168 POULTRY-CRAFT. 
enough light into the sitters’ pen to enable one to see his way to the nests. 
The hens placed on the eggs in the dark will immediately settle down. The 
cover should be fastened in place, and, if there is any uncertainty as to how 
a hen will behave on finding herself in a strange place in the morning, 
a piece of burlap should be thrown over the nest to keep her quiet. If this is 
not done she may struggle to get out, and in her struggles break many eggs. 
The burlap need rarely be used longer than one or two days. 
236. The Eggs Set should be quite fresh,—the fresher the better. 
Eggs three weeks or more old, will hatch well sometimes, but the chicks 
will be longer in coming out, and be less vigorous than chicks from the 
fresher eggs from the same breeding pens. If it is desired to set eggs of 
different varieties under the same hen, and one kind of eggs is a little slower 
hatching than the other, the slowest eggs can be given the hen first, and the 
others put in a day later. 
237. Keeping a Record of Hatches.— The simplest way to keep 
account of the hens and eggs set is to tack on or above the nests, where they 
can be easily read, cards numbered consecutively, beginning with No. 1, for 
the first hen set, and having on them: (1) The date when set; (2) The 
number of eggs set; (3) Variety or kind; (4) Date of first test, number 
fertile,— infertile,— dead; (5) Second test and notes; (6) Hatch,— number 
of live chicks taken from nest,—number killed or dying after hatching,— 
number failing to break the shell,—to get out after pipping. Such cards can 
be preserved, and will furnish complete data of all hatches. If it is preferred, 
the records can be kept in a note book, the nests being identified by numbers, 
or by descriptions of the hens; but the card method works better,— is more 
economical of time. 
238. Food and Care of Sitting Hens — The best food for sitting hens 
is whole corn. When open nests are used, a dish of corn, a pan of water, 
a box of grit, and a dust bath are provided, and the hens left very much to 
themselves. With the covered nests, food, water, etc., are provided just the 
same. The hens are let out two or four at a time, and the nests closed again 
after the hens go back, which they should do in about twenty to thirty 
minutes, remaining off longer, as a rule, in warm weather than in cold. This 
work can be looked after by the attendant as he passes and repasses the sitters’ 
pens through the day. Pens eight to ten feet square accommodate twelve to 
twenty sitting hens. They can usually be let out four at a time; so that it is 
a simple matter to get the hens all fed, watered and shut into their nests com- 
fortable and safe for another twenty-four hours without taking an appreciable 
amount of time for the work. The nests should be opened in the same order, 
and at about the same time day after day. Hens that do not return ‘of their own 
accord within a reasonable time, should be driven back. Any that are too 
