THE TREATMENT OF SITTING HENS AND YOUNG CHICKENS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1679, 4 May 1904, Page 71 (Supplement)

THE TREATMENT OF SITTING HENS AND YOUNG CHICKENS

(“Farm, Field and Fireside.”) It is very necessary that the sitting heins should he well looked after, as rm'l they are kept in good condition they lose 'heat and are frequently unable to sat their proper time, and u!nleas other hens are available to take their place, much valuable time is lost as well as good eggs early in the season; There are many opinions as to the proper and most successful method of eitting hens. Somepensoue prefenmak-

ing the nest upon the ground in a damp situation, w'liile others set their birds in as dry a place as possible. We have always found it to imitate Nature as much as possible, for, as a rule, hens that choose their own nests bring off large broods. If a hen that is sitting on a stolen nest is watched, it will be observed that she chooses a dry, secluded spot for the nest-,'and although the ground ijiay be quite dry when the nest- is first formed, the heat from her body draws a certain moisture from the soil which moistens the eggs. That is, of course, a very gradual moisture. She also leaves the nest early in the morning to search for food, and as the grass is wet with dew her breast fea<tliers also get wet, and in this state she returns to her eggs, and upon sitting again she damps them.

. It will therefore be seen that Nature teaches that it is best to make the nest on the ground and to 1 cover it in from the others.

Where it is possible, a separate house should he provided for the sitting hens so that they are left to themselves and secure from interruption but where this cannot, be done the nest should be made in the house, and so arranged that the front might be covered up with a pieee of bagging, etc., which might be removed each morning when the hen is lifted off the nest.

The best way to make the nest is to scoop out a little earth from the floor, and then the earth in the hollow should be beaten down quite firm in the shape of the nest. Where no earth can he removed, a few shovelisful of soil should be obtained and moulded into the shape in an ordinary egg box. It is easier to form the nest of soil than with the turf, and the soil should be damp, beaten down well with the hand. An old glove should be worn to protect the hand against thorns or broken glass, whichever might be in the soil. If the soil is damp, it forms a nice erven surface, and holds well together. The nest should be a quite round hollow, so that all the eggs are covered when the hen alters her position. The lowest point should, of course', be in tlie centre. So that the eggs roll and keep together again when the hen steps into the nest.

Plenty of room must be given, as when a bird is cramped in sitting a good 1 many of the eggs are likely to get broken.

The hollow should be lined with fine hay at the bottom of the nest in very cold weather, but before this is put in, a handful of slack lime should be sprinkled in the nest, as this prevents vermin from breeding there. Hay is much better than straw, as it sticks closer together, alnd therefore holds the warmth better, and where this is used the hen may be allowed more eggs. Straw is hollow, and so conducts the cold air to the eggs especially in frosty weather.

When fowls are set in a strange nest it is best to pdt them on, their new nest at night, unless very tame.

They should never he forced or hurried, but should ha placed in front of the nest they are to occupy, with a, few common eggs in it, when they will generally take to it at once, and if not disturbed again too soon they will stick to it and sit well.

Some hens mil not sit in a strange nest, and the only tiling that can be done with them is to patiently allow them to have their own way, or not- to set them at all.

One way of making-liens sit is to take the bird and let her stand in front of the nest, holding her in front of the breast by one hand, and then stroking her gently with the other from head to tail, just as one' would stroke a cat or a dog, then place the left hand iii the * same position as the right one, with which the bird was held, and draw the fingers of the right hand underneath the beak and down the neck underneath. Nothing els© will tame broody, hens half as much as this treatment.

Hens that hare travelled a journey or been removed should be put into a' coop and fed well with hard com and water. They sfliouldi then be placed oh the nest .hike this in the evening and covered in so that they are partly in the dark, and should be allowed to remain on the nest all the next day and taken off the day after. This ensures that they will be well settled down before being disturbed. For the first few diayis they should be feck in a coop or other small place; if not, they beoome very, wild and' will not go back to the nest. Broody hens should be handled very gently, and wliein they are being fed it is wise to put the coop so that the hen' may see her nest with the eggs in it, as after she has finished feeding she will go straight on again. Many people make a mistake when they have eggs from a distance by setting them immediately upon reoeipt. Eggs should always be allowed to stand 12, 15, or 20 hours to rest before putting them under the hen or into the incubator.

