52 THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER. 



material for it is an equal mixture of hard-boiled yolfc 

 of egg chopped up very fine and mixed with bread and 

 milk. Let the hen be allowed to partake of this also she 

 needs it and then give her besides as much barley as she 

 will eat, and offer her water, which she will drink greedily. 

 To satisfy the hen at first saves much restlessness and 

 trouble with her afterwards. 



There is a stupid practice adopted by many, of removing 

 the little horny scale which appears on every chicken's 

 beak, with the idea of enabling them to peck better, and 

 then putting food or peppercorns down their throats, and 

 dipping their bills in water to make them drink. It is a 

 mistake to say that if this does no good it can do no harm : 

 the little beaks are very soft and tender, and are often 

 injured by such barbarous treatment. Leave them alone. 

 If they do not eat or drink and chickens seldom drink 

 the first day it only shows they do not wish to ; to fill an 

 empty stomach is the first and universal instinct of all 

 living things. 



The brood having been fed, the next step will depend 

 upon circumstances. If, as we recommend, the chickens 

 were hatched the night before, or be well upon their legs, 

 and the weather be fine, they may be at once moved out, 

 and the hen cooped where her little ones can get the sun. 

 If it be winter, or settled wet weather, the hen must, if 

 possible, be kept indoors, or else be cooped under a dry 

 shed or outhouse. Under such a shed a plain basket coop 

 will do very well. 



When a shed is not at command, the best coop for 

 chickens we are acquainted with is one we made and 

 described years ago, the chief feature of which is a raised 

 inside floor. This coop is shown in Fig. 14, and the floor in 

 Fig. 15. The best size is two feet square, for which twelve- 

 feet planks, nine inches wide, will cut all the lengths without 



