. The chick book. Poultry. HATCH I IS G AND REARING CHICKS WITH HENS. The Location for l\ests aad Protection from Lice and Weather—Care of Hens and Newly Hatched Chlcks- Cooplng and Feeding the Brood, By Nourse. THE process of hatching and raising chicks by natural means is simple and easy on the face of it; the hen does the work and in proof of her ability we cite a case wherein the hen steals away and in due time returns with a big brood of chicks which she raises with little or no loss. Granting that this may be the uniform result, we must give some credit to the conditions and not all
. The chick book. Poultry. HATCH I IS G AND REARING CHICKS WITH HENS. The Location for l\ests aad Protection from Lice and Weather—Care of Hens and Newly Hatched Chlcks- Cooplng and Feeding the Brood, By Nourse. THE process of hatching and raising chicks by natural means is simple and easy on the face of it; the hen does the work and in proof of her ability we cite a case wherein the hen steals away and in due time returns with a big brood of chicks which she raises with little or no loss. Granting that this may be the uniform result, we must give some credit to the conditions and not all to the hen. This satis- factory result does not often occur when the weather is cold, but rather when it is warm, and the hen selects a nest- ing place with natural advantages. The nest is surrounded by the pure air of nature, and the hen can leave it without danger of the eggs becoming chilled. She dusts herself thoroughly and often in the damp earth and thus keeps her plumage clean and comparatively free from lice. When the hatch is completed the chicks are not immedi- ately stuffed with food, but exercised gently and brooded frequently while gathering from the pure air for a myriad of strength giving blood corpuscles, until the nour- ishment with which nature provides all well hatched chicks is assimilated and stronger food may be digested and made most of by a system ready for the work. But if we want early chicks we must set hens in the cold and changeable weather of early spring. Sometimes we set them in a place poorly protected from the weather and often the hens are neither allowed a dust bath nor given any protection whatever from the irritating pests—lice. A setting hen deserves aboxit as much protection from cold or heat as an incubator, but seldom gets it. In cold weather a well built warm room is a great advantage and in warm weather, which frequently overtakes the poultry- man before he has finished hatching, well ventilated and moderately cool auarte
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Keywords: ., bookauthorre, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectpoultry
