CHAPTER X 



HATCHING AND REARING CHICKS 



BEFORE setting any hen, make sure that she 

 means business and is really in earnest in 

 her apparent desire to sit; this is especially 

 important if the hen has never before had similar 

 experience. The strength of her determination 

 Hatching may be tested by letting her sit on sev- 

 with Hens er al spoiled eggs for a few days. 

 If she is very fidgety and nervous she might as well 

 not be set, as she will in all probability make a poor 

 hatcher as well as a poor mother. 



Most hens that leave their nests after the end of 

 the first week do so because of lice and not because 

 of " contrariness," as is generally supposed. Mites 

 and lice thrive better and multiply more rapidly on 

 sitting hens than any other place I know of. And 

 a hen afflicted with vermin cannot and does not 

 ever rest well, nor can she hatch with any degree 

 of comfort. Even under favorable conditions it 

 is a tiresome and weakening task for a hen to sit 

 steadily for three weeks. 



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