbed, because it is a very common practice to take 

 those first hatched away from the hen, and put them in a 

 basket by the fire till the whole brood is out. When the 

 eggs have varied much in age this course must be adopted ; 

 for some chickens will be perhaps a whole day or more 

 behind the others, and the hen, if she felt the little things 

 moving beneath her, would not stay long enough to hatch 

 the rest. But if the eggs are all fresh, the chicks will appear 

 within a few hours of each other. In that case they are 

 much better left with their mother; the heat of her body 

 appears to strengthen and nourish them in a far better 

 manner than any other warmth, and they are happy and 

 contented, instead of moving restlessly about, as they 

 always do whilst away from her. 



Our own plan is to set the eggs in the evening, when 

 the chicks will break the shell in the evening also, or 

 perhaps the afternoon. Then at night let the state of the 

 brood be once only examined, all egg-shells removed from 

 the nest, and the hen, if she be tame enough to receive it, 

 given food and water. Let her afterwards be so shut in 

 that she cannot leave her nest, and all may be left safely till 

 the morning. By that time the chicks will be strong and 

 lively, quite ready for their first meal ; and unless some of 

 the eggs are known to be very stale, any not hatched then 

 are little likely to hatch at all. If this be so, the chicks 

 may be removed and put in flannel by the fire, and another 

 day patiently waited, to see if any more will appear. We 

 should not do so, however, if a fair number had hatched 

 well ; for they never thrive so well away from the hen, and 

 it is scarcely worth while to injure the healthy portion of 

 the brood for the sake of one or two which very probably 

 may not live after all. 



The first meal should be given on the nest, and the best 



