Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 April 1878 — Hatching Chickens. [ARTICLE]

Hatching Chickens.

This is the special business of the spring with poultry-keepers, and requires all the thought and care that can be given to the subject asid 44 from other duties of the farm. In the first place, eggs selected for hatching should be placed in trays. Of these a soap-box cut through the center will make two. The eggs should not be laid on each other, but placed singly in rows on cut hay or some soft material, and if more than one breed are kept, the variety thatlaid the egg as well as the day on whieh it was laid, should be marked on each with a pencil. They should be turned over every day, each end being placed alternately uppermost; that is, one day the large end up and the next day the small one. By this care the eggs will hatch much better than if left on one side, as the yelk floats to the top whichever way the egg is left, and dries to the side, spoiling it for incubation. A cool cellar is the best place to keep eggs in. When both eggs and hens are ready, the eggs should be marked with ink, for pencil marks become obliterated during -incubation. A good way is with a little brush or stick to make a ring round the eggs near either end, but so far on that a glance into the nest will detect any eggs laid therein, during incubation. It is well not to make this ink line around the center of the eggs, as it might interfere with the batching, it the ink covers that part of the shell where it opens to let out its tenant. Eleven or twelve eggs are enough for a hen in cold weather, but in warm weather thirteen may be set. Never set a hen in a deep nest, as she will break the eggs when jumping into thenest. The best way to prepare a nest, is to cut a grass sod the size of the bottom of the nest-box: make it a little hollow, so that the eggs may, not roll to the side; make the nest on this sod with a little straw near to the top of the nest, box or basket. Whenever you can set a hen where she has laid, do so, unless it is in a place where other hens would trouble ner. It is best to give a hen the eggs at night, particularly if you remove her to a new nest. When convenient, set several hens at the same time. Should many eggs prove bad when examined after the first eight days, the good ones may lie distributed to some of the hens to make up a full number to each hen, and the remaining hens can have fresh eggs given them. The way to tell whether eggs are good is to hold one at a time up to the sun or lamp light, shading the egg with your hands all round excepting the side toward the lamp and the opposite side turned to the eye, so that the egg can be seen through. Should it appear quite clear it is not fertile. At that stage of incubation, eggs that are not sterile will appear dark almost all over.

To keep hens clear from parasites while sitting it is good to dust a little pulverized sulphur through their feathers and in the nest: all sitting hens should be so treated. Difference of opinion exists as to letting a hen sit without disturbing her. I prefer looking into the nest daily. In case an egg gets broken, it should be taken out, the eggs that get soiled washed, and the bottom of the nest cleansed. If this is not done the nest becomes foul and unhealthy, not only for the hen but for the chicks. The wildest hens soon become accustomed to being handled on the nest, when this is done carefully. In cool weather eggs may generally be left without further trouble, but in hot weather sometimes the chicks have difficulty in breaking the shell and often perish in the’attempt To prevent this a little tepid water sprinkled in the nest, from the seventeenth to the nineteenth day, will help the shell to part. During the precess of incubation, the shell of an egg becomes brittle, and just at the ume of hatching breaks very easily. A little moisture increases the brittleness of the shell, especially if applied a few days before hatching. Anen set on the ground, however, does not require to have her nest molstored. Ducks’ eggs hatch much better on the ground than in a high nest. If the hen has been accustomed todwring handled, it is best to look to the nest while hatching and take out some of the empty egg shells, as they often impede the chicks that hatch a few hours' later than the others, in getting out of the shell. Unless there is too long an interval between the first and last eggs hatching, do not take out the young chicks from the nest; they will do better with the natural heat of the mother, and require no food for twelve to twenty-four hours; for when they leave the shell their stomachs are filled with the yelk of the egg. Sometimes a chick will stick to the shell or rather the inside lining of* it w'H stick to him, in which case the shell can be removed with care, but this must be done very cautiously. If any blood is observed, let it remain longer till it dries.— Henry Hale», in Hural Mw Yorl&r-