The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1880-02-03
The Process Of Incubation.

| 1nefe aTO iilhly tnlliSS tn0 cAIst-
cnce of which the majority of US live
and die in ignorance Of Only by
close observation do We acquaint our
selves with some interesting facts.
We know that hen sets three weeks
before bringing out her yonngs a
turkey sets about fonr weeks, or
about twenty-six days; the common
duck nearly The same longth of time /;
while The robin brings out her fed
ling in abont III days. The young Of
the latter bird is not fully formed
when it comes from the shell. The
eyes, beck, and feathers grow after
ward, and the body grows into shape,
requiring fully eleven days more be-
fore the young bird can help itself,
aud Indeed for many days after leav-
ing the nest IL il fed aud cared for by
the parents.
The "People's Practical Poultry
Book" says of Incubation "rhe hen
has scarcely set on her eggs twelve
hours before some lneaments of the
head and body of the chicken appear.
Tho heart may be seen TO beat at the
end oethe second day Of incubation.
II has at this limo somewhat the
form of horseshoe; but no blood
appears. At the end oftwo days two
blood vessels are to be distinguished,
the pulsation Of which is very visible.
One Of these is the left ventricle, and
the other Is the root of the great az
terry. AT the fifteenth hour one au-
ricle Of the heart appears, resembling
q rose folded down upon itself The
beating of the heart is first observed
in the auricle and afterwards in the
ventriclc. At the end OF seventy
hours the wings are distinguishable {;
and oil the head two bubbles are seen
for the brain, one for the bill, and
two for the fore and hind part of the
head. Toward the end of the fourth
day the two auricles already visible
draw nearer TO the heart than before.
The liver appears toward the end OF
the fifth day. AT the end of ono hun
dred and thirty-one hours the first
voluntary motion is observed. AT
the end of seven hours more, the
lungs and stomach become visible;
and, four hours afterward, the intes-
tines loins and upper juw. At the
one hundred and forty-fourth hour
the yentricles are visible, and two
drops OF blood, instead OF the single
one that was seen before. On the
seventeenth day the brain begins to
have some consistency. At the two
hundred and nineteenth hour the bill
opens, and the flesh appears OH the
breast. In fourhours more the breast
bone is seen. In six hours after this
the ribs appear, Corning from the
back } and the bill is clearly visible,
as well as the gall-blsdder. The bill
becomes green at the end of two hun
dred and thirty-six hours and If the
chicken be taken out of its covering
at this period, it evidently moves T.
self. The feathers begin to shoot out
toward the two hundred and fortieth
hour. and The skull becomes gristly.
At the two hundred and eighty eight
hour the ribs are perfect. At the
three hundred and thirty-first hour
the spleen draws near the stomach e,
and the lungs to the chest. At the
end of three hundred and fifty-fye
hours the bill frequently opens and
shuts, ut the end of the eighteenth
day the first cry of the chicken is
heard. 1t afterwards gets more
strength, and grows continually, till
at length it is enabled to set itself
free from its confinement" In the
| whole process, we must remark that
every part appears ii, its proper time.
If, for example, the liver is formed on
the fifth day, 1t is founded on the pre-
ceeding situation of the chicken, and
OH the changes that arc to follow. No
part of the body could possibly ap-
pear sooner or later without the
whole embryo suffering.