West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1915-05-13
k'ewooD PRESTON VIRGINIA. THURSDAY MAY &, 1915
For Boys aud Girls

AS the time approaches for the hons
TO become broody or sit, IL care Is
taken To look i'm the nests II will n.
seen that there are a few soft down
feathers left there by the hens; also
the hens stay longer on the nests
when laying at this time. and on being
approached will likely remain ON the
nest runling up their feathers and
pecking at the intruder. When it is
noted that hen sits on the nest for
two or three nights in succession. she
is ready to be transferred TO n nest
which should be prepared for her be-
torehand. This nest should be I'm n
box and composed OF hay, straw or
chan for nesting material. Pack this
material down firmly and shape a cir
cuiar nest out OF II which should be
slightly deeper in the center than at
the edges, as a nest so shaped will
prevent the eggs from rolling out from
under the hen and becoming chilled
Dust the hen thoroughly with insect
powder. In applying the powder. hold
the hen by the feet, head down. work
ing the powder well into the feathers
giving special attention to regions
around the vent and under the wings
The powder should also be sprinkled
III the nest. The nest should be in
some quiet. out of the way place on
the farm. where the sitting hen will
not be disturbed. Move her from the
regular laying nest at night. Handle
her carefully in so doing. Put a china
egg or two I'm the nest where she Is to
sit. and place board over the open-
ing so that she cannot get off. To-
ward evening OF the second day, quiet
ly go in where she is sitting, and leave
some feed and water, and remove the
board from the front or top of the
nest, and let the hen come off when
she is ready. Should she return TO the
nest after feeding. remove the china
egg or eggs and put under those that
are to be incubated. In cool weather
1t Is best to put not more than 10 eggs
under n hen. while later In the spring
one can put IL to Is, according TO the
size OF the hen. III several hens are
sitting in the same room, see that they
are kept on the nests, only allowing
them to come off to get feed and water
which should be once day.
Many eggs that are laid i'm the late
winter and early spring are infertiIe.
For this reason IL is advisable to set
several hens at the same time. After
tho eggs have been under the hen for
seven days they should be tested TO
see whethey they are fertile or infer
tile. Infertile eggs should be rmoyed
and used at home in cooking or for
omelets. and the fertile eggs should be
put back under the hen. In this way
IL is often possible to put all the eggs
that three hens originally started to
SIT on under two hens and reset the
other hen again. For example: Thirty
eggs are set under three hens at the
same time, 10 under each. At the end
OF seven days we find on testing the
eggs that 10 are infertile, which leaves
us 20 eggs to reset, which we do by
putting them under two hens and have
the remaining one to set over again
after she has set only seven DAYS.
a good homemade egg tester or can
dler can be made from a large shoe
box. or any box that is large enough
to go over lamp. by removing an end
and cutting hold little larger than
the size OF quarter in the bottom of
the box, so that when 1t 8 set over a
common Kerosene lamp the hole I'm the
bottom III be opposite the blaze. A
hole the size Of a silver dollar should
be cut in the top Of the box to allow
the heat to escape. An infertile egg
when held before the small hole with
the lamp lighted inside the box will
look perfectly clear the same as
fresh one. while fertile egg will show
small dark spot, known as the en-
bryo, with a mass OF little blood veins
extending i'm all directions If the en-
bryo is living. II dead, If the egg has
been incubated for at least 3G hours.
the blood settles away from the en-
bryo toward the edges of the yolk.
forming In some cases an irregular
circle Of blood, known as blood ring
Eggs vary in this respect some show
ing only streak Of blood. The test
ing should be done in a dark room.