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The eggs given to the hen to hatch must be perfectly fresh; they should be large in size, the produce of the most beautiful birds, well shaped, and the number put under the hen should vary according to her size, and may be from nine to thirteen eggs; odd numbers, old housewives say, are the _luckiest_. When a hen wants to sit, she makes a particular kind of clucking, and goes to her nest. Here she fixes herself for a period of three weeks, at the end of which time, the young chickens break the eggs and come out perfect beings. They run about as soon almost as they are out of the egg, and in twenty-four hours will take food. On the first day of their birth, chickens require nothing but warmth, and they must be kept under the mother in the nest. The next day, they may be put under a coop and fed with crumbs of bread soaked in milk, a few chicken's groats being added, and the yolks of eggs boiled hard. After being kept warm under the coop with the mother for five or six days, they may then be turned a little in the sun, towards the middle of the day, and fed with boiled barley mixed with curds, and a few pot-herbs chopped up. At the end of a fortnight, they may be left entirely to the care of the mother, who will be sure to perform her duty. Such are the principal particulars regarding the keeping of fowls. There are many books written on the subject: one of the best of them is called the "Poultry-yard," which may be consulted for further information. You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'WHERE PageName LIKE 'Hatching-Chickens'' at line 1 |