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FROM THE FOWL RUN.

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FROM THE FOWL RUN. BY "ROOSTER." Many poultry-keepers will now be thinking about hatching and rearing the young stock, while already in -ome parts there are .some nice chickens about. But before there are chickens there must be hatching, and most likely the small man will think more about a hen than running an incubator. Now Some folks get nerv- ous about sitting hens, and always worry as to whether they will be alright and will they batch any chick- Of course, the eggs must be fertile, otherwise, no mat- ter how long she sits there cannot ever be any chickens. Make the net in a box about 15 inches square by putting in some earth and pushing this into the corn- ers. and so make it a saucer-shaped centre; not a big hollow and yet not flat. On top of thia put tome soft hay or straw, and press this down cn the earth, so that you have a nice-shaped nest in which the eggs can be kept together by the hen, and yet so that ehe may move them about to turn and change positions. Not only is it necessary for the egg* to be turned over, but the outside one? will be moved into the cen- tre, and then round again to another part of the nest. In )ittehin,,z artificially thi" idea must be copied, other- wise you wont get a successful hatch. But for the hen to be able to move the egg easily, the nest must be shaped as directed, otherwise, with a big hole in the ci^ntre, the eggs Cannot be changed. f It will be a gocd plan to dust the nest with insect powder to prevent lice and fleas breeding, which they do very rapidly if not prevented. These parasites thrive on a quiet hen. where she is kept warm and net disturbed, so that she should be mad", as comfort- able a., possible through destruction of the trouble. The hen needs food at least once a day, and you ehould see she gete all she will eat. An easy way"o 6et a hen i6 to put her in a box with a run ,and then plenty of food, so as ?he can come off when -he likes. But I have known hens nd liking this, and they have just 6et on and on till quite wasted 'away through Jack of food. and then, of course, down goes the heat. It is most essential that the fowl have food regularly, and of the right oBert, if &he is to have a good hatch. For this reason there is nothing better than taking ber off re- gularly each morning, and then feeding her in a coop away from the eggs, but so that ehe can get a dust bath and plenty of clean fresh water. fjf The best grain is maize, but very few shops sell this, so you must take the best you PaD find, which Is usually a mixture, where, -perha-pa, you can find a few maize and a little poor wheat. With this each day she hüuJd be able to maintain the heat and hatch all the good eggs. There is no cause or fear if only these rules are observed, but, under all conditions, be quite quiet and gentle and never flutter her in any way. Some hens, stem to kuow when you speak to them. and once they are roughly handled it is all over, aud they never trust you again. After the 21 days for hens and the 28 for docks there should be tome chickens, which must be left in the net till thoroughly dry before being moved. No matter what you do, you cannot dry them so tvetl as the hen, and, if she is quit and 6teady, she will see they keep underneath till thoroughly dry and fluffy. Some people are always looking into the nest, to see what luek the has had, and then taking away the tuewly- batched till slie has completed the task, but there is nothing better than just taking out the old shells and leaving all the youngsters under her. Often I have seen them hatch 12 chicks from 15 eggs, and bring the dozen off all at once, and yet she has never been touched since fobe started hatching. This ts by far the best plan if the eggs are all of one date, or only a day apart, but when a week or two they will often be housed apart in hatching. » In many cases never attempt to feed them till 30 hours' old at least, and best if nearer 40, because they have then absorbed the yolk and be quite ready for a feed. The organs are ready for food and they, being a little hungry, will look" round fcr something. When they have had their feed they will nestle down under the hen and keeping warm will soon grow. Now keep them dry and feed regularly and the whole brood should be reared successfully. There are some people who never eeero to take kindly to any new idea or method, and when the Inoubator came out first the old hands said it would not last long, and that it must soon die out because you could not improve upon nature. But In spite of all such prophecies the incubator is with us istill, and can do the hatching as well as the hen, and in many way-, io preferred. The reason why gome people, do not like the machine is simply because they are not successful, and if you will enquire far enougc f you most likely would find that they do not get a big percentage of hatches with the htn. Now, und-er a hen, three failures in ten does not seem many, hilt when counted at the hundred rate which most machines hold it looks mere, and a lose of thirty seems a big waste, yet such is only the average record- ed above, and yet I have known ninety chicks hatched from the hundred eggs and each one strong and very fit. Anyone careless could never be successful with either liens or machines. Their method of setting a hen is to put her in a corner of the ehed or in a coop with a run and then just throw down some food occasionally, and leave her to come off when she likes. But such a sys- tem is not good and only means failure, for where one hen will make a. succes-s of this method, a score fail a to have a good hatch. A hen left like this will often foul the nest and yet keep on sitting, with the result that in turning them round the whole of the eggs get smoth- ered and then the germ becomes suffocated. No matter where the net may be, take the hw oft' each day a* yar as pos6ible about the f?me time, and keep hÙ off rOT at lea&t Mteea miDatea to ?ive her & chance to ft* d, stretch her legs and have a dust bath, all of which are necessary to a good hatch. The best food is a hard grain like maize, which causes internal fat and hence retains heat in the body longer than a soft food. One very successful hatcher iias a mixed cord of which maize forms a part, and this he puts in a trough so that nothing is wasted and yet they can ea-t whichever sort they fancy. There is no reason why anyone should fail with an incubator if only they follow out the rules laid down for each machine. Although eacll maker has something different to the other, the general principle is the same, which is a epace for the egg drawer, the eggs in which are heated by a tank fixed -above, and this tank is sometimes filled with hot air and sometime;, by hot water. Xow all that. is wanted is to keep these eggs at an equable temperature of 103 degrees, then if cooled and turned regularly there is no reason why they should not hatch if fertile, and filled with a strong germ. If you buy a new machine it will be clean and fit for fixing at once, but if second-hand there is the fear that the flues may be choked, which will prevent the heat circulating properly. T\1¡e flues can be cleaned by taking crff the hoed round the lamp and then brashicgr ont the lue and clearing away any smoke which may have corroded there. With a little management a weight can be run round the flue, and with the string it carries, you can easily pull some- thing through to remove all dirt and soot. When thi,3 ha-s beer, done see that the machine is placed somewhere free from draught," but where there is plenty cf fr<vh air, and then -see it stands level. The tank can be filled with hot water, so that the whole nraehine will not take long to get hot and ready for the egg". To ensure a regular heat frfva that the tank rs full a.nd then when this evaporates, as it Must do, it can be filled up again, though not more than once a month. Xever attempt to get the drawer space up to hatching heat, otherwise you will turn up the lamp and then cause a smoke, which you need to avoid, for this chokel your flue. But when the drawer keeps pretty regular fi,t about 06 to 08, you can put in the eggs, and as soon [ as they are warmed through these will help to maintain heat, because the life inside the eggs helps to generate beat.

I Builth -Road Funeral.

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I" LITTLE TUMMY TALGARTH."…

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