120 The Hen at Work 



Besides the com, supply fresh water, grit, and 

 oyster shell. Scatter sifted hard-coal ashes an 

 inch deep over the floor of the coop. 



As the hatch proceeds, the nest should be in- 

 spected every two or three days, and, if the hen 

 has not been off to eat her com, she should be 

 placed in the run and kept off for twenty minutes. 

 This airs the eggs, which would spoil if kept 

 covered all the time. 



If the sitter should quit in the middle of the 

 hatch, and decline to return, it is often possible 

 to change her for another hen if you have one. 

 Careful experiments show that during the middle 

 of the period the eggs may stand for fifteen hours 

 in temperature as low as fifty degrees without 

 fatal results. Place the eggs in a warm comer of 

 the' kitchen or near a radiator, at about eighty to 

 ninety degrees, tiU the new hen is ready. A large 

 jug of hot water, not over 120 degrees, placed in a 

 covered box with the eggs wUl keep them going 

 very well for many hours. 



Visitors in general should be kept away from the 

 sitting hen, but a daily visit by the one in charge 

 will be necessary. It is well to lift and handle, 

 and talk to a broody mother of the heavier breeds, 



