Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-02-22
The Sitting Hen.


eight days it is easy by careful examina-
ton of the eggs to see if they contain chick |
ems This is best seen at night. Take
lighted candle or other bright light to the
fowl house, and basket with little straw
to receive the eggs. Put the hand gently
under the hen and take out an egg or two.
Shade the eye from the candle with the
left hand, making a ring by bringing the
thumb and forefnger together Hold each
egg against this ring, so as to allow the
light to shine through the center of the
egg. Those eggs that have chickens will
appear perfectly dark, except a clear space
at the larger end. Those that are clear
and that look as if they were filled with
melted wax through which the light can
shine, are useless and should be taken away
When all the eggs are examined the good
ones should be Immediately replaced under
the hen. Now the advantage of sitting
two hens on the same day is, that if many
of the eggs are clear, the whole batch can
be given to one hen and fresh lot to the
other.
After the hens have been sitting twenty
days some of the chickens begin to chip
the shell. On this day the hen should not
be disturbed On the twenty-frst day, or
three weeks after the eggs were put under
the hen all the eggs will be Matched Some
take away those first Matched and put them
in basket with flannel by the fire. This
| is very useless plan, as both hen and
| chickens had better be'left alone. If not
disturbed the hen will not leave the nest
till the twenty-second day, and then all the
chickens will be found quite strong and
able to run. On no account should the
chickens be crammed with food, until they
are about thirty hours old, since they do
not require any other nourishment than
the yolk of the egg from which they are
hatched. This passes into the inside, and
nourishes them until they are sufficiently
strong to run about and seek their food.
The most suitable food for young chick
ems consists of whole grits or oats coarsely
ground but their diet should be varied as
; much as possible. Coarse cat meal mixed
into a crumbly mess with milk or water,
chopped hard boiled eggs, or curd, are very
useful; but the food on which young chick
ems make the most rapid and healthy prog
ress is the supply of grubs and insects
small worms, ants eggs and other animal
substances that the hen obtains by scratch
ing.
Some say that the hens roam too much
when not cooped, and weary the chickens
but if the hen is well fed there is no danger
of her wandering so far as to tire the chick
ems. This is the case with the Brahma.
and larger breeds especially.
Fowls never do so we'll as when allowed
f to wander unconfined over a free range O
grass, or to scratch for their food in straw
e or manure heaps. Under these circum
, stances they obtain a great amount Of food
Y and, consequently, cost much less to keel
e them than when wholly fed by hand. Their
= is also the great advantage that the variety
= of food obtained in this way conduces t.
g their health and condition, so that thei
d hardihood is far superior to that of fowl
h kept in a confined place, and the numbe
of eggs proportionally increased. Still
fowls may be kept with advantage in a con
:, fined space, provided the most scrupulou
: cleanliness is secured, the house cleane
l. out daily, and the run often swept an
lie gravelled.
l. The great mistake usually committed b
people who keep fowls in small space,
'r that they attempt to keep three or fou
v times the number that the place will az
III commodate properly. A cock and thre
le hens should have a space of at least six b
: eight yards. Then, in order to supply tt
green food natural to birds, all the was
garden stuff, such as cabbage stumps, tn
nip tops, &C., should be thrown in for the
IS to scratch and pick at. A spadeful
III mould, full of worms and small stone
80 should often be thrown in while the bir,
~ may be fed with barley and all the hou
eu scraps, such as boiled potato parings, bone
oi crumbs, &c. In the space above indica
III ed, eight or ten fowls would be overcrow
NJ ed and they would all be likely to get o
0A of condition and would not do well.-Ma
W. Py0Uman.