90 INCUBATION. 



yolk or unusual form, and taking care to se- 

 lect the freshest eggs, and those which have 

 not been much shaken. If you wish for 

 dark-coloured chickens, you have only to 

 select those eggs which have a light, red- 

 dish-brown hue. 



Pullets, or even young hens, should not 

 be intrusted with a nest of eggs ; it is better 

 to employ older ones, who sit more closely, 

 and are better calculated to take charge of 

 a brood. The number of eggs to be placed 

 under a fowl varies from thirteen to nine- 

 teen, according to the size of the hen. 



The period of hatching, or incubation, as 

 it is called, lasts twenty-one days ; and du- 

 ring that period, the following changes take 

 place in the egg : 



A small, shining spot, of an elongated 

 form, with rounded extremities, but narrow- 

 est in the middle, is perceived at the end of 

 the first day, not in, nor upon the cicatricula, 

 but very near that part of the yolk-bag. 

 This may be said to appear beforehand, as 

 the abode of the chick which is to follow. 

 The yolk augments in quantity, at the ex- 



