The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1915-05-13

on the nest, ruffling up their feathers
and pecking at the intruder. When 1t
is noted that a hen sits IN the nest for
two or three nights in succession, she
is ready to be transferred to a nest
which should be prepared for her be-
forehand. This nest should be in a
box and composed of straw, hay, or
chaff for nesting material. Pack this
material down firmly and shape a cir
cular nest out of it which should be
slightly deeper in the center than at
the edges, as a nest so shaped will pre-
vent 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 we'll into the feathers,
giving special attention to regions
around the vent and under the wings.
The powder should also be sprinkled
in 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 care
fully in doing SO. Put a china egg or
two in the nest where she is to sit, and
place a board over the opening so that
she can not get off . Toward evening
of the second day, quietly 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, re-
move the china egg or eggs and put
under those that are to be %incubated.
In cool weather it is best to put not
more than 10 eggs under a hen, while
later in the spring one can put II to
Is, according to the size of the hen. If
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 a day.
Many eggs that are laid in the late
winter and early spring are infertile.
For this reason it is advisable to set
several hens at the same time. After
the eggs have been under the hens for
seven days they should be tested to see
whether they are fertile or infertile.
Infertile eggs should be removed and
used at home in cooking or for ONE
lets, and the fertile eggs should be put
back under the hen. In this way it is
often possible to put all the eggs that
three hem 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 w find on testing the eggs
that 10 are infertile, which leaves Us
20 eggs to reset, which we do by put
ting them under two hens and have
the remaining n to set over again
after she has set only seven days.
A good homemade egg tester or can
der can be made from a large shoe
box, or any box that is large enough to
go over a lamp, by removing an end
and cutting a hole a little larger than
the size of a quarter in the bottom of
the box, so that when it is set over a
common kerosene lamp the hole in the
bottom will 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 a
fresh one, while a fertile egg will show
a small dark spot, known as the en-
bryo, with a mass of little blood veins
extending in all elections if the en-
bryo is living. If dead, if the egg has
been incubated for at lease So hours,
the blood settles away from the en-
byro toward the edges of the yolk.
forming in some cases an irregular
circle of blood, known as a blood ring.
Eggs vary in this respect, some show
ing only a streak of blood. The testing
should be done in a dark ROOM.
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