24 



CHICK BOOK 



drop a card to the breeder and have him ship the eggs in a 

 day or two, or let you know when he can ship them. 



You have noticed, no doubt, that usually a hen who 

 steals her, nest hunts up a quiet, dark, moist place, where 

 no other hens can bother her. This is the first step you 

 must take — -to hunt up a nice, cool, moist place, where you 

 can set the hens and they will be undisturbed. If you are 

 bothered with rats, see that the nests are placed where the 

 rats cannot disturb the eggs, as nothing will discourage a 

 hen like rats. I have heard' that rats sometimes steal all 

 the eggs from under sitting hens. 



If you have no place that will compare with under the 

 barn, for instance, where the. hen likely would go, you must 

 do the next best thing and make a suitable place. 



I hatched some seven hundred chicks last year with 

 hens and had quite a number of hens bring out every egg, 

 and I will tell you exactly how I had my hatching pen fixed. 

 We took one of the open front scratching shed houses that 

 was empty and made a platform two feet wide to run the 

 whole length of each section. This platform was about 

 fifteen inches from the floor and was placed against 

 the back of the coop, being separated into fifteen 

 inch spaces with temporary partitions fifteen 

 inches square. A five-inch strip was then nailed 

 along the front of these partitions toxoid them in 

 place and to keep in the nest material. A 

 couple of boards are then nailed on the top to 

 form a sort of roof or top to the nests. 

 The partitions are a. little shorter in front 

 than at the back, so that these 

 boards slant, which prevents the 

 hens getting on top and sitting 

 there. The' top does not go back 

 against the wall, as we prefer to 

 leave an inch or so space for venti- 

 lation. A board the full length of 

 the nests and about seven inches 

 wide is then fastened to the front 

 top board by old pieces of leather, 

 which serve as hinge?. This board 

 can be laid back on top when we 

 wish the hens to be at liberty. This 

 door will be found necessary if a great 

 many hens are to be set in the same build- 

 ing. In our case, a number of hens are taken 

 from other coops, and, being in a strange place, 

 do not sit quietly at first. If there was no door, 

 they would be liable to jump off the nests when you 

 enter the room. The nest's being constructed, the 

 next step is to select the material to use in them. 

 Our hatching house has a double board floor, is 

 off the ground about a foot and the front is prac- 

 tically open, therefore, there is very little moisture. 

 To imitate the conditions of the place that the hen 

 in her free state on the farm would choose we must 

 supply moisture in some way. A sod the size of the 

 bottom of the nest is cut two or three inches thick and 

 placed in each nest with the grass side down. If the weather 

 is very warm this sod is thoroughly wet, then straw is placed 

 on top of it and the nest shaped, being careful not to have 

 the nests so deep that the hen has to step down into it nor 

 so shallow that the eggs will roll out. We aim to make it 

 just deep enough to hold the eggs together. In the center 

 there should be about an inch of straw on top of the sod. 

 After the straw is placed in the nest a couple of handfuls of 

 chaff is scattered over it to make it more compact and solid — 

 then the nest is ready. 



If the hen is broody and you have to wait for the eggs 

 give her a thorough dusting with a good commercial lice 



powder and put her on the nest, using a couple of china eggs. 

 Move them just after dark, then they will have the whole 

 night in which to become accustomed to their nests. They 

 generally are all right by morning, but should have the door 

 shut down on them. 



The next morning take a peep at them, but go gently 

 into the pen, as they are very easily frightened at this time 

 and may change their minds about hatching in a second. 

 Slip in quietly and see if they have all settled down, or if 

 they are standing up. Sometimes you will find one that is 

 determined to get out. In that case you would better sel- > 

 ect anothe* hen. We will suppose that you found your 

 hens willing to sit and that the eggs have arrived. The 

 first care you owe them is to unpack them carefully and 

 stand them in a cool, dark place for about twenty-four 

 hours to allow the small fibres that hold the germ in 

 place to return to their normal position after being jarred 

 for a day or more on the road. After the eggs have stood 

 twenty-four hours the hen should be taken off the nest and 

 given a good feed of corn with grit and fresh water, and a 

 place must be provided in which she can dust her- 

 self. The dusting box should be in the hatching 

 coop. Then she should be placed back on the 

 nest and the eggs slipped under her. 



Do not bother her then for two days. After 

 that open the door and if she does not wish to 

 get off take her off and shut the door so that 

 • she must remain off the nest for fifteen 



minutes. The length of time that she is 

 allowed to remain off the nest de- 

 pends of course on the weather. In 

 the warm summer days she can be 

 off an hour and do no harm. 



Keep the Eggs Clean 



If you have set a number of 

 hens you will be safe to take with 

 you a little warm water, for invar- 

 iably you will find that some hen 

 has broken an egg or two or soiled 

 her nest. You will have to remove 

 the nest material and wash the eggs 

 that are soiled. To neglect in , this mat- 

 ter may be traced many a poor hatch. 

 No matter how faithful a sitter a hen is if the 

 eggs are smeared she cannot hatch them. It is 

 with the germ in the egg as it is with you in your 

 living room. If someone were to cork up all the 

 holes in the room so no air could get in you would 

 gradually grow weaker as the oxygen in the air be- 

 comes exhausted. The pores in the egg shell are 

 for the purpose of supplying oxygen to help develop the 

 little chick and when these pores are closed the develop- 

 ment of course stops. 



After the nests are all cleaned and the hens have been 

 off long enough to have a little exercise and enough to eat, 

 open the door and let them go back. We always set a num- 

 ber of hens at the same time and let them off together. We 

 believe it does not matter which nest they go on. 



They are taken off the nest every day until it is time 

 to hatch. On the tenth day they are given a good dusting 

 with lice powder and again on the nineteenth day. The 

 lice must be kept down if the hen is to have a good hatch, 

 for a hen cannot attend to her work if she is bothered with 

 ,lice. 



During extremely dry weather, such as we had in our 

 part of the country last year, water should be slopped around 

 on the floor under the nests every other day, after the hens 

 have returned to their nests. 



