424 POXTLTRY CULTURE 



the male may interfere with the hen laying and even drive her 

 away from the nest. Poults only cry when hungry. 



Broodiness has been bred out of some kinds of birds, as the 

 Mediterranean breed of chickens, especially the Leghorns, and 

 in some lands of ducks, as the Pekin. 



Duck eggs may be placed in an incubator or under hens. A 

 hen can cover about ten duck eggs. Duck eggs do not keep 

 as well as hens' eggs. 



Geese. — There should be as many nests as there are geese. 

 When nests are located outside of the building, barrels will be 

 found to make very good nests. 



Geese lay early in the morning. If they lay in cold, freezing 

 weather, close watch must be kept on them to gather the eggs 

 before they have time to become too much chilled. A goose 

 lays from fifteen to twenty eggs before becoming broody. 

 Usually the first eggs are set under hens. If the goose is 

 not allowed to set, but placed in a crate till she ceases to be 

 broody, she will soon begin to lay again. It is well to set the 

 goose the second time she becomes broody, as she may not lay 

 more than two batches in the season. Occasionally one will 

 find a goose who will lay the entire season and not become 

 broody. 



A goose should be set in the nest where she has been laying, 

 and if she becomes cross should be left alone. 



The goose eggs hatch very slowly, requiring the greater part 

 of two days after beginning to pip the egg before the gosling 

 emerges. 



The goslings should be left in the nest till strong enough to 

 run around. 



A goose laying in a nest made in a pile of straw has a ten- 

 dency to cover the eggs. 



Goslings should not be hatched on the farm till after the 

 grass is green. 



Incubators do not prove very satisfactory for goose-egg 

 hatching, and it is better to hatch the goose eggs by the hen or 

 allow the geese to set and brood them. 



A goose will cover about ten eggs, and hens of the American 

 breeds, as Rocks or Reds, in warm weather will cover five or six 

 and in cold weather only three or four. 



