BOOK VIII. V. 6-9 



chickens and others are more suitable for bringing 

 them up when they have been hatched. Some hens, 

 on the other hand, break and consume both their own 

 and other hens' eggs ; any hen which does this will 

 have to be got rid of immediately. 



The chickens of two or three hens, when they have 7 

 been hatched and are still very young, should be 

 transferred to one mother, whichever is the best nurse ; 

 but this must always be done the very first day while 

 the mother, owing to their similarity, is unable to 

 distinguish her own young and those of other hens. A 

 limit, however, must be observed, which ought not to 

 be more than thirty head ; for it is said that a larger 

 flock than this cannot be cared for by a single hen. 8 

 The rule is observed of putting an uneven number of 

 eggs under a hen, but it is not always the same 

 number. At the first setting, that is, in the month of 

 January, fifteen eggs, and never more, ought to be 

 set, in March nineteen and never less : in April, 

 twenty-one, and the same number throughout the 

 summer until October Ist.** After this date any 

 attention given to the matter of hatching is use- 

 less, because, owing to the cold, the chickens 

 generally die as soon as they are hatched. Most 9 

 people, however, do not think that it is good to hatch 

 chickens after the summer solstice, because from that 

 time onwards, even though it is easy to rear them, 

 they never come to their proper growth ; but in the 



" It is clear that the numbers of eggs which should be put 

 under hens at various times of year are wrong in the MSS, 

 according to which fifteen should be set in January, nine in 

 May, eleven in April and thirteen in the summer. This is 

 quite illogical, since obviously more eggs can be given to a hen 

 to sit upon in warm than in cold weather. The readings 

 generally adopted by the editors give the required sense. 



345 



