88 INCtrBATION. 



presenting him wiih scraps ajid dainties she had picked up. I 

 never knew a case in which the tie of relationship hetwlst hen 

 and chick lasted so long. 



To retom to the subject of ' "broody' ' hens. I certainly woBder ' 

 why here in America we do not adopt French methods with 

 regard to rearing poultry. We spend days, weeks, in trying to 

 cure a hen Of wishing to sit, a perfectly natural inclination, very 

 often starving and really cruelly teasing the poor thing, while 

 all that time she might be fulfilling her end in life, and sitting 

 on a nest full of eggs. She does not cost more while she is sit- 

 ting, and, indeed, it is far more economical to employ her than 

 to chase the poor wretch off the nests, shut her up, give her physic. 

 Or otherwise torment her. You may argue, "Oh, but my hen 

 would lay again soon if I prevented her from sitting !" Pardon 

 ,me, but the hen certainly would not lay under a month, and pro- 

 bably not for six weeks, as she will pine at first and lose flesh from 

 the feverish anxiety of her state, will be some time before she gets 

 in condition again, and very often two or three months will elapse 

 before she -will lay ; whereas, after sitting, even if her chickens 

 are removed from her or she is. only left with one — ^perhaps you 

 feel inclined to allow her one or two after her trouble of jsitting 

 so long — she will begin to lay again sooner than she would were 

 she laboring under the storge^ If it is very late in the season you 

 might get ducks' eggs and sit your "broody" hen on them. Ducks 

 do better in cold, inclement weather thatf chickens, and when 

 sold bring in a good price. They cost more to fat, though, as 

 they are such ravenous feeders. 



Sitting hens should have a daily run. Do not remove them 

 forcibly from their fiests, but let the door be open every day at 

 a certain hour for a certain time while you are about.. Perhaps 

 for the first day or two you may have to take them gently off 

 their nests and deposit them on the ground outside the door. 

 They will soon, however, learn the habit, and come out wheii 



