226 AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



spot adhering 1 to the shell, and by a cloudy and ill-defined 

 appearance, but no red streaks. 



Moisture in Egg-Hatching. I am afraid that mistakes 

 are being 1 made, and other mistakes are likely to be mad e, 

 by stifling both hens and incubators for want of sufficient 

 moisture. Serious disappointments have occurred from 

 this cause, and from an idea which has somehow got 

 abroad that moisture is a bad thing in incubation. No 

 doubt too much water would be bad it is bad in every 

 sense, whether we have to deal with it in plant life, or in 

 animal life. Water simply drowns life action when there 

 is too much of it, and if incubators are allowed to sweat 

 moisture about the eggs, they will go bad to a certainty. 

 But the anatomy of the egg, and the process of hatching 

 from first to last, all show that moisture that is, healthy 

 life moisture is a necessity for life all through. Both 

 hens and incubators require such a degree of moisture, or 

 chicks cannot come forth in a strong, robust, healthy state. 

 When eggs are hatched in leaves, as in the case of the 

 Australian scrub turkey, in manure substances, or in tlie 

 nest-like arrangements of Egyptians, Indians, or Chinese, 

 their climate, habitations, and surroundings supply the 

 required warmth and moisture. Our experiences are just 

 the same. Thousands of chicks are lost during every 

 hatching season when dry winds prevail. Life heat, from 

 102 to 105 degrees, just moist, is the state of things for 

 generating life in the egg, and developing healthy chickens. 

 Hen Mothers. The hen n, other I refer to is a box, say 

 12 x 24 x 9, the 9 inches being the height in front. The 

 top of the box slopes downwards towards the back, so that 

 it is about 4 inches high at that side. The inside of the 

 top and also the back is lined with woollen rag, or short 

 wool sheepskin will do. This hen mother may either have 

 a wooden floor, or it will do without the floor, if it is 

 arranged on dry earth. The chicks can be taken from the 

 hen or incubator when 24 hours old. They may then be 

 put in families of 20 or 25 in a grassy pen, but quite dry, 

 fenced with boards, from 2 to 10 feet square, and about 2 feet 

 high, and so close or tight at the bottom that the smallest 

 cannot squeeze through. Young ducks will do well treated 