When the nest is made without soil or turf the outer skin of the egg becomes very day during tire last week of incubation. and the chickens usually hatch out very badly, and often half do not crack the shell. ■ To avoid this it is better to moisten the eggs slightly by dipping them into warm, water during the last few days. In moderately cold weather cold water will do to wet the eggs, but in real cold weather warm water must be. used. We find it best to dip them in warm water and let them remain in one or two seconds each day for the last throe or five days of incubation. Should the hen break one of the eggs the contents should be removed immediately, and if any portion of the yolk, etc., is on the other eggs it should be washed off with warm, water at once, and if very much soiled a small! nailbrush and a tittle soap should be used, and the eggs thoroughly rinsed to cleanse them effectually.. If the contents of one egg are allowed to dry on the shell of another it stops the pores -in the shell, thus preventing t-he passage of air to the chick, which it must be understood is alive and breathing at least two daiys before it is hutched. The sitting hen should be lifted! off the neist every morning, and .about the third morning she will rise up ready to be lifted off when the attendant goes to her.

Care must bo used in lifting the hen, and this is bast done by placing a hand under each wing to make quit© sure no eggs are lodged there; and then take hold of the legs with the fingers, and lift steadily, letting the wings rest on

the wrists. - - In cold weather the hen should' not be allowed'- to stop off the nest more than fifteen minutes, but in. warm weather' .'she may be off from forty to sixty mjmitee. When the hen is off, the nest -should bo covered t© prevent other hens going to it, and in frosty weather it is well t© cower up the eggs

■with a piece of flannel cw -wadiding to prevent their being chilled., but this Should only be clone in the very severest ■weather, as the more air the eggs get the stronger the chickens will hatch , • out. . ■ A supply of dust and ashes must be kept- in a dry place for the hen to clean herself with, and food and water must, of courtsei, be placed so that she may help herself. A® sitting hens go a long time between each meal, it is best to feeditliem on some sort, of hand corn, Such as maize arid barley in cold weather, and wheat h,nd! barley in the hot Weather iais this lasts much longer / than soft food. Sometimes, a,'hen will <• lose her appetite when sitting; if this *. should occur she ought to have a little r hempseed, bread and pieces of iheat.. ’ The sitting •bens’ food should consist of barley and Indian corn mixed', and if they do not eat much, a little hempseed in addition should be given. If they do not eat at all. they should have a teaspoonful of roup powder, mixed Up with two taible&poonsf ul of barleymeal and oatmeal made up into pellets, and given.them. If treated in this way, hs a rule the next morning they will go straight to their food, as the powder acts as a tonic and 1 revives the hens’ g' strength. . When a sitting hen’ will eat corn she does not require soft food. Unless the weather is very cold the hen should be provided With a dust bath and) water, and sound* grain should always be given to her. Sitting hens should never ibe fed) more than - once a day, and this ’ . in the morning. When a sitting hen has diarrhoea t is a good plan to. give a little dry rice, if she will eat it, and) mix half a tearspoonful of powdered chalk, and a quarter of a tejaspoonful of ground ginger with alny kind of. meal and put down her throat. This, as a rule, will stop the worst cases of diarrhoea. If a pdhltry-keeper is a-little undecided as to whether there is sufficient heat in the hen’s body .or not, it is well - to put a.small thermometer under the breast for half-an-hour, then look at it quickly, because the temperature soon goes down. It should run from lOOdeg to 102 deg, bvb occasionally, it will be ■dip to 103 deg. When the hen is not eating well, on a cold night the tem- ■ perature will often drop down to SOdeg, > 90deg, and! 95dog. ; It is very ne.ceissary eggs should he tested, .particularly during the cold Cv Weather, to see whether they are fertile or toot, or the chickens ha ve diedl in the shells at early stages. When they are clear they should be taken away at once.