64 



minutes, according to the weather, the hens should be driven 

 back. As the hens are all set at the same time it makes no 

 difference which compartment a hen enters. She will find eggs 

 ready for her. 



THE SITTING HEN. 



Where incubation is carried on by the natural method it is 

 important to have a. supply of sitting hens on hand in March, 

 April and May, in order that the chicks may be hatched early. 

 While it is true that no method has yet been discovered to 

 make a hen sit at will, it is also true that the instinct may be 

 encouraged. As soon as we understand the philosophy of in- 

 cubation we may go to work to bring about the desired result. 

 In a state of Nature when does the hen sit? In summer. Why 

 in summer? Because the reproductive instinct has been stim- 

 ulated by the hot weather. Because she has laid her litter 

 out. Because she has become fat and sluggish. It is evident 

 that if we can reproduce these conditions we can hasten incu- 

 bation. 



Old hens make the best sitters, because they are not so- 

 active as young ones. The treatment of hens that are kept ior 

 sitters should be radically different from the treatment of hens 

 that are kept for layers. They should be confined more closely 

 and fed differently. Corn should form an important part of 

 their food. As soon as a hen shows symptoms of broodiness 

 she should be encouraged. She should be taken at night and 

 placed in a nest prepared for her in a dark, quiet place. This 

 nest should contain china eggs, and should be covered with a 

 burlap bag to make it dark. The next morning the bag should 

 be removed and the hen let out for food and water. If she goes 

 back it is safe to entrust her with real eggs. 



The comfort of a sitting hen should be scrupulously looked 

 after. Before she is placed on the nest she should be thor- 

 oughly dusted with some good insect powder and again just 

 before she brings off her brood. She should be taken off the 

 nest, fed and watered and given a chance to dust herself every 

 day. Sitting hens should be fed on whole corn, as that is 

 slowly digested and is a heat-forming food. 



TESTING THE EGGS. 



While it is essential that the sitters be kept as quiet as pos- 

 sible, yet it is important that the eggs be tested once or twice 



