THE HEN AS A MOTHER. 



CHAPTER IV. 



INCUBATION BY HENS. 

 P. H. JACOBS. 



INCUBATION on the part of the hen is simply keeping the 

 eggs at a certain temperature about 103 degrees but the 

 temperature is affected by the degree of warmth of the 

 hen herself, and also by the number of fertile eggs in the 

 nest. Some hens do not impart as much warmth as others, 

 in which case the period of incubation is extended a few hours, 

 or a day, as a compensation for the lack of warmth during 

 the regular period, which is usually twenty days. If the 

 warmth is amply sufficient, and the eggs all fertile, the chicks 

 will hatch out a day before the period. The hen may hatch 

 out her brood before the day the chicks are due, or a day after, 

 according to the degree of warmth imparted by the hen and 

 from the chicks in the eggs. 



A hen may be a persistent sitter, or she may not become 

 broody during a whole season her condition influencing her 

 desire. As long as her food is so balanced that her body is 

 not emaciated, or contains an^undue storage of fat, she will 

 continue to lay, without regard to number of eggs, until her 

 moulting period. If she becomes fat, she is not in a fit condi- 

 tion for laying ; but nature prompts her then to become broody 

 in order to utilize the surplus food stored in her body as a sup- 

 port during the period of incubation. As she is partially sup- 

 plied with fat, she seldom leaves the nest, being satisfied with 

 a small allowance of food, and when she comes off with her 



