METHODS OF HATCHING CHICKENS 



291 



spring when eggs are cheap, the hen is usually in better 

 condition and will begin to lay earlier in the fall when 

 eggs are a good price. It is not certain, therefore, that the 

 yearly production of a hen will be lessened by -allowing her 

 to hatch and rear a brood of chicks. 



Two Methods of Hen Hatching. If a proper system 

 be followed, chickens may be conveniently and successfully 



NESTS USED FOR SITTING HENS 



Showing apparatus used for drawing air from under sitting hens for determina- 

 tions of humidity and carbon dioxide in the nests. (Oregon Station.) 



reared in large numbers by natural methods. In hatching 

 with hens a system should be followed that will economize 

 in the labor in caring for the hens. On most farms very 

 little attention is given to furnishing convenient hatching 

 facilities. A little thought and a few dollars spent for 

 equipment will make the work less troublesome and uncer- 

 tain. One of two methods may be followed. The first re- 

 quires daily attention in letting the sitters off the nest and 





