FoodNet

The complete Indian housekeeper & cook

1898

Page 82 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
120 The Complete Indian applies to clucking hens, which arc often fetched in from the bazaar in order to set eggs. The best laying boxes are earthen pans, half filled with clean dry sand. If you intend to raise chickens, get an incubator without delay. It is, to begin with, an amusement; secondl}', an immense saving of bother and expense. Hearsom’s Chamjiion is very successful ; one to hatch twenty-five eggs costs <£4, 7s. 6d., delivered on board ship in London. It is no trouble, and with a little supervision the bearer will look after it perfectly. But even if you do not have an incubator, by all means get a foster- mother. This is a contrivance also of Hearsom’s, Regent Street, London, for I’earing chickens without the aid of a hen. It consists of a chamber warmed by hot water kept at an even temperature by a small kerosene lamp, a glass- protected run for damp weather, and a wire run beyond. One for twenty-five chickens costs £4, 5s. jificked free on docks. In India, where, owing to the climate, very little heat is required, this will be found large enough for fifty chicks if an extra wire run is added. A jiamphlet detailing the method of using is sent with each machine; or, if further information is required, send to the same address for the ‘^Problem Solved,” a brochure costing Is. Endless are the tragedies from which these two admirable inventions, incu- bator and foster-mother, will save you. The sweeper will never come to report, Avith a lurking delight, that the cluck- ing hen which Avith in finite trouble he had produced at i/onr honour’s command, having laid an egg, now manifests no desire to sit longer” \ nor Avill he appear Avith a dismal little tassel of fluH’y dead chicklings in his hands to inform you, still Avith that fiendish undercurrent of joy, that the hen, “having doubt- less taken fright, became unaware of the chicks, and trampled on them, God knows whij ! ” With a foster-mother you are gladdened every day Avilh jAercejAtible groAvth ; and one of the authors can testify that out of about 700 chickens put into the foster-mother, not ten have died before they Avere eaten ! They Avere all killed. The food of young chickens is not such an elaborate affair as the orthodox foAvl-man makes out. They require nothing for tAventy-four hours ; after that a crumbly omelette made from the Avhitc, yolk, and shell of an egg, all beaten up, and I2I Housekeeper and Cook fried Avitli a little drip2dng, then rubbed up with parched wheat and bread crumbs, is the best possible food. After forty-eight hours the little creatures may have free run of the foster-mother, and will eat anything and everything. The stajde, however, should still be parched, or raw, wheat ground to groats, mixed with boiled rice, chojAped onions, and curd made of the skim milk. Ihe remains of the curry minced and mixed with the rice causes flutterings of eagerness; so Avill chojAped cress. In fact, young chicks, being always hungry, should always be in jirocess of being fed ; and as they will eat anything and everything, the chicken fancier will find it a good plan to have all the table scraps set aside after every meal for the foster-mother. Do not, however, give them whole grain, or they will gorge themselves on it, and very probably die of indigestion. It is false economy to stint groAving chickens, the great object being to get them ready for the table as soon as possible.Fattening Plan for Chickens