Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-04-25

The better birds are kept in large lay
ing pens with cocks of the best breed.
These pens are unusually large, being 40
by 40 feet. and are provided with houses
for shelter, which contain little stalls for
the hens nests.
The eggs from each of these pens.
where the birds of the better stock are
laying, are kept separately in order that
settings from their eggs may always be
secured.
b, BUYS SETTING HEN.
When a hen is ready to set. whether
she be from pedigree stock or a cast
away. she is always given setting of
eggs from the pens where the finer
bin as are kept At the present time Mr..
Slaton desires to increase the number of
his chickens so greatly that whenever
he heard that a hen belonging to one
of his neighbors is ready to set, he inn
mediately sends around and buys the
hen and puts her on some of the fine
eggs.
In addition to the 800 chickens, which
are on the farm at present, there are Is
turkeys. All of them have been laying
well recently, and a number of settings
of their eggs are now being Matched so
in a short time Mr.. Slaton will have quite
a turkey as well as a chicken farm.
In charge of his farm Mr.. Slaton has
r. w McCulloch, a native Scotchman
of wide experience in the poultry bust
ness
When it comes to setting hens McCul-
Ioch has a method, which is probably dis
tinctive from that used on any other
poultry farm in the south,
Each setting hent has an individual
coop. This coop or setting pen is 4 feet
Il by So inches including the run" There
lis a little covered space for the hen.
IL feet by 20 inches, and then the run, "
IL feet by is inches. This covered by a
met wire with loops sufficiently large to
allow a chicken of considerable size to
pass through. When a hen commences
to set in this coop she is held prisoner
there not only until her eggs are Matched,
\ but until the chickens are old enough to
take care of themselves. While the hen
/ is fed and watered by the employee, the
little chicks, escaping through the loops
/ of the wire, are allowed to roam about
in the garden, returning to their mother
at night. The hen is always held in the
coop until the chickens are practically
grown in order that they may come
to her in the evenings.
\ When the hens commence to set in
these unique coops, their nests are built
on the ground, raised just a little in
order that water will drain away from
them, when it rains. Those setting nests
consist of only a small amount of straw
dropped on the bare ground.
When the eggs are Matched small
board is placed under the house part of
the little coop, and the nest is made upon
the board.
McCuloch. who originated the plan in
this vicinity at least, declares that he
secures better results by always setting
the hens on the ground.
EGGS NEED MOISTURE.
when eggs are being Matched" he
says, they need a certain amount of
moisture. This seems not to be generally
/ known, or at least eggs upon which a
/ hen is setting are seldom given this
moisture. i have often noticed that
when hens have been setting in a house
or upon raised boards, when the eggs
pip. the shells break all right, but about
half of the time the skin underneath the
shell does not break at the same time.
When this layer of skin is broken by
hand the chick seldom lives. This failure
of the skin to break at the same time
with the shell is nearly always caused by
the fact that the eggs being Matched,
have failed TO receive the necessary
amount of moisture.
when the hens nest is built upon the
ground. itself. this necessary moisture
is absorbed by the eggs. and the result
is very satisfactory. In using this method
we often get IS chicks out of a setting
of Is eggs, and il is most unusual for
more than two eggs to be lost. When
the setting is made upon board or a
nest. which is placed anywhere except
on the bare ground, it is unusual for
more than 10 chickens to be raised from
a setting OF Is eggs"
McCulloch is a great believer in nature.
and abhoTs the incubator, the modernly
equipped brooder, etc.
Let nature play her part in the MAX
ing of the chickens" he says.
'For instance if a hen slips off in the
woods and makes her own nest, and is
never bothered by anyone's coming
around and trying to make her more
comfortable or otherwise getting in the
way. the chances are that after the al
llotted time in the woods she will re-
turn with about Is healthy little chick
ems at her heels. Fifteen chickens out
of Is egs.
HENS BEAT INCUBATORS.
Il have watched incubators a great
deal and / have tried them on a num-
her of farms, but 1 have never been able