HOW TO MAKE A BEGINNING 7 



they have pecked their way to freedom at the end 

 of twenty-one days, a nominal fee compensating the 

 man who owns the incubator for his work. 



The perfection of mammoth incubators which 

 have a capacity of several thousand eggs has given 

 a tremendous impetus to this business of hatching 

 chicks on a large scale and has made it possible for 

 the man with a small flock to dispense entirely with 

 sitting hens. However he acquires his chickens, the 

 beginner will do well to bear in mind the point al- 

 ready brought out, that he will inevitably lose some 

 in the course of the brooding period, and half at 

 least of the number raised may reasonably be set 

 down as cockerels. 



I have said that twenty-five hens is a good num- 

 ber for the amateur, but there is no reason why the 

 flock should not be smaller. It is a reassuring fact 

 that the small flocks lay the largest percentage of 

 eggs. There are little portable houses costing about 

 ten dollars in which eight hens can be carried through 

 a Winter and that number of hens will keep a small 

 family in eggs under proper conditions. 



It is not necessary to have an outside yard for 

 the poultry to run in, although such a yard is pref- 

 erable because less work is required than when 



