48 
Chapter VI. 
FEEDING, REARING, AND MANAGEMENT OF CHICKENS. 
The beginner will be fortunate if the hen with the chickens is of a quiet and docile nature. Should the 
hen be of a quiet disposition, the chickens are best left with her as they hatch, as no artificial heat is 
equal to the natural warmth of the hen. It is only when she is restless that they should be taken away, 
and placed in a basket or box by the fire, being wrapped up loosely in flannel. In some instances, 
where the time of hatching is irregular, which is frequently occasioned by some of the eggs being staler 
than the others when put under the hen, the first hatched chickens will run out and about, causing 
the mother great anxiety, with the consequence that she will neglect those eggs not quite hatched. This 
can be obviated by taking the chickens away from her for a few hours, and placing them beside the 
fire in a basket as directed. 
It is not necessary — and, in fact, unwise — to feed the chickens until they are quite 24 hours old. 
Nature attends to this in a perfect manner by the process of the yolk entering the abdomen at the 
navel, which provides them with the best means of subsistence until they are strong and lively enough 
to run about for lood. It is, at the same time, a judicious plan at this stage to provide the hen with a 
good meal of soft food or grain, thus preventing her when the chickens are first fed from trampling 
them under foot in the anxiety to satisfy her hunger. The first food for the chickens of most varieties, 
HUli 
n 
li* 
ill 
r 
Fig, 38.— Hen and Chicken Coops. 
which can be continued at intervals of an hour for the first three days, is hard-boiled egg, chopped up 
very fine, and mixed with bread crumbs, taking care not to give them a particle more than they will 
eat up clean at each meal. Any food left over should be taken awa}-, otherwise it becomes sour, or foul, 
through being tramped underfoot, and is then most injurious. Many good and successful feeders of 
Poultry do not allow the chickens anything to drink for some days ; others give a little milk, or milk 
and water. We have found that chickens thrive on either system, so that it is extremely difficult to 
state which is best. We now allow our chickens to obtain water after they are 24 hours old, if they feel 
so inclined, and no evil results have lollowed. Invariably the best system to manage the hen and 
chickens is to confine her in a roomy coop (the coop illustrated in Fig. 38 is one we have used for years), 
and to place a 6-inch board across the front, to prevent the chickens from getting out for a few days. 
The hen will nurse them much better if she is confined in a coop, without opportunity to fly up, as 
would be the case if she was placed in a house. If the coop is made without a bottom, the hen will 
take opportunity of dusting her feathers ; but if a wooden floor is used, sand or earth must be supplied 
for the same purpose. At this stage, if not done before being placed in the coop, it is as well to 
sprinkle a few drops of carbolic acid, diluted with 20 times its bulk of water, on the hen's breast and 
