INCUBATION. 185 



furnish a few matter-of-fact considerations that a practical work 

 demands, and let others dwell at length on the more abstruse, 

 and less interesting points to the practical breeder. 



When a hen has laid her " litter " or " clutch " of eggs, we 

 all know that she will desire to sit. There appears to be a 

 word lacking in the English language to signify the number 

 of eggs a hen lays before desiring to sit, as neither " litter w 

 nor " clutch" is strictly proper, but used from necessity. If 

 she is to be permitted to sit. she should .be in a place where 

 she will not be subject to intrusions from other hens, by laying 

 in her nest, as eggs are frequently broken in the strife on such 

 occasions. If, however, any liability exist of such results at all, 

 it is best to mark the eggs with a lead pencil, on sitting the 

 hen, by running a ring around each, and then, if other eggs 

 be deposited in the nest, they can be easily detected. 



In early spring, the nests for sitting hens should be made as 

 warm as possible ; but in summer, the reverse. A hen should 

 never be suffered to sit in a place where the rays of the sun 

 render the atmosphere insupportable to human beings, or nearly 

 so, but should be well shaded, and have plenty of ventilation. 

 In very warm weather, a hen will hatch more chicks if the 

 nest be made in earth, than if made of hay or straw. It would 

 be proper to place damp earth in their nest-boxes, scooped out 

 in the form of a bowl, and packed firmly, over which a light 

 covering of fine, short hay, should be laid. 



The number of eggs to place under a hen, should always be 

 in the ratio of the size of both hen and eggs. A common, 

 small fowl can cover but seven eggs of the Brahma Pootra 

 fowl, while a Brahma Pootra hen will cover fifteen or more 

 eggs of the small breeds. It has been the custom, since the 

 days of yore, to place an odd number of eggs under sitting 

 hens, and the practice is founded on the fact, however singular 

 it may be, that an even number will not fill a nest so propor- 

 tionate, in its rotund form, as an odd number. 



When many hens are sitting at the same time, they should be 

 placed at such distances from each other, as to enable each fowl 

 to know her own nest on all occasions when returning from her 

 food and-water. If care be not taken to guard against this 

 evil, serious consequences to the eggs will occur, by two hens 

 getting upon one nest, breaking a portion of the eg'gs, perhaps, 

 while the eggs of the other nest are destroyed by exposure. 



I think that I cannot serve the interests of my readers better 



