[ 599 ] 



sible ; but they can be collected and kept for a week before 

 they are put to brooding, without any harm occurring. 

 Eggs which are very stale, i.e. } set more than a week after 

 they are laid, even when they do hatch, produce sickly 

 birds. 



(16). Shallow gdmlds make very good brooding nests. 

 Three spch-gdmtds are sufficient for three brooding hens kept 

 in a five feet square shed with a small yard in front, situated 

 iiv a damp place. Coolness of shed and dampness of atmos- 

 phere are helptul to the chickens hatching out more easily ; 

 but draughts and rain must be avoided. Over the gamlds 

 should be put some ashes, then some fresh cut damp grass, 

 and on the top a layer of straw cut up in lengths of about 

 2 inches. 10 to 12 fowl eggs and 6 to 8 duck's eggs, are 

 quite sufficient for each hen. 



-; -(17) Brooding hens must be fed twice a day, and it may 

 be nece-ssary to lift them up with their wings and bring them 

 dewn -from their gamlds to the food and water supplied to 

 them. Should any eggs be found broken by some accident, 

 it must -be removed, fresh straw put on, and any eggs found 

 soiled must be cleaned with salt water, and dried immediately 

 afterwards and replaced in the nest. The breast of the hen 

 should be also cleaned, if it is found soiled in any way before 

 she is allowed to go back to her gam! a. 



(i&) In the brooding shed there must be a heap of sand 

 and ashes where the hens may have their daily dust-bath 

 which keeps them free from lice. Half an hour should be 

 quite enough for the feeding, recreation and dust-bath, after 

 which she must be encouraged to go back to her nest, which 

 she usually does with alacrity. But one or even two hours' 

 absence of hen from her nest does not interfere with the 

 hatching of the eggs. 



'(19); The chickens come out after 21 day's incubation. 

 For a whole "day after hatching they require no food, and as 

 some eggs are a few hours later than others in hatching it is 



