CHAPTER XXI 

 NATURAL INCUBATION 



Artificial incubation and brooding are to be recommended 

 because of their economy. They save the hen's time, and in so 

 doing the hen is enabled to produce more eggs. Very often, 

 however, it is more important to save the poultry-keeper's time, 

 as in the case of farmers and backyard gprowers, in which event 

 the business of rearing young stock is left entirely to Mistress 

 Biddy. 



Though incubators are widely used on farms, it is not likely 

 that they will entirely replace hens, because the hens are capable 

 of looking after hatching and brooding details with practically 

 no outside attention. Unfortunately, the hatching season comes 

 at a time when farm work — plowing and planting — is most press- 

 ing. To escape the responsibility of looking after an incubator, 

 the farmer prefers to depend upon his hens, knowing that they 

 are fully competent to secure results, if not so economically, at 

 least as thoroughly, as the machine. 



It is a mistake, however, to ignore the hens completely. Unless 

 the quarters intended for the sitting hens are convenient, sani- 

 tary and comfortable, not alone for the hens, but for the person 

 who feeds them, it is likely that the results will be disappointing. 

 The hens will do their part, providing they are given the oppor- 

 tunity, and it is this opportunity which is so often neglected. 



Avoid Stolen Nests. — On farms where little or no attention is 

 paid to the chickens, it is customary to allow the hens to steal 

 their nests in out-of-the-way corners of the buildings, sometimes 

 in the hen house, under the barn, in the loft, or in barrels or boxes 

 scattered about the barnyard. This hit or miss plan neither 

 gives comfort to the hen nor security to her brood; it is wrong. 



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