In procuring eggs for hatching, be sure that the parent birds are of mature age, but not too old, well-shaped, vigorous, and in perfect health; that one cock is kept to every six or seven hens; and that they are well fed and attended to. Have a steady broody hen ready to take the eggs.
CHAPTER VI.
THE SITTING HEN.
All hens that are inclined to sit should be allowed to hatch and bring up one brood of chickens a year; for, if altogether restrained from sitting, a hen suffers much in moulting, and is restless and excited for the remainder of the season. It is unnatural, and therefore must be injurious. The period of incubation gives her rest from producing eggs. The hen that is always stimulated to produce eggs, and not allowed to vary that process by hatching and bringing up a young brood, must ultimately suffer from this constant drain upon her system, and the eggs are said to be unwholesome.
But hens frequently wish to sit when it is not convenient, or in autumn or winter, when it is not advisable, unless very late or early chickens are desired, and every attention can be given to them. To check this desire, the old-fashioned plan with farmers' wives, of plunging the broody hen into cold water, and keeping her there for some minutes, was not only a cruel practice, but often failed to effect its object, and must naturally always have caused ultimate disease in the poor bird. When it is absolutely necessary to check the desire of a hen to sit, the best plan is to let her sit on some nest-eggs for a week, then remove and coop her for a few days, away from the place where she made her nest, low diet, as boiled potatoes and boiled rice, and water being placed near; meanwhile taking away the eggs and destroying the nest, and, not finding it on her return, she will generally not seek for another, unless she is a Cochin, or the desire exceedingly strong.
When a hen wishes to sit, she utters a peculiar cluck, ruffles her feathers, wanders about, searches obscure corners and recesses, is very fidgety, feverishly hot, impatient, anxiously restless, and seeks for a nest. Highly-fed hens feel this desire sooner than those that are not so highly fed. A hen may be induced to sit at any season, by confining her in a dark room in a covered basket, only large enough to contain her nest, keeping her warm, and feeding her on stimulating food, such as bread steeped in ale, a little raw liver or fresh meat chopped small, and potatoes mashed warm with milk and oatmeal.
Every large poultry establishment should have a separate house for the sitting hens, and the run that should be provided for their relaxation must be divided from that of the other fowls by wire or lattice work, to prevent any intrusion. Where there is a large number of sitting hens, each nest should be numbered, and the date of setting, number and description of eggs, entered in a diary or memorandum book opposite to the number; and the number of chickens hatched, and any particulars likely to be useful on a future occasion, should afterwards be entered.
A separate house and run for each sitting hen is a great advantage, as it prevents other hens from going to the nest during her absence, or herself from returning to the wrong nest, as will often happen in a common house. The run should not be large, or the hen may be inclined to wander and stay away too long from her nest. A separate division for the sitting hen is often otherwise useful, for the purpose of keeping the cock apart from the hens, or for keeping a few additional birds for which accommodation has not been prepared, or for the use of a pen of birds about to be sent for exhibition.