Chickens and how to raise them

Preface

In the following pages the author deals in a systematic and thorough way with the subjects of natural and artificial incubation, and the rearing of chickens. He commences with a chapter on Nature's method of incubation, then fully describes the wonderful structure of an egg^ following with chapters on the development of the embryo, the importance of securing good eggs for incubation, incubation by the hen and by artificial means ; the merits and otherwise of moist and non-moisture incubators and their management, the rearing of chickens by natural and artificial means, weaning and feeding the chickens, rearing in winter; concluding with some sound useful advice regarding various common ailments in chickens.

Index

Air Cell in Egg . . .

Albumen, Uses of Allantois, or Egg Sac Amnion, or Egg Sac .

Artificial Incubation .

in Practice . . . .

Rearing

Blastoderm of an Egg Brooder, A Cold . . .

Brooders, Management of

Calender, Poultry Keepers' Chicken Diseases ...

Chickens, Artificial Rearing

Exercise for

Feeding Winter-reared

First Meal for . . .

Meals per Day . .

Newly Hatched . .

Parasites of .

Rearing in Buildings

Rearing in Winter .

Rearing with Hens

Water for

Weaning

Coops for Rearing . .

Diseases of Chickens Anaemia ....

80,

14 Blood-spots in Eggs . . 131

13 Bronchitis 122

23 Bumble-foot .... 123

23 Catarrh 125

48 Cholera 123

1<8 Crop-bound 126

97 Diarrhoea 127

Diphtheria 128

16 Dropsy 129

109 Egg-bound 130

110 Egg-eating 131

Enteritis 131

120 Feather-eating .... 133

97 Gapes 134

*-6, Leg-weakness 137

116 Liver Disease 137

Pneumonia 138

104 Rheumatism 139

82 Scaly Leg 145

92 Tuberculosis . . . , . 137

76 White Comb 141

114 Egg, Air Cell in 14

79 Albumen in 13

90 Blastoderm of an ... 17

94 Chalazae of an 16

116 Embryo of an ... 18 Germination of Embryo

122 Germ Spot of an ... . 16

INDEX

Egg, Shell of an . . .

Structure of an ...

Eggs, Chilled . ...

Collecting and Storing Importance of Good . for Hatching ....

Hatching under Hens

Overheated

Preserving

Received by Rail or Post Sex in. Fallacy . . .

Soft or Shell-less . . .

Testing Hatching Testing on Ninth Day Turning Hatching . .

Embryo of an Egg . .

