Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-03-21
POU 1t r Y
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT
Care of the Sitting Hel

The sitting hen, which is used most
| generally for incubation purposes on
the farm should receive a certain
amount of care and attention during
the process of Matching eggs. To a
great extent the care given a sitting
hen plays an important part on the
number and condition Of the chicks
when Matched. With this end in view,
the poultry specialists Of the u. s.
Department of Agriculture make the
! following suggestions:
If several hens are sitting in the
same room, see that they are kept on
the nests, allowing them to come off
only once a day to receive feed and
water, the feed to consist of corn,
wheat, or both. If there are any
that do not desire to come off them
selves, they should betaken off. Hens
usually return to their nests before
there is any danger of the eggs chill
ing, but If they do not go back in
half an hour in ordinary weather,
they should be put on the nest. Where
large number of sitters are kept in
one room it is advisable to let them
off in groups of from four to six at
time. The eggs and nests should be
examined and cleaned, removing all
broken eggs and washing those that
are soiled; in the latter case the soil
ed nesting material should be remov-
ed and clean straw added. Nests
containing broken eggs that the hen
is allowed to sit on soon become in
tested with mites and lice, which
cause the hens to become uneasy and
leave the nest, often causing the loss
of valuable sittings of eggs. In mite
infested nests, the hen, if fastened in,
will often be found standing over
rather than sitting on the eggs. Many
eggs that are laid in the late winter
and early spring are infertile. For
this reason it is advisable to set sew
eral hens at the same time. After
the eggs have been under the hens
from five to seven days, the time de-
pending somewhat on the color and
thickness Of the shells-white-sh elled
eggs being easier to test than those
having brown shells-they should be
tested, the infertile eggs and dead
germs removed, and the fertile eggs
put back under the hen. In this way
it is often possible to put all the eggs
that several hens originally started
to sit on under fewer hens and reset
the others. For example, thirty
eggs are SCI uflucT lilIet ileliS az Tile
same time, ten under each. At the
end of seven days we find on testing
the eggs from all the hens that ten
are infertile, which leaves us twenty
eggs to reset. which we do by put
ting them under two hens, and have
the remaining hen set over again af-
ter she has sat only seven days. In
this way considerable time can be
saved in ones Matching operations.
Testing Eggs for Fertility
An egg, whether impregnated or
not. has a small grayish spot on the
surface of the yolk known as the
"germinal spot" As soon as a fer
tile egg is placed under a hen, or in
an incubator, development begins
All eggs should be tested at least
twice during the period of incuba-
zion, preferably on the seventh and
fourteenth days, and the infertlle
eggs and dead germs removed. White
eggs can be tested on the fourth or
fifth day, while the development in
eggs having brown shells often can
not be seen by the use of an ordin-
airy egg-tester until the seventh day.
Dead germs soon decay and give off
a bad odor if allowed TO remain under
the hen. Infertile eggs make good
feed for young chickens. and are Of
ten used in the house for culinary
purposes. Most incubator companies
furnish testing chimneys with their
machines which will fit ordinary
lamps. Electric or gas lamps may be
used in a box with a hole and at the
same level as the light. They may
also be tested by sunlight, or day
light, using a shutter or curtain with
small hole in it for the light to
shine through.
A good homemade egg tester, or
GAMBLER, can be made with a large
shoe box, or any box that is large
enough to 90 over a lamp, by remov-
ing the end and cutting a hole lit
tie larger than the size of a quarter
in the bottom of the box, so that when
it is set over a kerosene lamp the
hole in the bottom will be opposite
the blaze. A hole the size of sill
yer dollar should be cut in the top
Of the box to allow the heat to es-
cape.
The eggs are tested with the large
end up, so that the size of the air
cell may be seen as well as the con-
dition of the embryo. The testing
should take place in dark room.
The infertile egg when held before
the small hole with the lamp lighted
inside the box will look perfectly
clear, the same as fresh one, with
fertile egg will show a small dark
spot, known as the embryo, with a
mass of little blood veins extending
in all directions, If the embryo is liv-
ing; if dead, and the egg has been in
cubated for at least forty-six 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 a blood
ring. Eggs vary in this respect,
some showing only a streak Of blood:
All infertile eggs should be removed
at the first test. The eggs contain
ing strong, living embryos are dark
and well-filled up on the fourteenth
day, and show a clear, sharp, dis
tinct line of demarcation between
the air cell and the growing embryo,
while dead germs show only partial
development, and lack this clear, dis