HATCHING THE CHICKS 65 



hen will soon be settled again on a setting of eggs, 

 although perhaps not in the nest which she left, for 

 hens seem to have a very short memory; it is not 

 uncommon for one to leave a nestful of hatchable 

 eggs and sit on a China egg or two. The advan- 

 tage of this method lies in the fact that the amount 

 of work required is minimized, while hens are much 

 more likely to be satisfied when changed from one 

 nest to another in the same house than when moved 

 to strange quarters. One can never be sure that 

 a hen moved from one locality to another will con- 

 tinue to sit. 



When a man runs an incubator, he puts all his 

 eggs in one nest, as it were. Then he has one ma- 

 chine instead of a number of hens to look after. 

 Very little work is required, and that not of an 

 arduous nature, but painstaking attention to details 

 is imperative. Sitting hens will tolerate a certain 

 amount of neglect because they are able to adjust 

 themselves in some degree to circumstances. When 

 using a machine, however, all the intelligence must 

 be manifested by the operator. 



It is not wise to buy any but a standard ma- 

 chine — such a machine as is generally used on 

 large plants, which can afford to test the different 