Foster-mother, Management of a 98

Selecting a 100

Foster-mothers 97

in Sheds 116

Hatching, Period of . . . 43

under Hens 33

Hen, Management of Sitting 39

Placing on Nest .... 38

Hens, Best Brooders ... 35

Protecting from Vermin 37

Broody 148

Inbreeding, Evils of . . . 28

Incubation, Artificial . . 48

Nature's Method ... 9

Under Hens 33

Incubator, A Modern Hydro 50

Earliest Type of ... . 49

Houses 115

Incubators, First Type of

Hydro 50

Improvements in . . . 52 Moisture and Ventilation of 70

Non-moisture 55

Placing Eggs in ... . 63

Turning Eggs in ... . 62

Mating 149

Natural Incubation ... 33 Nest, A Properly Constructed 35

Fallacy of Moistening . 45

Ovary, Structure of . . . 12

Shell, The 14

Sitting Hen 38

Management of ... . 39

Thermometers 69

Thermostat, The .... 56

Vermin 142

Flees 143

Lice 142

Red Mite 144

Chapter I Prefatory Notes From Nature

To enable him to thoroughly grasp the somewhat complex subject of incubation, the student would do well to briefly consider the different processes which Nature adopts for the safety of the embryo young during its development. All animals begin life within an egg. If we consider first the fishes, we find the female depositing her eggs in the water, when they are left to take their chance of being fertilized by the medium which is also deposited in the water by the male. These eggs are exposed to many dangers, but in the countless numbers that one fish will yield the safety of the species against extermination is guaranteed. When we come to reptiles, their eggs are discovered to be fertilized before they leave the body of the mother, and, compared with those of fishes, are few in number. They are fewer in number because the offspring have a better chance of surviving than the young of fishes, and because the eggs themselves are protected either by the parent or by some other provision of nature. The next step from the reptile is the bird, and here we find a great stride made in the history of evolution. Not only are the eggs of a bird beautifully adapted for the purpose for which they are formed, but over them the female, and often the male, extends a solicitous care. The rudiments of all those higher attributes which characterize the instincts and emotions of the mammalia — of man himself — we may see in bird life. And in the embryo's development within the egg we can read the story of the evolution of living creatures. In birds, as we shall see, the warmth of the mother's body, which is necessary for the growth of the embryo, is bestowed from her breast as she " sits " upon the eggs. On the other hand, in mammalia the egg^ or the germ of life which is contained in an egg-form, is fertilized and developed within the body of the mother, and brought forth in due time as a little reproduction of herself.

Here, however, we are mainly concerned with bird life, and turning again to Nature as a guide, in the matter of incubation particularly, what do we find ? Many object lessons of value, many which are complex and hard to understand. Nests for the reception of birds' eggs are made of every conceivable shape and form, or they are not made at all, the eggs being merely deposited on a bare slab of rock. The Longtailed Tit and the Wren often choose the most sheltered sites for their nests, and build them domed, of the warmest material, and of great thickness. A thin, airy platform of twigs high up on some naked bough is all that the Wood Pigeon makes for her nest and nursery. There are nests, far down in a deep, dark hole of a tree, or swinging in a frail basket-work of grass and twigs at the end of a bough. The Ostrich hens scrape a large hole in the sand with their feet, and in it a great number of eggs are deposited — not by one bird, but by the whole colony. Much of the heat necessary for incubation in this case is provided by the sun-warmed sand, but the cock bird sits upon the " nest " by night, the hens protecting it by day from prowling enemies.

The most interesting form of incubation is that adopted by the Megapodes, or mound-building turkeys, of the Celebes. These birds collect together huge mounds of leaves, earth, and decaying substances, which are often fifteen to twenty feet high, and thirty to a hundred feet in circumference. The materials of which these mounds are made soon begin to ferment, and so engender heat, which lasts a considerable time, particularly as the pile is frequently being added to by its owners. For many miles round the Megapodes congregate together for the building of this natural incubator, and in it they deposit eggs in large numbers. In course of time the eggs hatch, without any attention whatever having been bestowed upon them after laying by the parent birds. The young are left entirely to themselves, and, unlike those of any other known species, are able to fly and seek food immediately after birth !

Now what deductions can be made from the foregoing observations ? The nest is, in the first place, a receptacle for the eggs undergoing incubation, and, generally speaking, a home for the young until they are old enough to leave their parents, or to go away with the latter in search of food. That eggs do not require a nest constructed of any definite material, or placed in any particular site, for their successful development is equally true. The majority of them are, however, airy structures, the peculiar, almost fantastic forms of many of them being the result of natural selection working for the protection of the species, and to some extent the birds' aesthetic sense may be responsible. But the fact that birds' eggs hatch so successfully under so many diverse conditions goes far toward assisting us in unraveling the knot that for so long has kept the subject of incubation in mystery. All birds' eggs are alike, made of the same materials or ingredients. They all develop under the influence of a proper warmth. They differ only in the length of time which development occupies, and in the conditions under which they exist during that period. Hidden in these facts are the fundamental principles upon which our practice of modern incubation has been built.

Chapter II The Structure Of An Egg

Before one can possibly become proficient in the subject of practical incubation he must be conversant with the formation of an egg. It should be scarcely necessary to remark that, although an egg is an important and nutritious article of food, Nature never intended it for that purpose. It has been designed not only as the most suitable receptacle for the embryo life of a bird, but its whole contents are especially and beautifully adapted for the requirements of that embryo during the imprisoned period of its early career. The egg, to the tiny germ which it contains, is as a mother who gives to her helpless offspring not only protection but sustenance and material for growth. That fact the student of incubation must bear in mind.

