122 
REPORT OF BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 
lice powder and grease under their necks and on top of their heads with 
lard or olive oil. 
From fifteen to seventeen eggs make a good setting for a chicken hen, 
while a turkey hen will cover from twenty to twenty-five. The period 
of incubation varies from twenty-one to twenty-eight days, although well 
fertilized eggs usually hatch on the twenty-third day, and all about the 
same time. The hen should be undisturbed during the hatching time 
and the young birds left in the nest until the youngest is a day old, as 
they need the “mother’s” warmth for drying and strength-giving. 
A coop for the mother and her chicks should be ready as soon as they 
are taken from the hatching nest. A cut and description of a very satis¬ 
factory coop is given herewith. 
This coop (as shown) is three feet wide by six feet long and is twelve 
inches high, except in the hen’s compartment, which is raised to twenty 
inches at the inner end. A space two feet long should be partitioned 
off at one end for the hen and an eight-inch opening left. This opening 
should be covered with slats spaced so that the chicks have just enough 
room to pass from one compartment to the other. The hen’s compart¬ 
ment should be made with a hinged cover, to facilitate feeding and 
handling, while the runway should be covered with one-inch mesh net¬ 
ting, set in a sliding frame. It is a good plan to set the coop on a 
freshly cut grass plot and move it daily. The tender shoots of new 
grass form a wholesome part of the chick’s food, and they are very fond 
of it, besides which, there is daily provided a supply of insect life. 
