CHICKEA^S AND DUCKLINGS. 225 



from damp or cold. They can then be removed 

 to less-favoured quarters, and give place to newly- 

 hatched broods. Following this practice system- 

 atically, numbers may be reared in a small space. 

 A little fresh gravel or sand must occasionally be 

 strewed over the ground, and it must be swept 

 daily. It is useful to leave little heaps of sand 

 here and there as play-grounds for the chickens ; 

 they scrape and half bury themselves in the dust, 

 thereby ridding their little bodies of troublesome 

 insects. After the third day from hatching, 

 chickens may have an increased dietary, such 

 as eggs boUed hard, mixed up with the shell ; 

 bread soaked in beer ; cooked meat minced ; a 

 few grains of hemp-seed, buckwheat, and groats 

 — all in addition to their former food. The hen, 

 of course, must be plentifully supplied with the 

 usual food of the poultry-yard. After the first 

 week chickens may be allowed free access to 

 water. The best water dishes are made of tin, 

 IJ inches deep, the middle filled up, leaving only 

 a narrow channel for water ; or what is equally 

 good, and more easily obtained, flower-pot saucers 

 inverted one into the other. 