The Ovary. — If a hen during her laying period were to be examined internally one would find attached to the spine a cluster of globular objects, called the ovary (A, Fig. 1). The largest of these are like an ordinary yolk of an egg, and they hang at the bottom of the bunch. Those nearer the spine are smaller. In fact, we should find these round objects, which are yolks in various stages of development, of all sizes from the largest, which are more than an inch in diameter, to the smallest ones at the root of the cluster, which are scarcely visible to the naked eye. Every day, or more commonly every other day, one of these larger yolks comes to maturity ; and, whether fertilization has taken place or not, breaks away from the tiny bag which contained it, called the " ovisac," and enters the wide mouth (B, Fig. 1) of the egg-passage, or " oviduct." When it is received into the oviduct it is enclosed in a thin membrane, and, as it passes along, those other portions which go to make it a perfect egg are secreted and formed.

Albumen, or " White." — The first of these is the albumen, or " white." This clothes the volk in layers (which can be readily seen if a hard-boiled egg be cut across in slices) as it passes along the oviduct. Its uses are various, and it is of the utmost importance to the embryo chick. It protects the delicate germ from sudden shocks and extremes of temperature, and forms the main nourishment upon which the embryo lives and grows during the period of incubation.

The Air Cell. — When the egg has received the albumen it becomes entirely surrounded with two membranes, or skins, which lie immediately under the shell. At the larger end of the egg these membranes separate, forming a space known as the air cell (AC, Fig. 2). In the fresh egg this chamber is very small, but as time goes on, and the contents of the egg evaporate (the albumen contains about seventy-eight per cent, of water in its composition), it becomes considerably larger. During incubation, too, it increases in size, often occupying over one-fifth of the entire egg as the latter approaches the date of hatching.

The Shell.— The last thing with which the egg is invested is the shell, which is formed of a limy material secreted by the walls of the oviduct. This shell, or outer covering, being designed by Nature to protect the contents of the egg, is enormously strong for its thickness and peculiar formation. Yet it is so made that the particles of lime admit of a free passage of air between them. It is porous, so that the embryo within, as we shall see later, can breathe the outer air.

Fig. 1.— The Ovary or Egg Organs of a Hen

References : a, Ovary ; b, Oviduct ; c, Egg in the Duct

One more remarkable fact may be mentioned here with regard to the shell. It is often a puzzle to many people how such a frail creature as

I 16 . CHICKENS

an unborn chicken can break itself out of its prison walls, and it is no doubt a cause for wonder. But we must bear in mind that the shell of a fresh egg and that of one on the point of hatching are two very different things. While incubation is going on, a softening of the shell is also progressing. By means of the chemical changes which take place as the embryo breathes, the particles of lime undergo a change, and become disintegrated, so that by the time the chicken is ready to hatch, the shell is comparatively easily broken. Thus Nature, economical always, has made one purpose serve another. Fig. 1, C, shows the egg passing along the oviduct just before expulsion.

The Chalazse. — Most people know what an egg looks like when it is broken into a saucer. In the middle is the yolk (Fig. 2, y\ and around it the albumen (w). At each side of the former may be seen a twisted and rather more dense portion of albumen, whiter than the rest. These chalazae (Fig. 2, ch\ as they are called, have nothing directly to do with the germ, as many people suppose. They consist, as we have already said, of denser albumen, and are, in a mechanical way, of the utmost importance. They act as buffers to prevent the yolk from being injured by a sudden jar, and, being attached as they are on opposite sides and a little below the yolk, serve as balances, which always keep the latter in the same relative position. It does not matter how much an egg may be turned round, the chalazaB prevent the yolk from turning with it, holding it always with the germ uppermost.

