THE GALLINACEOUS TRIBES 



227 



not a " sitting hen." A basket or a pail 

 turned upside down over the egg will teach 

 the hen that she is not to follow her instinct. 

 When it is desired to raise chickens leave 

 the mother hen quietly and without fear 

 upon her eggs, especially in the spring of 

 the year. She will utter peculiar cries, and 

 this is the time to put her in a dark, quiet, 

 isolated place. The eggs left under her 

 should never become chilled ; consequently 

 the time given to feed her or to clean the 

 nest should never exceed ten minutes. It 

 is well to give her, now and then, a bath of 

 hot dust, which serves to free her of vermin. 

 After sitting on the eggs for twenty-one 

 days the hen has fulfilled the first part of her 

 maternal duties, and the chicks make their 

 appearance. They should be kept isolated 

 with their mother for several days. Not till 

 her chicks are well started will she begin 

 to lay again. 



V. Artificial Incubation 



When it is necessary to hatch on a large 

 scale as rapidly and as economically as pos- 

 sible, the system is very different. To 

 realize good profits recourse must be had 

 to an incubator. 



Artificial incubation is not a new thing. 

 It was applied on a large scale by the ancient 

 Egyptians, although it has been practiced in 

 Europe and America for only thirty years. 

 Though at first these machines were very 

 defective and difficult to work, they have been 

 so perfected as to be considered in these days 

 indispensable. Much has been written for and 



Mother Hen with Little Ducklings 



IXCUB.ATING Box 



against them, but the results obtained from 

 properly constructed incubators prove that 

 they are instnmients of great utility. With 

 these machines we are no longer dependent 

 on climate or weather. Prejudice against them 

 is beginning, little by little, to disappear, and 

 the number manufactured can scarcely be 

 estimated, especially in this country, 

 which in 1902 exported three hun- 

 dred thousand to other countries. 

 Poultry raisers early saw the advan- 

 tages of incubators over hens, and 

 they quickly discarded Nature for 

 the new method of artificial hatch- 

 ing ; to them the honor of impro\'ing 

 these machines in recent years is 

 due. The apparatus is now regarded 

 as a necessary object which ought 

 to be in all farm and poultry yards 



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