30 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



upon. It is not advisable to allow a hen to hatch in her 

 ordinary home, and amidst her companions, who are fond 

 of usurping the nest, and laying fresh eggs in it. 



A warm moisture being necessary to the hatching of 

 strong and healthy chickens, as evidenced by wild birds 

 and hens that sometimes unobserved will hatch a brood 

 under a hedge in the fields, I recommend the sitting nest 

 to be made of earthen ware, the same as for laying, with 

 this difference, that a fresh-cut piece of turf should be 

 placed on the sand, and on which the eggs are put ; the 

 heat of the hen will soon generate steam, but whenever 

 the turf gets too dry, some water may be poured on the 

 sand underneath. 



The number of eggs to be placed under a hen must 

 necessarily depend on her size. A Dorking, Cochin 

 China, or Bramah Pootra, or other large breed, can with 

 every certainty hatch at least fifteen eggs ; and as regards 

 the selection of eggs, all I can advise is to select fresh and 

 good-sized ones. 



Some persons pretend to be able to tell whether an egg 

 is fecundated, and whether it will produce a male or 

 female bird ; but these assertions have as yet not been 

 satisfactorily proved. 



Fig. 10. 