The Germ Spot, or Blastoderm. — If the yolk of a hard-boiled egg be cut in two, it will be seen that the central and upper part is of a paler color than the remainder. The former is known as the white yolk (Fig. 2, wy\ the latter as the yellow (Fig. 2, y). It is on the surface of the white } 7 olk that the germ of the egg rests. Turning again to the broken egg in the saucer, we shall see on the uppermost surface of the yolk a tiny disc, or ring, about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. This is the germ-spot (Fig. 2, gs\ or blastoderm (Gr. blastos— a sprout, and derma — a skin). Whether the egg be fertile or not this disc is always present, and proof of fecundation having taken place can only be ascertained with the aid of a lens. It is from the centre of the germ-spot that the development of the chicken begins. From an invisible speck, hidden there, the embryo will grow, and, under proper conditions, absorbing the whole of the contents of the egg, emerge in three weeks a perfect chicken.

Soft or Shell-less Eggs.— Having briefly traced the origin and formation of an egg, the beginner

G.S fan*

Fig. 2. — Section of an Egg

References : Membrane ; c h, Chalazse ; w y, White Yolk ; g s r , Germ Spot ; y, Yellow Yolk ; a c, Air Cell ; w, White or Albumen

will now be better able to understand why hens sometimes lay abnormal eggs. For instance, it is not difficult to comprehend how, in a hen whose ovary is very prolific, two yolks may become detached, and enter the oviduct together, with the result that a " double-yolked egg " is laid. Gr we can see how a hen whose organs of reproduction are unduly stimulated might produce eggs and lay them faster than the oviduct can shell them. They are what are generally called "soft," or " shell-less " eggs, and may either be enclosed in the membrane only or have shells of a very thin texture. Again, a hen will sometimes lay yolks only, no abumen or lime having been secreted by the oviduct, but such instances are more uncommon, and of more serious consequence. In any case, even if the shell only appears abnormal, such eggs are seldom fertile.

Chapter III The Development Of The Embryo

If we look back through the story of the embryo's growth to the very beginning, it is as if we saw an epitome of the evolution of animal life upon the earth. From the single cell — from which all organisms are supposed to have developed — we can trace the development of a creature until its final stage is completed, and it is able to move about and reproduce its kind.

Genesis of Life. — The germinal disc which, as we have already said, rests upon the upper surface of the yolk, may at its earliest stage be compared with the ovule of a plant, which remains inactive until a little grain of pollen unites with it. Then, as we all know, the union of these two — the pollen and the ovule, the father and the mother — produces a young plant which is the joint product of its two parents. In like manner the germ of an egg as it enters the oviduct is a single cell, but as it passes along, and fecundation takes place, it divides and subdivides into a being consisting of many cells. That is to say, life has commenced. What it is that endows the tiny creature with life and movement ; what power it is that first creates the faint wave-like motion of the primitive heart, we do not know. It is one of the deepest mysteries in Nature, and one that need not be further discussed in a volume of this kind.

Egg, a Delicate Living Organism. — It will now be understood that before an egg is laid, provided it be fertile, the life of the minute embryo has already gone through several stages. It has started on its life's journey, but when the egg becomes cold, after it has been laid, the embryo lapses into a quiescent condition, in which it remains until warmth is restored, when growth is again resumed. At the same time this germ, inactive and torpid as it appears to be, is a frail and delicate organism, very susceptible to extremes of temperature and rough usage. The longer an egg is kept before being incubated the weaker the germ becomes ; the fresher the egg the stronger the embryo. At any time during incubation an embryo may die through sheer inability to live, having inherited weakness from its parents ; or it may succumb to sudden concussions or loud noises. The student of incubation should therefore train himself to look upon every fertile egg, not only before incubation but during the process, as a living organism of great delicacy, that requires gentle handling. It would serve no useful purpose in a work of this

Fig. 3.— First Signs of Life in a Germinating Egg

kind to follow in all its minute detail the development of the embryo during incubation, but a glance at the principal stages of its growth will be of great assistance in helping the beginner to better understand the subject of incubation, whether natural or artificial.

