Excerpt from the Settlers’ Guide Book: How to manage a broody hen

THE first step when managing a broody hen, according to the Kenya Settlers’ Cookery Book and Household Guide, is to make sure she is broody.

Well, yes! However, the guide book doesn’t really give much advice on how to do this. Instead it instructs the would-be poultry owner to make a coop out of a small packing case, which should be large enough to allow the hen to turn with comfort to avoid broken eggs.

It gives advice on making a comfortable nest by scooping out soil to make a hollow, disinfecting it and lining it with soft hay.

“Place a china egg in the nest, put in the hen and close the coop for the night.”

If she has settled down by morning, her owner can then place eggs beneath her.

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The hen should be let out at the same time every day, for about ten minutes. She should be fed on crushed mealies. Water and dust baths should be close at hand. She should be left alone for 24 hours after her eggs have hatched.

“Throughout the hatching time, the quieter she is kept, the better the results will be.”

If penned the chicks should be fed at least four times a day, first with hard boiled eggs, mixed with breadcrumbs and a little milk, then cooked mealie meal or oatmeal.

“Chicks do best, however, when on free range with the mother hen.”

The guide book instructs the novice poultry keeper to give chicks a few drops of olive oil if they are off colour. He or she should also keep an eye on their heads to check they are not attacked by sticking fleas. If they are, vaseline, mixed with a bit of sulphur should do the trick. Chicks need green food daily. To combat diarrhoea, give chicks a teaspoon of garlic mixed with melted butter.

Finally, the guide book advises poultry keepers that hens are very liable to get sunstroke and that they need good shade over their runs.

I don’t know about you, but I really think it would be fun to keep a couple of hens and raise a few broods of my very own chicks, particularly if my grandchildren are around to help with the project.

In this fast modern world, food production is so removed from our consciousness and our daily lives. It would do us all good if, like the early 20th century settlers, we needed to be more involved in the food we put on our plates.

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