Year: 1878




Chickens.


A proper selection Of eggs for setting
is the first point to be attended to IN
breeding poultry. To get good, strong
birds, eggs from q wo-year-old hen by
a one.y .year-old cock should be chosen,
as these yield far larger chickens than
eggs from a very young hen by an older
cock. They should be REGULAR in shape,
and the largest should be chosen, ex-
cept, of course, where double yelk is
suspected. In dwarf breeds, where the
object is to get as small birds as posSi-
BILE, the smaller the eggs the better.
The notion that pointed eggs always
yield cock-birds is incorrect. This is
only the case when they are from hen
that usually lays round ones; and SINH
larly, round eggs from a hen that usual
ly lays pointed ones generally yield te-
male birds. Where, however, a hen al
ways lays eggs of one shape, whether
pointed or round, the young birds will
be of both sexes.


In purchasing eggs for the purpose OF
getting a good strain of any particular
breed Of fowl it is useless to think of
getting them at low figure, since no
straightforward dealer is likely to sell
the results of much time, trouble, and
expense at a cheap rate. A fair price
mast be paid for them; but they should
only be bought under guaranty of their
impregnation and their genuine charac-
ter. A breeder who sells eggs Of choice
breeds without q guaranty must have
some questionable reason for refusing to
give one. Why should he not? The
transport will not damage the eggs, if
they are good to begin with and are per-
fectly packed. If they fail to hatch it
is question whether the fault is with
the hen or with the eggs themselves.
And this can be readily decided.
If the hen has abandoned
them so long as to let them get cold,
the eggs will be found rotten, with the
perished embryo within them. But un-
impregnated eggs, or those which were
too old for incubation, will be found
free from any smell and Of normal ap-
pearance. Unimpregnated eggs may
perhaps be sometimes sold without any
Intention to defraud the purchaser; but
no breeder ought to supply them, at the
high price which choice strains will
command, unless he is positively GER
tain that the cock-bird has been in ac-
tual attendance upon the hen that laid
them.


The sitting-place should be well ven
tilated, neither cold nor too hot, and
should be in a subdued light and away
from all noises. The best time for set
ting hens, if the broods are to be rear
ed in the open air, is from the begin
ming of April to the middle of July.
Each hen should have her own sitting
box, covered in with wirework. The
floor must be strewed with sand, nest
of straw with an inner lining of hay
placed in one corner, pan OF water in
another, and a trough in the third. The
water must be renewed every morning,
but food enough for several days can
be deposited at once. If the hen be-
fouls the nest or the eggs, it or they
must be carefully cleansed. Many sitting
hens get diarrhpa, for which q little
tannin or alum in their drinking-wat
is good thing, The eggs are general
ly ruined in these cases, however; for
they are constantly getting soiled, and
the hen then loses all inclination to sit
No sitting-box should be used more than
once year. If one hen after another
is allowed to occupy it, especially in
warm weather, it is sure to get lousy,
and unless the vermin are at once de-
tected it will fare i'll with both hen and
eggs. .


Eggs that do not hatch out at the right
date should still be allowed to remain
under the hen for few days; for it may
be that they are somewhat older than
the rest or have not been So well cover
ed by her. At the end of than time the
"water proof may be applied. This
consists in placing the eggs in warm
water, when those that float don the sur
face may be known to coH tain live
chicks. Very often if the y(ater is a
little warmer than the naturaf' heat of
the hen, the chicks in the eggs will cry
OaG Wueu pldCeu III ~ w. N'toOo
it is generally weakness only that has
prevented their earlier escapl Jag through
'nSTF Tbd pc1sHa5~ssi cbiekens siouga be aken away
from the beSs as ttboy hrSatccif if55t out, as soon
as they are dfyyji 1,ff5therwise they d5s, tE
turb her, and iS4le is apt to abandon the
remaining eggs, which are consequent
ly lost. AS the chicks are removed,
they should be put in warm place, in
apot containing soft tow, and covered
with wooden cloth.


AS regards the young chicks, the
great point is to take care that, till they
are at least six weeks old, they are kept
in a uniform warm temperture of about
60 degs. Fahr. When they are about
half grown they may gradually be accus-
toned to every variation of weather, so