NESTS FOR SITTING HENS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1666, 3 February 1904, Page 71 (Supplement)

NESTS FOR SITTING HENS

This subject is of interest to those who ate jueft starting poultry-keeping. Those Aviho have kept fowls far years. have, of course, mastered all the details long ere this, but there are always! new recruits in the poultry-keeping industry, and ift ia from these that Ave are frequently receiving letters for advice on hioiv to sit a hem nest making, and! treatment of the bird during the period of sitting. We always consider it advisable to make the nests of soil. It is better to have this damp, 60 that it cam be beaten down tight and madle perfectly round, the deepest part being j.n the centre, so that if one egg is put in it will roll to the middle of the nest.

‘The size of ih© nest should 1 be according to the size of the hen which it is being made for- When, the roil 1 is beaten down tight a handful of slack lime should be eoaboereu about inside, and some find meadow short hay put into the bottom of the nest loosely, a little at a time, and well beaten down with the hand till it is quit© solid-. Lot the lray come up a little further than the soil, so that the whble of the meet i® covered. b * - No maitfcea* where tn© hen, is- sitting;the west shpuld Jb-e made with soil. Where there id.solo bottom, in the fowlhouse, ©x-

cept the soil soon© make «i .hole ini the earth, and place the hen in it andi a boa: over the top. This answers very well 6(o far as the mast is concerned,, only the difficulty is that rata often got inside the fowlhoufce during cold: weather, and ar« almost sure to get under the nesfe for warmth, and) not content with, that, will often draw the eggs down and eat them l . This is one reason why we do not advise making a -nest on the floor of the hpusse. It is very easy to put tne eoil in thje nest boxes, bat the eodl should not be less than five inches deep. Novices often make them too small. It is better to make the neat rather too email than top large. If it is madia too extra large, soil has to he put in. Hens should always be set at night, and in cold) weather it is well ho put a few dummy eggs unde® them during the first twelve hours. In all cases a bag or piece of canvas should 'be nailed to the top of the nest box in front, andi fastened aft the bottom with a loop or nail, so that the hen cannot get off, then the feeder knows where to find her, and if there happens to be several nest boxes with eggs in, there ia no fear of a hen getting to the wrong nest.

Suppose there are thirteen liens sitting in on© house th ey'clan all be taken off the nefst to feed at the same time, and if they are lifted off for about two mornings, all the attendant will have to da will be to uniocp the bags and the hens will come off themselves. In very cold weather it is well to give them just a little warm s>ft food, in a trough, and finish up with barley and maize, (but in no case should they be fed' entirely upon bait foodi a» it becomes too easily digiested.. The attendant should! take particular notice whether the hens eat their food or mot, a® in many cases while sitting, particularly i n cold weather, they go off their appetite. In that case they should) have a meal made especially for them, composed' of oatmeal’, sharps, and a -little roup powder. Poultry-keepers who have, not the latter by them should usia a little mustard, about as much, as would like on a sixpence, for each hen. If the hens have diarrhoea, then use the same quantity of ginger instead of mustard..

Thosa eggs whiciii look cloucty and are not distinct, have usually gone bad a< Kr the first three or four days of incubation. If there is any doubt as to the fertility"' of the egg the'large end should! be marked with ink, and the eigg placed) under ■- the*hen. Then try it in;"three or four days again. If the chicken is dead, the *- egg will still be cloudy, bht; if alive the diark speck will be easily seen, as iffc will 1 ' be large. It is well during' the last three ' days before the eggs are diue to-hatch to . dip them m, warm water just before the hen returns- to Her nest. Then there is a drop or two of water under, each egg, which is drawn,' up into steam, by the beat of the hen’s body.,and thus ie softens the inner membrane of thei egg.