First Stages of Germination. — After a hen's egg has been subjected to the proper temperature

— say 104 degrees — for a few hours the germ-spot (Fig. 3) enlarges and elongates. It is lyingin a slight hollow on the surface of the yolk, and in about forty-eight hours the little network of blood-vessels, which are spreading out from the central spot like the fibrous roots of a tree, begin to pulsate with the movement of the blood. At this stage the embryo is surrounded by a trans-

Fig. 4. — Embryo About the Fifth Day

Reference: al, Allantois

parent sac, called the " amnion," but no sooner does the circulation of the blood begin than another organ of the greatest importance is developed. This is the " allantois " (Fig. 4). It is a semi-transparent sac or bag, that, starting from the navel of the embryo, gradually increases in size until it entirely surrounds the contents of the egg } its extremities coming in contact with the shell. This organ is furnished with a system of blood-vessels, and serves as a lung for the erabyro. It oxygenates the blood, purifies it by bringing it in contact with the oxygen of the air which passes through the shell, and returns it revived to the heart. Thus we can readily understand how important it is to keep the egg shells clean during incubation, so that their porosity be not obstructed in any way. We can understand, too, the necessity for fresh air in the incubator and incubator room. If the pores of an egg's shell were to be closed up the embryo would die of suffocation, just as we should do if we were shut up in a sealed chamber and deprived of the life-giving, purifying oxygen of fresh air.

Development of Wings, Legs, and Feathers. — During the growth of the allantois, little rudiments of wings and legs have appeared as sprouts upon the inner side of the embryo (Fig. 4). At the tenth or eleventh day some rudiments of feathers begin to show, and the bony skeleton is in process of formation. All this time the chicken appears to have been subsisting upon the yolk, which, however, does not decrease in size.

The albumen, on the other hand, has considerably diminished, and the explanation appears to be that the yolk, connected as it is with the navel, or " umbilicus," serves as a medium through which the nutritive properties of the albumen are conveyed to the digestive canal of the chicken.

Final Stage of Development. — At the fourteenth or fifteenth day the embryo is nearly as long as the egg y and would be longer but for its curledup position. Nature now endows it with her " finishing touches." The feather tracts become more noticeable, the toe-nails have appeared ; the beak hardens, becomes more shapely, and a little limy point grows on its tip to assist the chicken in breaking its way through the shell. Some time during the nineteenth or twentieth day the chick pierces the membrane that covers it, and for the first time breathes the air (which is contained in the air cell already referred to, and which by this time is very much enlarged) with its true lungs. The blood ceases to flow into the allantois, which is required no longer, and the chicken, methodically removing the larger half of the shell by a chipping process, tumbles out, and tastes liberty for the first time.

Not only do the allantois and amnion almost entirely disappear during the hatching process, but what remains of the yolk is quickly drawn into the body of the chicken through the navel.

Thus Nature completes her wonderful story of development by providing the newly-born chicken with sufficient nourishment, in the form of the yolk, to sustain it for the first twenty-four hours, at least, of its life, after which it is well able to feed itself, provided food be within reach.

Chapter IV Eggs For Hatching

So much depends upon the selection of suitable eggs for incubation that a separate chapter may here be devoted to the subject.

Importance of Obtaining Good Eggs. — We have seen that a fertile egg is the joint product of its two parents, and, that being so, it — or, rather, the chicken which it produces — not only inherits an outward likeness to its father and mother, but an inward constitutional resemblance. In other words, sickly or immature stock birds will produce weak chickens, and vice versa. Most of the failures in incubation may be directly traced to the parents, which are in some way or another physically unfit. Immaturity in the stock birds is one of the most frequent causes of these failures, particularly when both the male and females are under age. Another source of disappointment in hatching may be found in disease. The breeding stock may be suffering from tuberculosis, or some such ailment, which will assuredly be passed on to the youngsters, if not in its original form in some other. There may not be any actual disease in the stock, but they are badly managed, with the result that vigor and strength have given way to lassitude and obesity, and this, again, is a fruitful cause of " dead in shell " or sickly chickens.

