INCUBATION 



23 



tight about half way across the front, and slatted the rest of 

 the distance, so the chickens can run out and in, but the hen 

 cannot. Into these coops the hens and chickens are removed 

 when the chickens are about twenty-four hours old, a little 

 bran, chaff or dry sand having previously been sprinkled 

 upon the floor. Not more than a dozen chickens are given 

 to one hen and we often give them only seven or eight 

 chicks each. The coops are scattered out through the corn- 

 fields and in other protected places so that each breed has a 

 fresh run and plenty of grass. When the chicks are placed 

 in the coops they arp fed dry oatmeal and hard boiled egg 

 chopped up very fine. They are also given some fine grit 

 and a cup of water, which ife refilled as often as necessary 

 and not allowed to sit in the sun where it will become warm. 

 The second day they are fed on cooked food. Three parts 

 cornmeal and one part "red dog" flour or wheat middlings 

 are mixed with skim milk and a sufficient amount of baking 



soda to make it light. It is theii baked until well done. 

 This is softened with milk or water and fed five times a day 

 for the first ten days. At the end of ten days if the weather 

 is suitable the hen is let out of her coop and allowed to go 

 where she pleases. After this they are fed but three times 

 per day. At six weeks or before we begin to feed cracked 

 corn and wheat. Occasionally a hen fails to return to her 

 coop the first night and we must find her and drive her in, 

 but usually they come back without trouble. 



As each brood of chickeift is placed in the coops they 

 are punch marked and examined for head lice. If any are 

 found their heads are greased with pure lard, which usually 

 answers the purpose and a second application is seldom nec- 

 essary. Each night every coop is shut up to keep out the 

 rats and skunks which abound in northern New York. For 

 this purpose a frame covered with a fine wire screen is used. 

 This admits plenty of fresh air, which is absolutely essential 

 to growing chickens. 



HOW TO SET A HEN 



THE HATCH DEPENDS GREATLY ON THE MANNER IN WHICH THE HEN IS SET— IMITATE 

 THE CONDITIONS THAT EXIST WHEN A HEN STEALS HER NEST— HOW TO BUILD NESTS- 

 NEST MATERIAI^-CARE OF SITTING HENS— CARE OF THE EGGS DURING INCUBATION 



J. W. PARKS 



I DOUBT if I could have selected a subject that, at first 

 thought, seems more simple and less necessary to write 

 about than the above. The majority of readers vrtll 

 say at once, "I know how, where and when to set a hen. I 

 learned that back on the farm." If you really do, well and 

 good. The object of this article is to help the ones who do 

 not know, and, judging from my observations among my 

 neighbors, I am led to believe that it is in this matter that a 

 great many fail. 



There is nothing that pleases a breeder better than to 

 receive a good report from eggs he has sold. It is a splendid 

 advertisement for some customer to hatch thirteen or four- 

 teen chicks from fifteen eggs, as he will tell his friends and 

 neighbors and they will send orders. On the other hand, 

 let him have a poor hatch and he is not slow in advertising 

 it among his friends and, perhaps, he kills quite a bit of 

 trade that would otherwise have come to the breeder. Prob- 

 ably the poor result was entirely the fault of the customer, 

 who did not know how to properly care for the eggs. We 

 have established a new rule, which we believe will be profit- 

 able. It is to send instructions to each customer how to 



A NEST OF HER OWN SELECTION 



"COUNTING HER CHICKS" , 



cafe for the hen and eggs to get best results. Seedmen send 

 their instructions with their seeds. Why should not we also? 

 There is little doubt that a large percentage of persons 

 who buy eggs are as little versed in setting a hen as I was 

 in growing asparagus. I sent to a Philadelphia seed' house 

 for one hundred roots three years ago. They came and I 

 planted them as I thought they should be planted, had the 

 ground worked well and took great pride in them, planning 

 to have all the asparagus that we could use and some to sell. 

 I cared for that bed and manured it for two years and did 

 not get a good mess, then I wrote to' the seed house for a 

 leaflet on growing asparagus and learned that instead of 

 planting the roots deep enough to have them just covered 

 with dirt, they should have been set five to seven inches 

 below the surface of the.^ound. 



Locating the Sitters 



Let us get back to our subject. In the first place, to 

 get good results, one must, of course, have fresh eggs from 

 strong, vigorous, healthy stock. If you decide to send to a 

 distant breeder for eggs, you will have to send the price of 

 the eggs, or, at least a deposit on them, and have him book 

 your order and ship when you send him word to do so. As 

 soon as you notice that your hen or hens are becoming broody, 



