48 Checking Broodiness. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE SITTING HEN. 



ALL hens that are inclined to sit should be allowed to 

 hatch and bring up one brood of chickens a year ; for, if 

 altogether restrained from sitting, a hen suffers much in 

 moulting, and is restless and excited for the remainder of 

 the season. It is unnatural, and therefore must be inju- 

 rious. The period of incubation gives her rest from pro- 

 ducing eggs. The hen that is always stimulated to produce 

 eggs, and not allowed to vary that process by hatching 

 and bringing up a young brood, must ultimately suffer 

 from this constant drain upon her system, and the eggs are 

 said to be unwholesome. 



But hens frequently wish to sit when it is not convenient, 

 or in autumn or winter, when it is not advisable, unless 

 very late or early chickens are desired, and every attention 

 can be given to them. To check this desire, the old- 

 fashioned plan with farmers' wives, of plunging the broody 

 hen into cold water, and keeping her there for some 

 minutes, was not only a cruel practice, but often failed to 

 effect its object, and must naturally always have caused 

 ultimate disease in the poor bird. When it is absolutely 

 necessary to check the desire of a hen to sit, the best plan 

 is to let her sit on some nest-eggs for a week, then remove 

 and coop her for a few days, away from the place where 

 she made her nest, low diet, as boiled potatoes and boiled 

 rice, and water being placed near ; meanwhile taking away 

 the eggs and destroying the nest, and, not finding it on 

 her return, she will generally not seek for another, unless 

 she is a Cochin, or the desire exceedingly strong. 



When a hen wishes to sit, she utters a peculiar cluck, 

 ruffles her feathers, wanders about, searches obscure corners 

 and recesses, is very fidgety, feverishly hot, impatient, 



