76 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
These mothers are also very useful for early broods when hatched by Cochin or Brahma 
pullets, and forsaken before they can bear the cold. In such cases we put one down by the pullet 
or hen, and scatter a few grits under it to tempt the chicks. Doing this occasionally, by degrees 
as the hen begins to brood them insufficiently, they will resort to the artificial parent instead, and 
by the time the hen entirely casts them off are quite independent of her care. For Spanish 
chickens such an aid to the hen is particularly beneficial, and will save many a chick that would 
otherwise be lost at the stage when they are nearly bare of feathers, and require such constant 
nursing as the hen rarely gives them. Having often used them in this way for early chickens, 
we can confidently recommend them to others as a real assistance during inclement seasons, and 
would strongly advise that one or two should form part of the stock of every amateur. 
For rearing chickens from the very shell artificially, upon system, some degree of heat is 
required. A full description of the apparatus now usually employed for this purpose, and 
its management, will be found at p. 428 
