INCUBATION. 



175 



pend upon the season, and upon their and her 

 own size. The safest plan is not to be too greedy. 

 The number of chickens hatched is often in 

 inverse proportion to the eggs set. We have 

 known only four or five to be obtained from 

 eighteen eggs. Where every thing was agree- 

 able we have known instances in which all the 

 eggs, to the number of sixteen, have been hatch- 

 ed. Hens will in general cover from eleven to 

 thirteen eggs, if laid by themselves. Sometimes 

 the hen may lay more eggs, or others lay in the 

 same nest; in such cases we have found it nec- 

 essary to mark the eggs with ink, and if fresfi 

 ones should be laid, they could be readily dis- 

 tinguished and removed, as they would be too 

 late in hatching. 



If a hen is really determined to sit, it is use- 

 less, as well as cruel, to attempt to divert her 

 from her object. The means usually prescribed 

 are such as no humane person would willingly 

 put in practice. If the season is too early to 

 give a hope of rearing gallinaceous birds, the 

 eggs of ducks or geese may generally be had, 

 and the young may be brought up with a little 

 pains-taking, as well as by their natural parent. 

 And if it be required to retain the services of 

 the hen for expected valuable eggs, she may be 

 beguiled for a week or two with four or five ad- 

 dled or glass eggs, till the choice ones should 

 be received. 



For hatching and to have eggs productive, 

 they must be fresh, and must not be exposed to 

 noxious effluvia or moisture. Those intended 

 for incubation should always be gathered with 

 more care than if they were merely to be em- 

 ployed for aliment. They should be of an aver- 

 age size and ordinary form, avoiding very small 

 eggs, which have generally no yolk, and those 

 which are ill-shaped, or of equal thickness at 

 both ends, as the latter are the usual shape of 

 .such eggs as have double yolks, which, though 

 good for culinary purposes, are not so for hatch- 

 ing ; for if they prove productive, the produce 

 is generally monsters with two heads, four legs, 

 and the like. Instances have occurred, but 

 rarely, where two and even three chickens were 

 hatched from one egg. 



It has generally been found that hens which 

 are the best layers are the worst sitters. Those 



which we have found best adapted for that pur- 

 pose have short legs, a broad body, large wings 

 well furnished with feathers, their nails and 

 spurs not too long or sharp. 



During the period of incubation a good sit- 

 ter will not leave her nest for more than a few 

 minutes at a time, to provide her food, and at 

 intervals of from one to three days. So pow- 

 erful, too, is this instinct, that they have been 

 known to remain on their nests until they have 

 perished with hunger. To prevent such an oc- 

 currence, it has been recommended to feed them 

 daily in this situation ; but from our experience 

 it seems the best plan to let them follow the 

 dictates of their own instinct, and when they 

 desire food and water, let them seek it in the 

 poultry-yard. 



After twenty-one days a good sitter will bring 

 out her chickens, and as soon as she be- 

 comes a mother her whole character is changed. 

 From being peaceful and cowardly, she becomes 

 a noisy termagant, fighting with all her female 

 friends, and avoiding chanticleer as her most 

 dreadful foe. All her former feelings and hab- 

 its become absorbed in increasing maternal so- 

 licitude. She turns out to be frugal, generous, 

 sober, reserved, courageous, and intrepid. She 

 assumes, indeed, all the qualities of the cock, 

 and even carries them to a higher degree of 

 perfection. When we see her come into the 

 poultry-yard, surrounded by her little ones for 

 the first time, it seems as if she were proud of 

 her new dignity, and takes a great pleasure in 

 performing her duty. Her eyes are lively, ani- 

 mated, and constantly on the alert ; her looks 

 are so quick and rapid that she could take in 

 every object at one glance ; antl she appears to 

 discover at once the smallest seed on the ground, 

 which she points out to her young ones ; and 

 in the air, if she discovers the bird of prey, she 

 dreads for their sake, and giving them warning 

 by a peculiar cry, she induces them immediate- 

 ly to hide themselves. 



Incessantly taken up with their welfare, she 

 excites them to follow her and to eat; she 

 picks them food; she scratches the ground in 

 search of worms which she gives up to them ; 

 she stops now and then, squats down, opens her 

 wings, and invites her tender brood to come and 



