Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1915-04-14
FOR OUR BOYS
AND OUR GIRLS
Practical Advice on Setting a Hen
How to Deal With a
Brood Bird.

AS the ume approaches Tor the hens
to become broody or sit, If care is
taken to look in the nests II will be
seen that there a few soft downy
feathers being left there by the hens;
also, the hens stay longer on the
nests when laying at this time, and
or being approached will quite likely
remain on the nest, ruffling up their
feathers and pecking at the intruder.
When 1t is noted that a hen sits on
the nest for two or three nights in
succession she is ready to be trans
ferred to a nest which should be pre-
pared for her beforehand. This nest
should be in a box and composed Of
straw, hay, or chaff for nesting ma
terial. Pack this material down firm
~ and shape a circular nest out Of 1t
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. To
apply the powder. hold the hen by
the feet, head down, working the powd-
er well 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 her regular laying
nest at night. Handle her carefully
in doing so. Put a china egg or two
in the nest where she is to sit, and
place a board owe 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, remove the china egg or eggs
and put under those that are to be in
cubated. In cool weather it is best to
put not more than 10 eggs under a
hen, while later in the spring one
can put IL 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 allow
ing them to come off to get feed and
water. which should be once a day.
Many eggs hat 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 hen for
seven days they should be tested to
see whether they are fertile or infer
tile. Infertile eggs should be remov-
ed and used at home in COOKING or for
omelets, and the fertile GIGS should
be put back under the hen. In this
way 1t 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 remain
ing n to set over again after she
has set only sever days.
A good homemade egg tester or
Gambler 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 bot
tom 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 in
side the box will look perfectly clear,
the same as a fresh one, while a fer
tile egg will show a small dark spot,
known as the embryo, with a mass of
little blood veins extending In all d.
rections IL the embryo is living. If
dead, IL the egg has been incubated
for at least SO hours, the blood set
ties away from the embryo toward
the edges of the yolk, forming in
some cases an irregular circle of
blood, known rs n blood ring. Eggs
vary in this respect, some showing
only a streak Of blood. The testing
should be done in a dark room.