it came into the house; and as the chickens were kept distinct from
the other fowls, I could tell the exact sum they had cost us when they
made their appearance at table.

The first thing that was given them to eat was egg, boiled quite hard,
chopped very fine, and mixed with bread-crumbs. After that they had
groats. I find they consumed:

Three quarts of whole groats . . . . . $ 37
Two bushels of barley . . . . . . . . 2 25
One bushel of middlings . . . . . . . 1 12
Twenty-five lbs. of chicken-rice . . . 63
Making altogether . . . . $4 37

The reader must be told that those thirty-eight chickens had other
things to eat than those I have put down; they had nearly all the
scraps from the house, consisting of cold potatoes, bits of meat,
pudding, &c., and any pieces of bread which were left at table were
soaked in skim-milk; and the rice was also boiled in it. O course, in
a smaller family there would not have been so many "scraps" for them;
but, however strict you may be with children, you cannot prevent their
leaving remnants on their plates, all of which would have been wasted
had it not been for the chickens and pig-tub.

We were not so fortunate with the ducks. We did not keep any through
the winter, consequently we had to purchase the eggs, which were
placed under hens; for those eggs we paid four cents each, and out of
thirteen, which was the number given to each hen, we never reared more
than eight ducks.