248 POULTRY CULTURE 



minimum by good judgment in the selection of the hens and eggs 

 used, by care in making the nests, and by regularity in attention ; 

 but under the best of conditions there will be some breakage, and 

 occasionally a hen unable to retain her feces through twenty-four 

 hours will soil her eggs and nest. 



Food of the sitting hen. Only hard grain should be fed to sitting 

 hens. Whole corn seems to suit them best, but any of the ordinary 

 grains may be given. Soft foods and wet mashes, which tend to 

 cause looseness of the bowels, should be avoided, but a little green 

 food may be given as a relish. The grain should be in a hopper, 

 trough, or box, and fresh water should be supplied daily. 



Cleanliness. During incubation, and especially if the birds are 

 confined to indoor quarters, as they usually must be early in the 

 season, and as may be most convenient at any time, cleanliness is 

 of the utmost importance. The droppings of the incubating birds 

 are likely to have an unusually offensive odor, 1 and if allowed to 

 accumulate, to dry, and to be broken up and mixed with the litter 

 or earth of the floor, affect the whole atmosphere of the place, 

 besides making an earth floor so objectionable that hens will not 

 wallow in it and thus keep themselves free from lice. Even when 

 the hens have, and avail themselves freely of, the opportunity to 

 dust, it is advisable to take precautions to prevent lice from getting a 

 start in the nests. The easiest way to do this is to dust hens and 

 nests with insect powder when set (or soon after), again about the 

 middle of the period of incubation, and a third time just before 

 the eggs are picked. If this is done, the birds and nests should be 

 almost entirely free from lice when the chicks hatch. When only 

 a few hens are set, and the keeper is quick to observe indications 

 of the presence of lice and to take steps to check them, routine 

 preventive treatment may be omitted. Under other circumstances 

 preventive measures are safest and, in the end, more economical. 



Testing eggs. Eggs should be tested about the seventh day of 

 incubation. When the work is carefully systematized it is usual to 

 set hens always on the same day of the week. Then if the test on 



1 The extraordinary offensive odor of the droppings of sitting hens seems to be 

 due in part to their long retention before evacuation and in part to the tendency 

 of nature to take advantage of a period of rest from usual activities, to clean up the 

 system and rid it of impurities. 



