Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-04-17
Care Of the Sitting Hen.

aPPsD; ocass. Ps1,;. Agricultural Editor Oxford Dem
Care OF the Sitting Hen.
Washington, D. G. The sitting hen
which 10 used most generally for ipcuba
eion purposes on the farm, should re
ceive certain amount Of care and at
tention during the process Of hatchins
eggs. To great extent the care given
sitting hen plays an important part OF
the number and condition OF the chick,
when hatched. With this end in view
the poultry specialists of the q. 8. De
partment of Agriculture make the fol
lowing suggestions:
III several hens are sitting in the same
room, see that they are kept on the
nests, allowing them to come of only
once day to receive feed and water, the
feed to consist Of corn, wheat or both.
II there are any that do not desire to
come off themselves, they should be
taken of. Hens usually return to their
nests before there is any danger Of the
eggs chilling, but II they do not 90 back
in half an hour In ordinary weather, they
should be put on the nest. Where q
large number of sitters are kept In one
room 1t is advisable to let them of in
groups of from to 9 at q time. The
eggs and nests should be examined and
removing all broken eggs and
washing those that are soiled; In the lat.
ter case the soiled nesting material
should be removed and clean straw add.
ed. Nests containing broken eggs that
the hen Is allowed to sit on soon become
infested 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, IL 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 in
fertile. For this reason It is advisable
to set several hens at the same time.
After the eggs have been under the hen
from 5 to 7 days, the time depending
on the color and thickness Of
the shells-white-shelled eggs being
easier to test than those having brown
shells-they should be tested, the infer
tile 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, 80 eggs
are set under hens at the same time,
10 under each. At the end of days We
find on testing the eggs from all the hens
that 10 are infertile, which leaves us 20
10 kD
them under hens, and have the remain
ing hen sit over again after she has sat
only 7 days. In this way considerable
time can be saved In ones Matching op-
erations.
TESTING EGGS FOR FERTILITY
An egg, Whistler impregnsted or not,
has small grayish spot on the surface
of the yolk known as the "germinsl
spot" As soon as fertile egg Is placed
under a hen, or In an incubator, develop
ment begins. All eggs:should be tested
q. least twice during the period OF incu-
baton, preferably on the seventh and
days, and the infertile 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 ordinary egg tester until
the seventh day. Dead germs soon de-
cay and give of bad odor II allowed to
remain under the hen. Infertile eggs
make good feed for young chickens, and
are often used in the home for culinary
purposes. Most incubator companies fur
nish testing chimnsys with their ma
chimes which will fit ordinary lamps.
Electric or gas lamps may be used In q
box with hole slightly smaller than an
egg cut in the side of the box and at the
same level as the light. They may also
be tested by sunlight, or daylight, using
a shutter or curtain with small hole In
it for the light to shine through.
A good homemade egg-tester, or cand-
ler, can be- made with large shoe box,
or any box that Is large enough to go
over lamp, by removing the end and
emitting a hole Q little larger than the
size of a quarter in the bottom OF the
box, 80 that when IL Is set over kero-
sene lamp the hole in the bottom will be
opposite the blaze. A hole the size OF
silver dollar should be cut in the top OF
the box to allow the heat to escape.
The eggs are tested with the large end
up, so that the size of the air cell may
be seen as we'll as the condition OF the
embryo. The testing should take place
in a dark room. The infertile egg when
held before the small hole with the lamp
inside the box will look perfectly
clear. the same az fresh one, while
fertile egg will show q small dark spot,
known as the embryo, with mass OF
little blood veins extending In all direc'
tions, If the embryo 10 living; II dead,
and the egg has been incubated for at
least 48 hours, the blood settles away
from the embryo toward the edges OF
the yolk, forming In some cases an IT,
regular circle of blood, known as blood
ring. Eggs vary In this respect, some
showing only streak of blood. All In
fertile eggs should be removed at the
first test. The eggs containing strong,
living embryos are dark and we'll filled
up on the fourteenth day, and show
clear, sharp, distinct line Of demarcat,on
bstw cen the air cell and the growing
embryo, while dead germs show only
partial development, and lack this clear
distirct outline.