On the Rearing and Management of Poultry. 



183 



eggs by cooling : however, we must not on any account neglect 

 to have for her an abundant supply of food. If not well fed 

 she will be less able to cater for her offspring, for, as Cobbett 

 shrewdly observes, " though the hen does not give milk, she 

 gives heat." 



Some writers speak of hens that will not leave their nest to 

 obtain food, and recommend meat to be given them when on 

 the nests. Such hens I have never seen ; but in cases of the 

 kind, in order to allow a fresh supply of air to enter the eggs, the 

 hen should be taken from the nest to be fed. The shell of an 

 egg being porous allows air to pass through it. When an egg is 

 heated, owing to the expansion of its interior a portion of air is 

 driven off, when the egg cools down (as is the case w4th the eggs 

 when the hen leaves her hatching nest), a corresponding con- 

 traction takes place, and fresh air must enter the egg to supply 

 the place of that which was expelled. The air which enters must 

 be such as is necessary to support life, hence the imperative 

 necessity of ever keeping the air which surrounds the hens when 

 sitting pure, by frequently washing and cleaning the fowl-house. 



The time required for incubation is set down at 21 days; this 

 admits of considerable modification. The temperature of the 

 atmosphere and the age of the eggs have both great influence on 

 the length of time: when the weather is cold, another day is 

 necessary. Fresh-laid eggs hatch sooner than those 3 or 4 weeks 

 old ; it is therefore of importance to have all the eggs for one 

 hatching as near of the same age as possible. 



In an essay of this description it would be useless to detail all 

 the changes which take place in the e2:g during incubation, and 

 moreover, among men of science, a difference of opinion prevails 

 respecting the progress of the embryo-chicken. However curious 

 and interesting the subject may be to the naturalist and philo- 

 sopher, it affects not the management and rearing of poultry. 



Dickson recommends the birds which come out first "to be 

 taken from the hen and placed in a basket lined with cotton-wool, 

 lest the hen should be induced to leave her nest before all the 

 eggs are hatched." I do not agree with this advice, nor can I 

 admit of any interference. Should the advice I have given be 

 made use of, viz., the necessity of not giving the hen too many- 

 eggs, and having them near of the same age, and of having her 

 to sit in the same house where she has been accustomed to laj-, 

 at the same time protecting her from the other hens, there v/ill 

 be no occasion for any interference. Some chicks, it is true, do 

 not get so fast out of shell as others, but this is attributable to 

 accidental causes and to mismanagement. When the chick does 

 not make sufficient progress in freeing itself from its shelly 

 prison to satisfy the poultry-keeper, a great inducement is offered 



