that we have
coddled. Eggs that we are saving for hatching should be kept in a cool
place but never allowed to freeze. They should be turned every day
until they are set. Hens' eggs will hatch in about twenty-one days.
The eggs that have failed to hatch at this time may be discarded. When
we move a broody hen we must be sure that she will stay on her new
nest before we give her any eggs. Test her with a china egg or a
doorknob. If she stays on for two nights we may safely give her the
setting. It is always better when convenient to set a hen where she
first makes her nest. If she must be moved, do it at night with as
little disturbance as possible. It is always a good plan to shut in a
sitting hen and let her out once a day for feed and exercise. Do not
worry if in your judgment she remains off the nest too long. The eggs
require cooling to develop the air chamber properly, and as a rule the
hen knows best.

Young chickens are subject to a great many diseases, but if they are
kept dry and warm, and if they have dry food, most of the troubles may
be avoided. With all poultry, lice are a great pest. Old fowls can
dust themselves and in a measure keep the pest in check, but little
chicks are comparatively helpless. The big gray lice will be found on
a chick's neck near the head. The remedy for this is to grease the
feathers with vaseline on the head and neck. The small white lice can
be controlled by dusting the chicks with insect powder and by keeping
the brooder absolutely clean. A weekly coat of whitewash to which some
carbolic acid has been added will keep lice in check in poultry houses
and is an excellent plan. Hen-hatched chicks are usually more subject
to lice than those hatched In incubators and raised in brooders, as
they become infected from the mother. Some people say that chicks have
lice on them when they are hatched, but this is not so.

The first two weeks of a chick's life are the important time. If they
are chilled or neglected they never get over it, but will develop into
weaklings. There are many rules and remedies for doctoring sick
chickens, but the best way is to kill them. This is especially so in
cases of roup or colds. The former is a very contagious disease and
unless checked may kill an entire pen of chickens. A man who raises
25,000 chickens annually once told me that "the best medicine for a
sick chicken is the axe."

A very low fence will hold small chicks from straying away, but it
must