14§ 

 OF HATCHING. 



441, The Fancier should be particular, and certain of the day of hatching. The way 

 I do is to keep a book on purpose, looking at the nest pans, where I expect them to lay 

 after six o'clock in the evening ; if an egg is laid, I put it in the book the number of 

 the pen to which the birds belong the day the first egg is laid ; suppose the first egg on 

 the first of the month, the second egg on the third, then add seventeen days for sitting 

 from the last egg, making it the twentieth ; generally speaking. Fanciers reckon seven- 

 teen days from the second egg laid, I think it better to take nineteen days from the first, 

 making it the twentieth, it comes to the same thing, provided two eggs are laid, it often 

 happens that only one is laid, and very rare that three are laid. While you are going 

 your round to look after fresh laid eggs, look to eggs that are to hatch that day, be 

 assured in nine cases out ten, the birds will be hatched if hatched at all, unless the 

 weather be unfavorable and the birds do not sit close ; on the contrary, should the 

 weather be very hot, the birds sit close with a warm nest, they will rather hatch before. 

 We wiU suppose the seventeenth day from the hen having laid her last egg now arrived, 

 the yoimg ones beginning to hatch, much attention is now necessary to be paid, a little 

 judicious assistance is sometimes requisite to assist the young bird in extricating itself 

 from its prison-house, particularly in the spring, when the j^oung ones even in the shell 

 are more delicate and weakly than they are at a later period of the season, consequently 

 less able to disengage themselves. If an egg does not spring or chip by the time it 

 ought, namely, in the course of the seventeenth day, the Fancier should hold it to his 

 ear, and if the young one makes a crackling noise, and that pretty briskly, he may con- 

 clude it will soon chip ; when it has so chipped, if the young one should not proceed 

 in its endeavours to break the shell as much as the Fancier thinks it ought to have 

 done in the time, does not continue to make so brisk a noise, it is a sure sign the young 

 one is weakly and almost exhausted, requiring immediate assistance ; in that case he 

 should gently dent his thumb or finger nail, or the head of a pin, in a circle round the 

 egg, in the same manner as if it had been done from within by the beak of the young 

 one itself ; remembering to let in a little air, which may be safely done at the past 

 where the beak lies, and no blood will issue from it, by which means it will be greatly 

 assisted in extricating itself, and many a valuable bird may be thus saved ; particular 

 care should be taken not to pick a hole in any other part of the shell than above men- 

 tioned or make it bleed, althougb some Fanciers say they have taken them out of the 

 shell and they have bled like pigs, it is extremely dangerous. If it has been moving 

 about in the shell so long as to have absorbed all the moisture or blood, and has by its 

 circuitous motion rolled up the little caul or membrane in which it is enveloped whilst 

 in the egg, it may be safely set at liberty, taking care to expose it to the air as short a 

 time as possible. When it is disengaged from the shell, a portion of the yolk will be 

 seen attached to its navel, which w2l nourish it for a day or two, if the old ones should 

 not happen to feed it immediately. It happens from some cause, the young ones do 

 not get fed, in these cases if the Fancier is anxious to save the produce of the pair, and 

 has no means of shifting them under another pair, he must take some crumb of bread, 

 and some yolk of an egg boiled hard, and masticate them in his mouth till they be- 

 come of the proper consistence to pass into the crop of the young bird, by applying its 

 beak to his mouth it wiU in general suck its crop fuU very readily, by the time he has 

 repeated this a day or so, the chances are greatly in favor of the old ones feeding it, 

 either from a more abundant supply of soft meat, or from some other cause ; if the 

 Fancier neglects this too long, the young bird will become weak and will not thrive 

 upon his experiment, even though it should have taken some of this artificial food into 

 its crop in the way before mentioned ; when once the old ones have fed it after him, it 

 is astonishing to see the alteration that takes place in the young bird for the better, in 

 a few hours. 



442. If one shoiild hatch considerably before the other, which it will do if the old 

 ones have rather sat upon than merely stood over the first egg, it should happen to be 

 a bad head and beak bird, which is not promising, kill it, although an Almond ; take the 

 chance of what the other egg will produce, it being in his favour ; the produce will be 

 a short-faced good head and beak bird. The reason I recommend this is, the rough 

 strong bird first hatched will acquire too much strength, get all the food, and starve 

 the one most vnshed to be raised. You do not stand in need of rough Almonds any 

 more than queer kites. Should you have plenty of feeders that can bring it up, you 



