HATCHING THE CHICKS 61 



Some amateurs keeping hens of the non-sitting 

 breeds may, indeed, prefer to use a 70 or 120- 

 egg machine to hatch their chicks rather than to 

 bother with broody hens obtained from the neigh- 

 bors. These little machines are thoroughly practi- 

 cable and not difficult to operate. 



It is sometimes a desirable plan to set several hens 

 at the time that an incubator is started. Then, at 

 the end of ten days or two weeks, the eggs may be 

 taken from the hens and placed in the machine to 

 take the places of the infertile eggs tested out. Of 

 course the eggs under the hens should also be first 

 tested, and in this way the twenty-first day brings a 

 machine full of chicks in no danger of being stepped 

 on by a blundering hen, and free from lice. It is 

 also found entirely feasible to hatch the chicks in an 

 incubator and raise them under hens just as it is 

 to hatch them under hens and raise them in a 

 brooder. Both plans are practiced. 



Hatching chicks with hens has one distinct ad- 

 vantage. With 70 fertile eggs set under five hens, 

 one is almost certain to get a fair number of 

 chicks, for even if one hen abandons her nest and 

 another crushes her eggs by her clumsy movements, 

 there will still be an excellent chance of obtaining 



