Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-04-21

As the time approaches for the hens to
become broody or sit. if care is taken To
look in the nest il will be seen there are
a few soft downy feathers being left
there In the hens: also. the hens STAY
longer on the nests when laying al this
time. and on being approached will quite
likely remain on the nest, RI ing up
their feathers and pecking al the intru.
der. When il j. noted that hen sits ON
the nest for two or three highs in sue
ccsSion. she il ready Ia be- transferred
Ia u nest which should be- prepared for
her beforehand. This nest should be- in
a box and composed Of straw. hay. or
chan for nesting material. Pack this ma
trrial down firmly and shape a circular
nest out of il which should be lightly
deeper in the center that at the edges. as
u nest ~ shaped will prevent the eggs
from rolling out from under the hen
ami becoming chilled. Dust the hen
thoroughly with insect powder. In ap-
plt Ing th' owdrr. hold the hen hv the
feet. head down. working the powder
we'll into the feathers. giving special III
tcntion To regions around the vent and
under the wings. The pawdcr should al
~ be- Sprinklcd in the nest. The nest
>liould br In >ulnr 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 Tarcfully IN doing so. Put a china
ege or two in the nest where she il Ia sit
and place a board over the opening So
that She can not get oil. Toward evening
Of the second day. quietly 20 in where
she j. sitting AMI leave some feed and
water. and n'movc the board from the
front or top If the nest. and let the hen
coine oil when she H. ready. should she
return 10 the nest after feeding. remove
the china eggs and put under those that
are Ia bc incubatcl. In cool weather il
L. best To put not more han 10 eggs under
Il hem. while later in the spring one can
put ] a. H.. according to the size If the
hen. II several hens are sitting in the
same room. See that they are kept on the
nests. only allowing them to come Of 10
get feed and water, which should bc once
u day.
Many eggs that are laid in the late
winter AMI early spring are infcrtilc.
For this reason il j. advisable to set scv-
cral hens az the same time. After the
eggs have been under the hen for seven
days they should he tested to see whcth
or they are fertile or infertilc. Infcrtilc
eggs should he removed and used at
home in cooking or for omelcts. and the
fertile eggs should he put back under the
hen. In this way il il often possible 10
put all the eggs that three hens original
~ started to sit on under two hen> and
reset the other hen again. For example:
Thirty eggs are set under three hens III
the same time. 10 under each. Al the
end of seven DAYS We find on testing the
eggs are infertile. which leaves rs ~
eggs To reset. which We do bv putting
them under two hens and have the re-
manning one To reset over again after
she has set only seven davs.
\ good homemade egg tester or can
der can be- made from a large shoe box
or anv 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. - that when ID il set over ! com
mon Kerosene lamp the hole in the hot
tom will BE- opposite the blaze a hole
the size If a silver dollar should be- cut
in the top Of the box 10 allaw the heat
Ia escape. An infertile EGG when held
before the small hole with the lamp
lighted inside the box will look perfectly
clear. the same ~ 4 fresh one. while n
fertile egg will show 4 small dark spot.
known as the embrvo. with 4 mass If life
blood veins extending in all directions
if the. embryo il Ii 'ng II dead. if the
egg has been incubated for nj least 30
hours. the blood settles away from the
embryo toward the edges Of the yolk.
forming in some cases an irregular circle