164 Profitable Poultry Keeping. 



CHAPTER XV. 



HATCHING. 



Shall Hens set themselves ? — Selection of Place for Sitting — Hatching Boxes 1 — 

 Making the Nests — Food and Water — Setting the Hen — Feeding— Airing 

 the Eggs — Kind of Food for Hens — Dnst Bath — Testing the Eggs — Period 

 of Incubation — Management during Hatching — Helping the Chicks. 



The time when hens should be set, will depend very largely 

 upon the purpose for which the chickens are required, and 

 the breeds of poultry kept. If eggs are the object in view, 

 and any of the breeds we have named as most suitable in 

 such a case as this are selected, then March and April are 

 the best months ; but, if heavier breeds, such as Brahmas or 

 Langshans are chosen, then no chickens should be hatched 

 after the first week in April, or, at any rate, as few as possible. 

 Birds intended for table purposes, whether chickens or duck- 

 lings, may be hatched at any time, but it is best to do so 

 as early as possible, even in autumn. Those hatched at 

 other times, mature, and are placed on the market, when it is 

 overstocked, and, consequently, they do not realise so paying 

 a price. The rapidly maturing fowls may be hatched much 

 later than those which are more deliberate in this respect, 

 and these are the questions which must decide the time of 

 hatching, for, with layers, the object is to have them laying 

 before the winter sets in, and, with table birds, it is to get them 

 to market when prices are at their highest point. Those 

 who breed fowls for exhibition, generally get their birds out 



