INCUBATION. 89 



the door is open, eat, drink, have a dust-bath, and return to 

 their nests. Tliat this should he a daily performance is quite 

 necessary to their health and Tvell-belng. It is a very old and 

 mistaken notion to fancy that the chicks hatch out better if the 

 hen sits close and never leaves her nest, because it is not so; air, 

 food, exercise, and a roll in the dust are necessary to the hen's 

 health, and the eggs vriirnot come to any harm. 



Some people, while hens are off their nests, damp the eggs 

 ■with lukewarm water. Moisture, they say, is necessary, and the 

 chicks gain strength by the process. This may be correct, and, 

 in very dry weather, perhaps necessary. Myself I never fancied 

 it did much good, though I have tried the experiment; but I 

 consider it is a mistake to meddle too much, with nest or eggs; 

 the hen is only made restless and dissatisfied by so doing, and 

 the result is not such a very decidedly good one as to be worth 

 the extra trouble.. While the eggs are hatching out do not 

 touch the nests; it is very foolish to fuss the old bird and make 

 her angry, as she treads on the eggs in her fury, and crushes the 

 chicks when they are in the most delicate state of hatching — 

 ». «., whenthey arebalf in andhalf out of the shell, when a 

 heavy tread on the part of the old bird is nearly certain to kill 

 them. 



Picking off the shell to help the imprisoned chick is alwarys a 

 more or less hazardous proceeding, and should never be had 

 recourse to unless the egg has been what is termed- "billed" 

 for a long time, in which case the chick is probably a weakly 

 one and may need a little help, which must be given with the 

 greatest caution, in order that the tender membranes of the skin 

 shall not be lacerated. A little help should be given at a time, 

 every two or three hours; but if any blood is perceived .stop at 

 once, as it is a proof that the chick Is not quite ready to be lib^ 

 erated. If, on the contrary, the minute bloodvessels which are 

 spread ail over the interior of the shell arc- bloodless, then you 



