FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 677 



The strains of chickens I 'keep arc those I thinlv the best layers. They 

 are the White Rock, Barred Rock, White Leghorn, Brown Leghorn, Rhode 

 Island Red and a few Buff Orpingtons. I get only the pure breeds. The 

 food I use is the grains the farm produces. One thing I am very care- 

 ful to give them, is all the fresh water and oyster shell they need. 

 Sometimes I have been without the shells and in two or three days 

 it will show a decrease in eggs. The eggs I gather twice a day during 

 the spring and summer months. In getting eggs ready for the market 

 I pack only those of uniform size. With the exception of rainy days 

 I pack only the clean eggs. During the broody season I shut in the 

 broody hens every night to insure fresh eggs for the market. And 

 always when at home I gather the eggs myself. The way to break a 

 broody hen of setting I have heard from neighbors is this: "Souse her 

 in a pail of water and that will frighten the broodiness out of her. Or 

 shut her up and neither feed nor water her until she ceases to cluck." 

 I hardly considered either treatment humane so I did not try them. 

 I shut them away from the other chickens and give them all the corn, 

 oats, shell, grass and water they want and in a very short time they 

 begin to lay again. 



In choosing broody hens for setting, I choose the heavier ones. The 

 little Leghorns are too flighty for best results. I have used an incu- 

 bator several times, but do not like to work with it, though I had good 

 success. For hatching purpose I select the medium sized, nice-shaped, 

 hard shelled eggs. I have used the large eggs with good results. Once 

 I tried an extra large egg. I allowed it a couple of days extra for 

 hatching, then became impatient and broke it and found two live 

 chickens. I use only fresh eggs for setting. Still, I allow them twenty- 

 four hours to cool; until the animal heat is gone. I can prove from 

 experience it is the better way. I often hear it said that from the 

 hen that steals her nest we get the best results. But you will notice 

 that there is always left at least one egg not hatched, the egg that 

 was not cooled. While I have set dozens of hens that have hatched 

 every egg. 



The broody hens I choose for setting I leave on their nests until I 

 have from seventeen to twenty. Then I have a place ready with nests 

 in nail kegs — ^the kegs I purchase from a hardware dealer — and set each 

 hen on one egg for a day or two until I can depend on her. I keep the 

 kegs covered with boards and let the hen out to feed once a day. In the 

 early spring I put thirteen eggs under, each hen, but as the weather 

 gets warmer I let the hens have fifteen eggs- When the setting hens 

 have been troubled with mites I put a layer of dog fennel on the straw 

 in the nests and the mites either die or leave. I did try to put two 

 lots of hens in one place, but during the days of hatching of the first 

 setting the second lot were so disturbed by the peeps of the little 

 chicks that they became restless and spoiled their eggs. As the little 

 chicks hatch I take them to the house. Here I have the advantage 

 over most people in having a cat that will care for wee chicks and 

 turkeys and keep them content. I then give the hens about seventeen 

 chicks apiece and keep them shut in a couple of days so they will learn 

 their place of roosting. For at least two days I do not feed the young 



