LAYING.-HATCHING. 
67 
given to poultry; and the seeds of the sunflower furnish a capital food for 
them, and one upon which they fatten rapidly. Be very careful to feed 
them regularly; if they expect a meal at a certain hour, they will be sure 
to assemble; but disappointment will make them irregular. The best plan 
is, perhaps, to have a trough with narrow openings, through which the 
fowls can thrust their heads, and peck a few grains of corn when they 
choose. Accustomed to find a continual supply, they will not waste your 
store, but will use it with a moderation and judgment worthy of all praise. 
If, on the other hand, they are allowed to get ravenously hungry without 
receiving a supply, they will over-eat themselves, to the detriment of their 
health, and to your disadvantage in the long run. A cooped fowl can eat, 
it is said, about a quarter of a pint of corn in a day. 
If fowls are pent up and have no run, w'orms, beetles, grubs, earwigs, 
ants’ eggs, etc., should be searched for and given them in their houses. They 
should also always have a plentiful supply of pure and clean v r ater. 
LAYING. 
Hens begin to lay in the early spring, and go on doing so till the middle 
of summer, w'hen they cease for a few weeks, and then at its end commence 
again, again cease toward mid-winter, and commence again. When 
the period of laying approaches, it is knowm by the brightening of the 
red in the combs and wattles of the hen, in the proud archness of her 
gait, the glistening of her eyes, and her frequent cackling. She then 
looks out for her nest, and after going in and out of it for some few 
days, pulling the straw about, and making a kind of hollow in it, she lays; 
and having performed this wonderful feat, generally proclaims the “fait 
accompli” to the whole world within hearing. 
In domestic birds, artificial nests must be made for the hen, in boxes 
which we shall describe presently, in which a chalk egg or two should be 
put. The nests may be made of short straw'. In some instances, a hen 
will make choice of a particular nest to lay in, and when, on desiriug to 
lay, she finds this nest preoccupied by another hen, she will wait until it is 
vacated. With respect to fecundity, some hens will lay one egg every day, 
and others one every other day. 
The eggs ought to be taken from the nest every afternoon, when no more 
may be expected to be laid, for if left in the nest, the heat of the hens when 
laying the next day will tend to corrupt them. 
HATCHING. 
When the hen has laid her number of eggs, nature has provided for their 
being hatched by giving the bird an instinct to sit or incubate. This instinct is 
made known by a particular sort of cluck, which is continued till the chickens 
are full grown. At the same time, the natural heat of the hen’s body is 
much increased, and she flutters about, bristles up her feathers, searches 
everywhere for eggs to sit upon, and then is the time to give her eggs. 
