INCUBATION 



25 



Nomber of Eggs to Set 



A common fault is to try to have the hen cover too 

 many eggs. We have always advocated thirteen eggs and 

 when we set choice eggs we always use that many. Almost 

 any ordinary sized hen can cover fifteen eggs, but if the same 

 hen is given only thirteen eggs I believe she will bring the 

 chicks out closer together and the chicks will be stronger. 

 A good deal depends on the weather. The colder the weather 

 the fewer eggs a hen can cover successfully.. 



In case the eggs you have ordered arrive before the hen 

 or hens are ready keep the eggs in a cool place and turn 

 them half over every other day. If you do not keep them 

 over ten days and the eggs were fresh when they were shipped 

 you can still expect a good hatch. If you follow the above 

 directions and do not get a fair hatch you are not to blame 

 and should take the matter up with the one from whom you 

 bought the eggs. We expect to set one hundred hens dur- 

 ing the spring in this style of nest and feed and care for them 

 in the manner described above. This is the strongest en- 

 dorsement we can give our plan. 



(Note: — A number of our readers may disagree with 

 Mr. Parks that it is a wise plan to permit the sitting hens to 

 return to any nest they choose. Quite a few breeders believe 

 that a hen may be broody and yet not be in such condition 

 that her body will give the requisite amount of heat to the 

 eggs to produce a successful hatch. If such were the case 

 with several hens in the same room, might they not ruin a 

 number of sittings of eggs?) — Ed. 



CRITICISM OF MR. PARKS' METHODS 



KNOWING that the method of setting a broody hen 

 employed by many experienced poultry men is at 

 variance with that described by Mr. Parks in the 

 previous article we asked our readers to write us explaining 

 thei* objection to his plan. The following by Mr. L. E. Smith, 

 one of our Ohio patrons, will be read with interest: 



"For the past three seasons I have followed Mr. Parks' 

 plan with one exception. Instead of using one long board 

 to shut the hens in on the nest I closed each one separately. 

 This is done for the reason that you may have one oi- two 

 vacant nests and some hens are very particular about always 

 going on the same nest. If another hen happens to get her 



nest and there is a vacant one beside it she is liable to go 

 on this one, even though there are no eggs in it. This is 



not liable to happen it you have the ' same number of nests 

 open that you have sitting hens. The nests all look alike 

 to them. After the first or second time you take them off 

 to feed and water you will never have any trouble. 



"I always use nest material as described by Mr. Parks 

 and in this way have had the best results. I have watched 

 the hens time and again to see if they went back on the nests 

 from which they came, but never yet haye seen all of them 

 do so. 



This is the way I hatch all my prize winning Partridge 

 Wyandottes and I should be pleased if my customers also 

 followed this plan. I find that the hens not only stay in 

 the best of health, but that it is easier to keep them free from 

 lice. We always test the eggs the 7th and 14th days and 

 give the hens about ten eggs each, as that is about the average 

 of fertility. I never set over thirteen eggs as I have learned 

 by experience that more than that number is the cause of 

 the hens breaking the eggs. In the long run one is not 

 ahead, for a broken egg is liable to spoil the whole hatch. 

 After the fourth or fifth day I always leave the nests open 

 so that the hens can come and go at will, as I have found 

 that they know more about when to get off the nest than I 

 do. Give them fresh water every morning and mix their 

 grain in the straw, also give them a dust bath and they will 

 do the rest. 



By following the above plan I am able almost to count 

 the chicks by the lith day and that is saying a good deal. 



A COOP FOR BROODY HENS 



HOW TO "BREAK UP" A BROODY HEN 



BEGINNING now one is often exasperated by having a 

 hen become broody and persist in obeying her moth- 

 erly instinct when she could render much more valu- 

 able assistance by laying. I have a method which has been 

 most successful. I make a coop like the one shown in the 

 accompanying illustration that has a slat front. The hen 

 is placed in the coop and then the coop is pushed up close 

 to the wall of the hen house. (See illustration). Thfc slat 

 front being turned away from the yard the broody hen can- 

 not see the rest of the birds but can easily hear them. She 

 will immediately become worried and try to get out and join 

 them, so in two or three days at the mo^t she has forgotten 

 that she ever wanted to become a mother. If the hen is 

 well fed and provided with' fresh water, the worrying will 

 not hurt her at all. 



