For the first week, perhaps, nearly every old hen is faithful to her little brood, and guards them with that maternal tenderness for which she has been made the symbol of motherly love. But this care soon wearies her, and in a few days she begins to neglect them, marching around in the chill and drenching rains of spring, and dragging her little brood after her through the damp grass, entirely oblivious of their sufferings; and one by one they drop off and are left behind, chilled through, or seized with cramp. Only the most persevering are able to keep up, until, perhaps seized with a pang of remorse, she spreads her wings and allows the little ones to find a temporary shelter beneath her warm feathers. Even the strongest often succumb to rheumatism and die after this dangerous exposure. This picture is not overdrawn; it is of common occurrence. A proper coop, therefore, for the hen and chicks, as soon as they are able to leave the nest is, and always will be, regarded as a necessity.

Vermin is the second evil to be guarded against. Examine the chicks carefully when first hatched, and should you find any lice on either them or the hen, let your first move be to rid them of these pests, which will else surely prove fatal to the young birds. Procure some Dalmatian or Persian Insect Powder, and dust them thoroughly with it until their tormentors are exterminated. And here let us recommend cleanliness in everything. The tender chicks cannot live in filth, which breeds disease more rapidly than anything else. Keep your coops clean, your houses clean, and your runs clean. It is a very important element of success—indispensable, in fact.

On the food depends in a great measure the growth and health of the chicks. Indigestible food avoid by all means. By indigestible we mean sloppy and dirty food, and that which is sour. The best feed at first is pure, sweet bread and milk, and hard-boiled eggs and bread crumbs mixed together and crumbled with the fingers. Let them always have access to plenty of pure water. Any form of grain is good for them as soon as they will eat it, and after they are a few days old they will thrive on cracked corn and oatmeal. As they get older whole wheat is an excellent growing food. Green stuff they should have constantly after they are a week old, and if it is too early in the season to give them grass, feed a little lettuce, clipped fine with scissors, at least once a day. At ten days of age they are ready to thrive on whole wheat as they will on nothing else. Give them plenty of bone now, and never let your efforts flag to keep them growing. When the chicks are fully feathered the many dangers which constantly beset the lives of the youngsters are usually safely passed, and, barring all accidents, it is pretty safe to suppose that they will now pull through.

Nine out of every ten breeders then breathe a sigh of relief, and settle down to a quiet summer, or leave home. The tenth breeder is sharper. He not only stays at home, but he redoubles his attentions to his young flock. He realizes that now is the time when these future prize winners demand all the care which he can bestow to keep them growing finely. And he is right. It won’t do to slack up now. They need a different kind of care. From endeavoring to keep the breath of life in the little things, he changes his attention to a system of judicious feeding, calculated to keep them growing rapidly during the propitious summer weather. Alas, for the chick whom the cold weather catches half-developed and half-feathered! August, September and October are the finest growing months in the year, and those chicks which now have a good start, if properly cared for and judiciously forced, will be the ones to make a fine showing at the next winter’s exhibitions. In growing they need plenty of bone meal and oyster shells, and an occasional supply of fresh meat, if worms are not plentiful. Do not force them too much, as in Hamburgs it induces the comb to lop and grow to an undesirable size. Again let us recommend plenty of pure, cool water, and vegetable food in quantity. Little attentions are never thrown away, but will be amply repaid in time in a vigorous, large and healthy flock of fowls.

PREPARING HAMBURGS FOR EXHIBITION.

Condition means everything in showing Hamburgs, and without it many a fine bird comes home from a show minus a prize that could easily have been won had its owner known how to properly fit it for exhibition. By “fitting it” we do not refer to the unscrupulous tricks resorted to by unprincipled scoundrels who mutilate and torture their birds to bring them within the requirements of the Standard, but to the legitimate preparation to which it is not only allowable to subject a bird, but without which it is really a pity to send a good bird to the show room. We are not going to recommend any practices which may not be fully known and approved of by any judge, so that any exhibitor may have no hesitation in following our instructions. For at least three weeks before the exhibition all varieties of Hamburgs should be confined in a darkened coop—not too dark, but with just light enough to enable them to see to eat. We recommend this for the following reasons:

1. It serves to whiten in an astonishing degree the ear-lobe. We have often seen a bird which, when placed in the darkened coop, had ear-lobes discolored by exposure to the weather, come out at the end of three weeks with pure milky-white ear-lobes throughout. During this confinement the ear-lobes should be washed each day with sweet milk, applied with a sponge.

2. This confinement is of great value in promoting a rich luster to the plumage, making each color stand out distinctly, and giving the feathers that glossy appearance so much desired. This matter of plumage is one of primary importance. In Black Hamburgs the greenish gloss should be brought out as much as possible, and in order to do this confinement in darkened quarters is necessary. After they (the Blacks we are now referring to) have been confined until about a week previous to the show, they should be taken from the coop, and their feathers rubbed down daily with a piece of flannel cloth. Hold the bird firmly on your lap, and pass the cloth lightly down the back from the neck to the tip of the tail, and keep up this rubbing steadily for the required time, say fifteen minutes. You will be surprised to see the magnificent gloss brought out upon birds that before were even slightly dull in appearance of plumage. If your birds have the undesirable purple tinge, this will bring it out more than you would wish, but if they have the greenish sheen, it will make them glisten in a manner to delight your eyes.

The Whites are much improved likewise by this confinement, as it gives the plumage a clear milky-white color, and it loses under this treatment the yellowish cast they have acquired by exposure to the weather; only, if they are bad in this respect, they should be put in their darkened quarters at least a month previous to the exhibition. With Golden-Penciled and Spangled Hamburgs this darkened coop is of much assistance in bringing out the greenish spangles and brightening and enriching the ground-color; and with these varieties, as with the Blacks, we would recommend the gentle rubbing with coarse flannel.