AN AMERICAN CURB FOR BROODINESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 35

AN AMERICAN CURB FOR BROODINESS.

Broodie3 the late spring • and summer months always cause a great deal of trouble, and there is scarcely a poultrykeeper who is satisfied with known methods for preventing a hen from sitting. A Canadian authority writes to the Reliable Poultry Journal on this subject as follows : — "I have tried different methods of curing broodinese, but the one that I have found most successful has been' to keep a pen of four or five vigorous cockerels, and to put the broody hen in with them as soon as t have been certain that she has laid her last egg before determining to sit. A hen usually shows signs of broodinees for two or three days before she settles down upon t2io zi-esfc T ancl a-l-ways siira one rtigflit on -fclie nest before laying her last egg. My plan is to look for symptoms of broodiness, and the first night that I notice her upon the nest to -pick her up and put ier upon" the >roost. This will help 1 to check the broody feeling. The next morning, as soon as she lays the last egg, I place her in the cockerel pen.

" To take her before she has finished laying, so that she has to seek a corner in ' the cockerel pen in which to lay, may moan that she will 6ettlo down upon the egg in ' spite of all the attentions that may be naid \ her. To leave her in '{he nest for two or three days after she lias -become broody will intensify the feeling and make the task of changing her v'ew , poi.ht all the more difficult. Even in the case of hens three or

the cocvcerei pen in wmen to lay, may moan that she will 6ettlo down upon the egg in ' spite of all the attentions that may be paid \ her. To leave her in '{he nest for two or three days after she lias -become broody " will intensify the feeling and make the task of changing her v'ew , poi.ht all the more difficult. Even in the case of hens three or four years old, "I never failed last spring \ in breaking up broodi'nes in two or three days. I honestly belies that with proper , care and handling,- the -most inveterate sitter of any breed- can be made a, good layer,; so that, .after all, the question of ■Pgg-pi'odtiction depends more upon tho manager _ than upon the breed. j ' ".If unable to keep such a cockerel nen as I have referred to, I would advise making it's© of a coop slatted on all sides as well as the top and bottom. Suspend this ocon

from the roof of the scratching pen, anf let it ha,ng about 3ft from the floor. Aftef* using the same pvelimiriary precautions a< in the preceding case, placo the broody hen in th.9 cooj>, and leave her there Co* a couple of days without feed, making surf to keep all the others g>bu§y* scratching around her. Then change b r to another pen in the morning or put her in a. yr-rd by herself where she can find iSo nest. la the evenuig see that she gets on the rjosti and, asW rule, the broodiness will dis« appear. If not, put' her " through the sam« course again, and every time you enter tht pen give the slatted coop a push or swing. ' f