FEBRUARY 1, 1915 



through the same program, and in the night 

 the white egg hatched; but the chick was 

 lost by my carelei>sness. Any way, I nave 

 two as tine chicks as any in the brood tliat 

 came out of the shell by sun heat,* and 

 right in bright sunshine. Now, how does 

 this tally with the directions for all incuba- 

 tors, to avoid opening the incubator door 

 when chicks are hatching? 



Just one word more: The father of these 

 rod chicks is a, full-blood Buttereuj-), or very 

 nearly so; and already, at a week old, their 

 Aving feathers are out, embellished with the 

 beautiful Buttercup spots and lacings. No 

 gaudily painted Christmas cards can equal 

 mine, for it was the finger of the loving 

 Father who painted them expressly for my 

 poor self. 



I pretty nearly know by experience that 

 some of my good friends will take me to 

 task for " jumbling up Leghorns, Butter- 

 cups, and Rhode Island Reds;" but, my 

 dear sirs, if I get eggs, and you don't, be- 

 tween Thanksgiving and Christmas, am I 

 not ahead? The 303 eggs in one year came 

 from a crossbred hen; and you know "hand- 

 some is as handsome does." 



SITTING HENS — MORE ABOUT THEM. 



In our issue for April 15, 1913, I de- 

 scribed friend Stoddard's arrangement per- 

 mitting the hen to stay right where she 

 commenieed to sit, and yet be fi'ee from 

 annoyance from other fowls. As the ar- 

 rangement necessitates expensive yards and 

 nests, I have devised a plan that seems to 

 answer about as well, and perhaps quite so. 

 First, have all your nests in movable boxes, 

 and boxes not all just alike. When a hen is 

 found on the nest at night, go after dark 

 and very quietly lift and carry box and all 

 to some secluded place. A room or building 

 for all your sitting hens is a very good thing. 

 Tliis room should liave feed, water, etc., 

 convenient for the hens; and my experience 

 lias been they will go back to their own box 

 and eggs, after going oflf for feed and water. 

 If they seem wild, be careful about scaring 

 them otT the nest until they get used to their 

 now surroundings. Stoddard puts strong 

 emphasis on the importance of letting the 

 .sitting hen run outdoors, fly and scratch, 

 etc., and I think he is right. After a day 

 or two I oi^en the door of the sitting-room, 

 and tliey always come back. During very 

 warm days some hens will go off twice or 

 more times in a day; and I have known 

 some to stay from the eggs, when the day 

 was very hot, for a couple of hours, and 

 yet they made excellent hatches. One hen, 

 in fact, was off when the eggs were hatch- 



* Sun heat is ample if we had some way of storing 

 it up to carrj- the eggs through the night. 



ing; but the hatch came off all right. When 

 you carry the nest, hen and all, away, of 

 course you llx a similar nest in its place for 

 the other hens to occupy next day. No mat- 

 ter how many nests I provide, our hens 

 seem to prefer particular nests, and one 

 lieii will stand and wait " her turn." The 

 matter of a preference for the nest they 

 were accustomed to was suggested when I 

 tried to give a sitting hen a better box tlian 

 her old rickety one. Although I fixed up 

 the new box nicely, and put in all the egg's, 

 she would get off and go back to the old 

 familiar box, and I had to carry it clear off 

 where she could not find it. 



Hens usually prefer a nest up off the 

 gi'ound or floor. A couple of staples, such 

 as are used for barbed-wire fence, driven in 

 the edge of the box and hooked on two nails 

 in the wall, will hold the nest secure, and 

 yet it is easily lifted off the nails. To give 

 the nest seclusion, and also to prevent fowls 

 roosting on the edge of the nest, a thin wide 

 board is fastened to the box for a roof, with 

 so sharp a slant no chicken can stand on it. 

 Now close one of the gable ends and it will 

 please the " biddies " to a dot. A sitting- 

 hen, when safe from intrusion and prying 

 eyes, often pulls the straw out of the cor- 

 ners so as to leave a place into which the 

 eggs sometimes fall. To fix these corners so 

 the newly hatched chicks cannot tumble 

 down into them and get chilled, I fill them 

 up with sandy loam. This the hen cannot 

 well work out, and the damp earth is a 

 good thing for the eggs, especially during 

 a dry time. To put this in, without disturb- 

 ing the hen, I use a big tinned tablespoon 

 fastened on the end of a lath. This same 

 tool I use to get the eggshells out of the 

 way and to put a young chick back in the 

 nest when it tumbles out. If you use your 

 naked hand you may get thrusts of her bill 

 that will bring the blood. This spoon is also 

 handy in putting eggs under a hen when she 

 is "fierce." I also use it in gathering ducks' 

 eggs every morning when they lay in a 

 concealed nest in the weeds and bushes. 

 This same stick and spoon is also used as 

 a "token of authority" when the flock of 

 ducks seem inclined to disobey " marching 

 orders." 



DOSING SICK CHICKENS, ETC. 



I clip the following sensible advice from 

 a writer in the Ohio Farmer: 



There are so many persons who are set on drug- 

 ging fowls that a bit of general advice seems to the 

 point. The best possible way to doctor sick hens 

 with druc:s is to make a hole in the ground at some 

 convenient place and pour your drugs in the hole, 

 meanwhile giving the hens sunlight, air, and good 

 food. 



What vexes me particularly is the adver- 



