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Rearing of Chickens

When the chickens are hatched, they require no food till the following day, when they may be fed with crumbs of bread slightly moistened with milk, and egg beaten up with an equal quantity of milk, and then heated so as to form a soft custard : this is the best food that can be given them. They should also have a few grits, and after a few days some small wheat. If the weather is dry and warm, it is best not to coop the hens, as by scratching they obtain a supply of insect food and worms for the chicks, which is better than anything else that can be given them; but they should not be let out in damp weather in long grass before the dew has dried up. If cooped, the coop and hen should be placed in some nice dry and sunny spot in the lawn or garden, within sight of the dwelling-house, and where no cats are likely to prowl about. There should be a little pan of water set within reach of the hen, near the bars of the coop, and stones should be placed in it to prevent the young prood from drowning themselves, and this water should be frequently changed.

The changes of weather should be watched, and when it sets in wet or cold the young brood should be carefully protected by the removal of the coop into some warm sheltered place, such as a stable, coach-house, or outhouse; and so with care continue to be nursed, guarded, watched, and attended to, till they are about seven weeks old, when they will of themselves separate from their parent hen, take to the roost, and act independently.

There is a great choice of breeds in the different varieties, and we will state the advantages of each.

Dorkings are large heavy fowls, first-rate for the table, good sitters and mothers; but rather delicate, require a good grass range, and do not do well on damp soils.

Spanish are handsome fowls, lay numerous large eggs, do not sit; are not so good for the table as the Dorkings, being longer in the limbs, and not so fleshy.

Cochins and Brahmas are large domesticated fowls, very hardy; can be kept in by a low fence; they are good layers, good sitters, good mothers, and useful family fowls on the table.

Hamburghs are pretty, light, active, roaming fowls; they are called everlasting layers, as they never wish to sit, but lay on incessantly, except at moulting-time. They do not bear close confinement well, and are difficult to keep in enclosed places, as they fly like pheasants, and know not bounds. The crested Polish, black, white, and spangled, are also nonsitters and good layers; but they are not so hardy as the spangled Hamburghs. Game are hardy, very fair layers, good sitters, the best of mothers; plump on the table, though not very large; well able to take care both of themselves and their chickens.

Bantams are pretty little pets, that may be suffered to roam about a garden without doing any injury.

The French breeds--Houdans, Creve Coeurs, and La Fleche--are remarkable for their good qualities as table fowls.

The White Silky fowls are a very singular breed, with divided feathers, like wool or silk, black skins, and black bones. They have their good points, however: they are admirable sitters and nurses, and bring up young partridges and pheasants better than any other fowls. They are also very good to eat, though their black skin renders them rather unsightly on the table. These varieties offer sufficient choice even to the most particular amateur, who should make his selection in accordance with his wants and his locality-according as he requires egg-producers or chickens for the table, and whether he can afford his fowls the advantages of a free range over green fields, or has to keep them in a confined space, near a suburban residence.