HEARING OF CHICKENS.-DUCKS. 
69 
REARING OF CHICKENS. 
When the chickens are hatched, they require no food till the following 
day, when they may be fed with crumbs of bread slightly moistened, and 
egg boiled hard, cut up into small pieces. For the first few days the 
quantity they require is very small. Their crop will only contain their 
food, which will not take up more space than a large pea. At the end of 
a few weeks, the crop is not bigger when distended with food than a 
cherry, but the food is soon absorbed, and therefore they should be fed 
often—at least four times a day. On the day after they are hatched, they 
should be placed with the hen in a nice coop, having a little short-cut straw 
at the bottom. In a couple of days, the coop and hen should be placed in 
some nice spot in the lawn or garden, within constant sight of the dwelling- 
house, and where no cats, rats, or other vermin are likely to prowl about. 
It should be placed on a dry and warm spot, and the roof of the coop, which 
should have hinges by which it can be slightly opened, should be partially 
raised. There should, of course, be cross-bars within the roof, to prevent 
the hen getting out. Likewise a little pan of water set within reach 
of the hen, near the bars of the coop, and stones must be placed in it, to 
prevent the young brood from drowning themselves, and this water should 
be frequently changed. 
As young chickens are generally brought from the egg in March, of 
course a great deal of rough weather may be expected before they come to 
years of maturity. The changes of weather should therefore be watched, 
and when it sets in wet or cold, the young brood should be carefully pro¬ 
tected against these dangers by the removal of the coop into some warm 
sheltered place, such as a stable, coach-house, or outhouse, and so with 
care continue to be nursed, guarded, watched, and attended to, till they are 
about seven weeks old, when they will of themselves separate from their 
parent hen, take to the roost, and act and do as independent creatures 
ought, get their own living, and set up for themselves as free and enlight¬ 
ened chickens'. 
DUCKS. 
The duck ( amnon ) belongs to a very extensive natural genus of water-birds 
found in all parts of the world. They feed in great part upon animal matter, 
such as insects and mollusca, as well as upon vegetables and grain. They are 
generally seen upon the lakes and rivers of the interior of a country, although 
they are often found upon the sea-shore. Their principal characteristics are, 
a body adapted for swimming, feet having membranes or webs between the 
toes, which they use to propel their bodies along, and bills with rounded 
points, strong, flat, and depressed, and commonly furnished with a kind of 
nail at their extremity. 
The common wild duck is the original stock of the domesticated duck, 
and appears to have been reclaimed at a very early period. 
