224 CHICKENS AND DUCKLINGS. 



alties. These pullets lay soon, and from them 

 early sitters are supplied. 



Chickens should hatch on the twenty-first day, 

 or a few hours later at furthest. Save removing 

 the empty shells, do not interfere with the nest for 

 twenty-four hours ; then put the mother and her 

 brood into a coop ; feed with oatmeal and paring- 

 meal, equal parts, mixed with water into a 

 crumbling state, or bread soaked in milk and 

 squeezed dry ; give the chicks twice daily a little 

 water to drink, but do not leave it beside them. 

 Some writers on poultry advise the removal of 

 the little scale from the tip of the chickens' bill, 

 but this practice is as cruel as it is unnecessary. 

 Where it is possible, the mother and her brood 

 may with great advantage be placed under a shed 

 in their coop for a few days until the chickens 

 become strong on the leg, when they can be 

 cooped out on dry earth or gravel. Chickens are 

 liable to cramp, and although access to grass is 

 advantageous, close confinement to it is not so at 

 every tiro.e. A gravel walk near grass is the best 

 possible site for a poultry coop until the chickens 

 are old and strong enough to seek for shelter 



