THE INCUBATION OF THE EGO 185 



Management of Setting Hens. — ^When more than one hen 

 is setting at the same time and place, it is a safe plan to confine 

 them to the nest and allow them to come off once daily at a 

 regular time to feed and dust. If all are set at the same time 

 it makes little difference whether they return to the same 

 nests or not. The material used for confining them should 

 allow a free circulation of air, such as poultry netting. 



Clean, cool water and plenty of whole grain, grit, and 

 charcoal should be available for the hen when she leaves the 

 nest. Nothing in the nature of sloppy food, which tends 

 toward bowel looseness, should be fed. 



If possible a setting hen should be rendered absolutely 

 louse-free before being placed on the hatching nest, as lice 

 form one of the commonest and greatest sources of danger 

 to hen-hatched chicks. She should be thoroughly dusted 

 with good insect or louse powder before being placed on the 

 eggs, and the process repeated at the end of the first and 

 second weeks of the incubating period. It is unsafe to dust 

 the hens just before hatching because some of the commercial 

 powders are of such strength that they will kill chicks under 

 a week old. 



Care should be taken to be particularly thorough in working 

 the powder well into the feathers, under the wings, and the 

 fluff around the vent. These are the regions which usually 

 show the heaviest infestation. 



It is always a safe precaution to grease the heads of hen- i 

 hatched chicks with lard, in order to preclude the possibility ' 

 of head lice. 



Number of Eggs per Hen. — ^The number of eggs that should 

 be given to one hen is determined by the size of the hen and " 

 the season of the year. The usual number constituting a , 

 setting is fifteen. In cold weather, however, eleven to " 

 thirteen is all that one hen of medium size can cover success- 

 fully. When the weather is warm, fifteen, and if it is very 

 warm, seventeen eggs may be placed under a hen with 

 safety. 



Breaking up Broody Hens. — When hens that are not desired 

 for setting become broody, and it is desired to keep them 

 from the nests of the layers and to induce them to lay again 



