HATCHING AND REARING CHICKS WITH HENS. 



The Location tor Nests and Protection from Lice and Weather— Care of Hens and Newly Hatched Chicks — 



Cooping and Feeding the Brood. 



By n.A, Nourse. 



THE process of hatching and raising chicks by 

 natural means is simple and easy on the face 

 of it; the hen does the work and in proof of 

 her ability we cite a ease wherein the hen 

 steals away and in due time returns with a big brood 

 of chicks which she raises with little or no loss. Granting 

 that this may be the uniform result, we must give some 

 credit to the conditions and not all to the hen. This satis- 

 factory result does not often occur when the weather is 

 cold, but rather when it is warm, and the hen selects a nest- 

 ing place with natural advantages. The nest is surrounded 

 by the pure air of nature, and the hen can leave it without 

 danger of the eggs becoming chilled. She dusts herself 

 thoroughly and often in the damp earth and thus keeps her 

 plumage clean and comparatively free from lice. 



When the hatch is completed the chicks are not immedi- 

 ately stuffed with food, but exercised gently and brooded 

 frequently while gathering from the pure air oxygen for a 

 myriad of strength giving blood corpuscles, until the nour- 

 ishment with which nature provides all well hatched chicks 

 is assimilated and stronger food may be digested and made 

 most of by a system ready for the work. 



But if we want early chicks we must set hens in the 

 cold and changeable weather of early spring. Sometimes 

 we set them in a place poorly protected from the weather 

 and often the hens are neither allowed a dust bath nor given 

 any protection whatever from the irritating pests — lice. 



A setting hen deserves about as much protection from 

 cold or heat as an incubator, but seldom gets it. In cold 

 weather a well built warm room is a great advantage and 

 in warm weather, which frequently overtakes the poultry- 

 man before he has finished hatching, well ventilated and 

 moderately cool quarters will be of considerable assistance. 



Setting the Hen. 



The nest should be carefully built of fine, soft hay and 

 of such size and shape that the hen will fit nicely into it, 

 affording perfect protection to the eggs. It should be rea- 

 sonably flat on the bottom at hatching' time or the chicks 

 attempting to leave the shell at the bottom of the nest will 

 often be crushed by the unhatched eggs rolling down from 

 the sloping sides. 



Every means should be used to secure the absence of 

 lice. Nothing is so likely to bring about a poor hatch of 

 good eggs or to prevent the successful rearing of the chicks 

 as lice. A dust bath for the sitters to dust in should be 

 provided if practicable and each bird should be thoroughly 

 dusted with insect powder at least once a week, the last 

 dusting to be done three days before the hatch is due. 



If a pedigree record of the fowls is kept the nest should 

 be marked with the number representing the parentage of 

 the chicks and each chick punched as it is taken from the 

 nest, thereby avoiding all chance of mistake and making 

 the mark when it will hurt the chick least and be least 

 likely to fill up. 



There is danger of empty shells capping unhatched eggs 

 and imprisoning the chicks and it should be prevented by 

 reaching under the hen and removing the shells at frequent 

 intervals during the exclusion of the chicks. 



Nothing is gained by hurrying the chicks from the nest; 

 if the hen desires to leave the nest as soon as the hatch is 

 finished (or even while it is in progress) the nest may be 

 covered with a light cloth (if the weather is cold) and the 

 hen allowed to stretch, eat and drink, after which she will 

 again seek the brood and quickly make them warm and com- 

 fortable. It is well to give the hen a little food and water 

 while on the nest if the chicks come out slowly, confining 

 her to the nest for two or three days. 



Caring for the Chicks. 



After the chicks have been out of the shell twenty-four 

 hours it is early enough to move them to their coop. 



A Stolen Nest. 



As each chick is taken from the nest, and the identifica- 

 tion mark punched in the web of its foot, its head should be 

 anointed with vaseline or lard sufficient to smooth the down 

 closely about the skull to kill head lice. The hen should 

 be well dusted and the action repeated once a week so long 

 as .«he remains with the chicks. 



If small coops are used it is an advantage to be able to 

 put them under a shed with open front to the south where 

 the chicks will be protected from inclement weather and 

 winds while getting plenty of exercise upon the ground; the 

 hen remaining confined to the coop. 



I am much in favor of large coops, at least three feet 

 square on the bottom, tightly built to keep out dampness, 

 yet permitting sufficient ventilation to keep them cool in 

 warm weather. 



Care of the Brood. 



The first day in the coop the hen should have a good 

 ration of whole corn, but the chicks need only a very light 



