206 MY WN EXPERIENCE. 



Hens often lay during incubation, and, if these 

 eggs are not removed, the result will be the 

 appearance of mongrels in a clutch of a supposed 

 distinct breed. 



A little attention would have ensured the non- 

 intrusion of such black sheep, and probably the 

 better hatching of the travelled eggs, for such 

 require abundant warmth, even more than those 

 laid at home; a tutored eye at once detects the 

 presence of these unbidden guests. 



On the ninth day I examine the eggs, by the 

 aid of a candle, in a darkened room, in the same 

 way as advised in my chapter on Hatching. If 

 the egg is to prove productive, it will appear quite 

 dark, except a small clear disc at the top; if 

 clear throughout, I remove it as hopeless, and 

 have aU such boiled hard (to feed the young 

 stock), which is a great economy. 



I have found that hens hatch well in smaU 

 separate houses made something in the style of the 

 annexed cut (fig. 16); they may be placed in the 

 shrubberies, or anywhere, if secluded, and the 

 door left open, or closed, as circumstances dic- 

 tate; when the sitting-houses are ftdl, these little 



