HATCHING AND REARING CHICKS 
large ones are to be avoided, as the eggs will roll 
around in such nests. Excelsior makes the best 
nesting material; straw and hay are usually too 
coarse and stiff. 
I always keep a little slip of paper attached to 
each nest box occupied by a sitting hen, and on this 
is written the date when the hen was set and when 
she will hatch. Some other people I know of write 
on each nest box with chalk, as this can be erased 
at the completion of each hatch. Certainly some 
such method should be followed, because serious 
mistakes are often made when one trusts the 
remembering of dates to his memory. 
Whenever possible sitting hens should be located 
where they cannot be disturbed by the members of 
the main flock, as this will often prevent broken 
eggs and deserted nests. If an egg should happen 
to become broken in the nest, always remove the 
soiled nesting material and replace with fresh and 
wash all soiled eggs, or otherwise the pores will 
become closed and the ventilation of the chick will 
be interfered with, and a foul smell be present in 
the nest. 
Ordinarily, the less a sitting hen is disturbed the 
better. I never sprinkle the eggs nor indulge in 
any of the other unnecessary and often harmful 
practices sometimes advised. Briefly, the best way 
to care for a sitting hen is to let her alone; she 
knows her own business. 
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