Chapter V. 

 CARE OF YOUNG CHICKvS WITH HENS. 



Keep all chicks out of tJie zvet grass in the eat ly tiiorning. 

 It is not the wet feet, but the 7uel feathers that do the hai >ii. 



— Tim's Wife. 



J^ When the chicks begin to break tho 



^"^^^ shell, the importance of a mother-hen with 



^tm a quiet and gentle disposition becomes 



^^^\ apparent. The advice common!}^ given to 



let the hen alone until the chicks are all 



out, is sound only in cases where hens are so wild and 



pugnacious that handling them will endanger the 



young, or the attendant is ignorant of the proper thing 



to do. 



It is often good policy to take from the nest the 

 chicks that come out first. This leaves more room for 

 those that are to hatch, and when out of the nest they 

 cannot be trampled on. This is especialh^ wise when 

 the mother is heavy, clumsy and fidgety and lacking 

 motherly instinct. When several hens are hatching 

 at the same date, it will often be found prudent, while 

 the chicks are coming out, to transfer all the chicks 

 and eggs from an unruly hen to those that exhibit 

 more hen-sense. 



All empty shells should be removed from the nest 

 at once. Occasionally a chick is unal:)le to get out 

 after it has chipped the shell. The experienced hand 

 can frequently give aid by carefully breaking the shell 



