THE SITTER AND HER BROOD. 



/Making the Nest and Setting the Hen- 



-Feedlng and Caring for the Hen and Chicks — A Satisfactory 

 Coop and Runway. 



By Mrs. S. E. Hurlbut. 



THE best thing I have ever found in which- to set hens 

 is an empty barrel. Cut a hole nine.lnches from the 

 bottom end. Make this hole seven inohes wide and 

 nine inches high. Put about three inches 'of dirt iii 

 the bottom, leaving it about level. Put in a double handful 

 of tobacco stems or waste tobacco, laying it level, then put in 

 .enough fine hay ar straw to make a good nest. Put. a couple 

 of china eggs in the nest and put in the hen. Stand the bar- 

 rel on end and put a board across the top for shelter and to 

 .darken the nest, so it is more secluded. This also prevents 

 the hen from flying upon the top where she is liable to foul 

 tthe nest and eggs. 



If the hen is uneasy put a board or wire screen in front 

 of the hole in the barrel so that she cannot get out for a day 

 .or so. Let her sit on the china eggs for a couple of days so 

 ;that the nest will be thoroughly warm, then put the eggs 

 under her. Keep plenty of good: clean water and ground 

 corn where she can get it and give her a chance for a dust 

 ibath. If you have a shed or vacant coop where the ground is 

 dry the bath is assured. You can place several of these 

 nests side by side, as the barrel gives seclusion so that the 

 hens cannot see each other. 



After the hen has been sitting about a week dust her with 

 :Some good lice killer, and dust again a few days before 

 hatching time is due. The cover can be lifted from the bar- ' 

 rel to do the dusting and if for any reason you wish to take 

 the hen off the nest you can lift her out without disturbing 

 ;the eggs. Leave the chicks in the nest at least twenty-four 

 "hours after they are hatched, and it is well enough to put a 

 piece of board in front of the entrance, so that the chicks 

 .cannot fall out. It often happens that, if one of the chicks 

 gets out and peeps loudly, the hen will leave the nest and 

 brood the lone chick, leaving the others to get chilled. At 

 the proper time take the hen and put her in the coop and 

 ;give her the chicks. After the chicks are a few days old 

 ■turn the coop over in the evening and dust the hen with 

 'Powder, which will work down through her feathers onto the 

 .chicks. I occasionally turn the coop bottom side up and 

 sprinkle kerosene thoroughly on the inside. 





Mrs. Hurlbut's Brood Coop. 



Runway Used With Mrs. Hurlbut's Brood Coop, 



Feeding the Chicks. 

 The first food given the chicks is usually bread and 

 •milk, and for a water dish for small chicks a low tin baking 

 dish, not more than an inch high, is all rightl The food I 



give after the first day is meal and middlings (eciual parts 

 by measure) mixed, with about one tablespoonful of animal 

 meal to one quart of the food. .This is thoroughly scalde;d 

 and fed cool five times a day for about two weeks. After 

 that I feed the mash three times a day and in the middle 

 of tlie f o r e- 

 noon and af- 

 ternoon they 

 are fed hulle<l 

 oats and 

 wheat screen- 

 ings mixed. I 

 increase the 

 animal meal 

 gradually un- 

 til they are 

 well feathered 

 lOut, when , I 

 feed a'bout one 

 part animal 

 meal to eight , , 



parts meal and middlings^ — say eight pints of food and one 

 pint of animal meal, or that proportion. I occasionally feed 

 chopped onions, which they always relish, and give them 

 grit and oyster sihells. , I throw it into- the runs and Ipt 

 ttiem eat w-halt they want of it. During the winter, when 

 the hens have p'icked out the coarse shell and grit, I put 

 the fine grit in a box and keep it to feed to the dhiteks in 

 the spring. 



I keep the chicks in the runs until they are well feath- 

 ered out, moving the runs as fast as they eat down the 

 grass, in hot weather being careful to place them in the 

 shade. I take the hens away from the chicks when they are 

 large enough, and that depends on the weather. In warm 

 weather they will do without the hen younger than when 

 it is colder. Each breeder must use his own judgment, 

 and in fact the keynote of success is good judgment. 

 There are no ironclad rules that fit all conditions. My 

 yards are about fifty by one hundred feet and well shaded. 

 I put the chicks into these yards when they are about ten 

 weeks old. After the chicks eat off the! green 

 stuff in the yards, I feed green food omce a day 

 and gradually reduce the regular meals to three 

 times a day. Anything I can get thalt is green 

 I feed them^ — grass, clover, weeds, radishes, cu- 

 cumbers, cabbage, lettuce, green corn, tomaitoes, 

 apples, etc., all help. I have a good garden and 

 the surplus goes to them. 



After the first hard frost in the fall I let 

 them run at large and ithey have a picnic in 

 the garden and fields until cold weather. I 

 keep grit and shell in the boxes by them all 

 the time in the yards. I give them plenty of good clean 

 water, keep them free from lice, give them shelter from rains 

 and sun, and when cold weather comes good, comfortable 

 houses. I raise Barred Plymouth Rocks and have no troub'e 