In-breeding. — In-breeding — the mating together of close relations, such as brothers and sisters — has been denounced as an evil practice, and rightly so in some respects, for, generally speaking, the offspring of in-bred parents is weaker constitutionally than the young of a male and female of different blood. But in-breeding in itself need not be directly harmful. It need not be the bogie that some people make it out to be. In the production of some of the finest races of our poultry in-breeding has been necessary, and we are accustomed to look only at the evil results and shut our eyes to the good. The truth about this much-discussed subject is, we think, something like this. All beings are subject to constitutional defects. Few, if any, are perfect. Then if we mate two animals which are of the same blood, and which by the laws of heredity will possess the same flaws in their respective constitutions, together we must expect to find those flaws intensified, made worse, in the offspring. If, on the other hand, we mate two unrelated animals, the chances are that they will not have defects in common, with the result that the young will, although inheriting, perhaps, some of the weaknesses (as well as the vigor) of either parent, not suffer from the combined effects of two defective parents. But supposing we were to have a brother and sister, say, of some robust breed like the Old English Game, which, so far as we could ascertain, were perfectly sound in a general sense, and we mated them together, we should expect the chickens to be as robust as the parents. Here in-breeding will have had no ill-effects, because there were no physical deformities or shortcomings common to the two sexes. It is only where there is constitutional taint on either side that in-breeding is harmful. Nature in-breeds continuously, but, be it remembered, how physically perfect are the beings she employs! Any constitutional flaw is wiped out with ruthless severity. She teaches "in-breeding," but "selection" also, and ber pruning-knife is very sharp. We have gone into this part of the subject at some length because by a careful study of it the thoughtful student will gather much that will be useful to him in practical incubation.

Collecting and Storing Eggs for Incubation. — Eggs for hatching, or, indeed, for any purpose, ought to be collected at least once daily. In frosty weather twice a day is not too often. Sometimes it may be desired to store the eggs required for hatching for a week or so, but, as I have pointed out, the fresher the egg the better will it hatch. In storing, various ways have been tested, and much discussion has arisen as to whether they ought to be in a warm place or a cold one, and so on. In our experience the following is the best way. See that the eggs are clean, and pack them in boxes of bran, the latter stuffed around pretty tight. If they are placed on end, the large one for preference, the necessity for turning each day will be done away with. Keep the boxes in a dry place of moderate temperature and out of draughts, and the eggs will keep two or three weeks quite well ; but whether they will hatch so successfully as fresh ones is another matter. It depends a great deal on the strength of the germ. Whenever eggs are kept on their sides they must be turned over daily. No preservative of any kind may be applied to the shells. The bran will retard evaporation of the contents, and so prevent too great an enlargement of the air cell.

It is always desirable, in selecting eggs for hatching, to choose those which are of normal size and shape. Any with thin or malformed shells ought to be discarded, and used for table.

The Sex in Eggs a Fallacy. — Although there are a host of traditions regarding eggs for hatching, particularly on the subject of foretelling sex, they may all be ignored as entirely untrustworthy. Remarkable coincidences are recorded from time to time, but they have been as often refuted by practical experiment. Generally speaking, perhaps, there are more cockerels bred early in the year, and the male sex is more predominant in the offspring of very vigorous parents. No definite statements can, however, be made on the subject, except that to foretell sex in eggs is an impossibility.

Treatment of Eggs Received by Rail or Post. — When eggs for hatching have been traveling by rail or post, it is always desirable to unpack them and let them rest on their sides for twelve or eighteen hours before placing them in the incubator or under the hen. Whether the germ becomes " fatigued," or otherwise " upset " by the journey, cannot be ascertained, but it has been proved beyond a doubt that a "rest" revives it, and materially assists the hatching process.