50 Damping Eygs. 



often injured. The common deep square boxes, uncovered at 

 top, are extremely improper, because that form obliges the 

 hen to jump down upon her eggs, whereas for safety she 

 should descend upon them from a very small height, or in 

 a manner walk in upon them. The same objection lies 

 ao-ainst hampers, with the additional one of the wicker- 

 work admitting the cold in variable weather, during winter 

 or early spring sittings. Many breeders prefer to have all 

 the nests upon the ground, on account of the danger of 

 chickens falling from the nests which are placed above." 

 The ground is preferable for other reasons. The damp 

 arising from the ground assists very materially in incubation. 

 When fowls sit upon wooden floors, or in boxes, the eggs 

 become so dry and parched as to prevent the chicken from 

 disencumbering itself of the shell, and it is liable to perish 

 in its attempts. Hens in a state of nature make their 

 nests upon the ground ; and fowls, when left to choose a 

 nest for themselves, generally fix upon a hedge, where the 

 hen conceals herself under the branches of the hedge, and 

 among the grass. In general, the sitting places are too 

 close and confined, and very different in this respect to 

 those that hens select for themselves. 



But nests cannot always be allowed to be made on the 

 ground, unless properly secured from vermin, particularly 

 from rats, which will frequently convey away the whole of 

 the eggs from under a hen. And other considerations may 

 render it necessary to have them on a floor, in boxes on 

 the ground, or placed above ; in which cases the eggs must 

 be kept properly moistened, for, unless the eg^g is kept 

 sufficiently damp, its inner membrane becomes so hard and 

 dry that the chicken cannot break through, and perishes. 

 When a hen steals her nest in a hedge or clump of ever- 

 greens or bushes, she makes it on the damp ground. She 

 goes in search of food early in the morning, before the dew 

 is off the grass, and returns to her nest with her feathers 

 saturated with moisture. This is the cause of the compa- 

 ratively successful hatching of the eggs of wild birds. The 

 old farmers' wives did not understand the necessity of 

 damping eggs, but frequently complained of their not 



