On the twentieth day some of the chicken usually begin to chip the shell, and, generally speaking, they are all hatched on the twenty-first, that is on the same day three weeks that the eggs are placed under the hen. The practice of removing the first hatched and placing them in flannel by the fire side, is followed by many, but I do not see any possible advantage that can arise from so doing; it is impossible to give the exact temperature of the mother, and a degree of heat higher or lower must necessarily be disadvantageous; the only interference that I think desirable, is to remove, if it can be readily accomplished, the empty shells, otherwise the unhatched eggs are apt to slip into them, and the chicken, although furnished with power to break through one shell are unable to force their way through two. The addled eggs (which are readily distinguished by giving them the slightest possible shake, when the moving of the liquid contents is felt) may also be removed so as to give more room to the live birds. I am aware that these recommendations to leave natural operations to nature are contrary to what are frequently found in books, but I am merely writing the results of my own experience, and I have always found the more the hatching hens are meddled with, the worse the result. It is a notorious fact that when a hen steals a nest in some copse or place where she can remain unmolested, she almost invariably brings forth a more numerous and stronger brood than when she sits in the hen-house. The chicken require neither food nor drink on the day on which they are hatched; in fact, _both are injurious_, as they interfere with the natural digestion of the yolk, which is absorbed into the bowels at the period of hatching, and constitutes the first food. If grits, oatmeal, &c., are spread before the hen on the twenty-first day, she is induced to leave the nest, and the last hatched chicken, which are not perhaps yet dried, are unable to follow, and being weakly, perish; or unhatched eggs may be left. If undisturbed, the hen seldom leaves the nest on the twenty-first day, and on the twenty-second the chicken will be found strong enough to follow her, and any unhatched eggs may be destroyed, for those chicken that are not then able to follow her will seldom be found to repay the trouble that may be taken with them. The plan of cramming peppercorns and other spices down the throats of chicken is cruel in the extreme, and moreover, exceedingly injurious. I have found the best food to be two-thirds sweet coarse oatmeal and one-third barley meal, mixed into a crumbly paste with water; this is very much relished, and the chicken make surprising progress upon it, they are also very fond of a little cold oatmeal porridge, and, by way of variety, I sometimes give them a few scalded grits dusted over with a little barley meal to cause them to separate.