Filling for Nests. 5 1 



hatching, although chickens were found in them, which 

 was, in most cases, entirely caused by want of damping. 

 Tf, therefore, the weather is warm and wet, all will pro- 

 bably go well ; but if the air should be very dry, moisture 

 must be imparted by sprinkling the nest and eggs slightly, 

 when the hen is off feeding, by means of a small brush 

 dipped in tepid water. A small flat brush such as is used 

 1>y painters is excellent for this purpose, as it does not dis- 

 tribute the water too freely. The ground round about, 

 also, should be watered with hot water, to cause a steam. 

 But the natural moisture of a damp soil is preferable, and 

 never fails. 



The nest may be of any shape. A long box divided by 

 partitions into several compartments is much used, but 

 separate boxes or baskets are preferable as being more 

 easily cleaned and freed from vermin. Wooden nest-boxes 

 are preferable to wicker baskets in winter, as the latter let 

 in the cold air, but many prefer wicker baskets in summer 

 for their airiness. A round glazed earthen pan, with 

 shelving sides, like those used in the midland counties for 

 milk, and partially filled with moss, forms a good nest, the 

 moss being easier kept moist in such a pan than in a box. 

 The nest should be made so large that the hen can just fill 

 it, not very deep, and as nearly flat inside at the bottom as 

 possible, so that the eggs may not lean against each other, 

 or they may get broken, especially by the hen turning 

 them. 



The best filling for hatching nests is fine dry sand, 

 mould, coal or wood ashes placed on a cut turf, covering it 

 and lining the sides with a little well-broken dry grass, 

 moss, bruised straw, lichen, or liverwort collected from 

 trees, or dry heather, which is the best of all, but cannot 

 always be had. Hay, though soft at first, soon becomes 

 hard and matted, and is also said to breed vermin. Straw 

 is good material, but must be cut into short pieces, for if 

 long straw is used and the hen should catch her foot in it, 

 and drag it after her when she leaves the nest, it will dis- 

 turb, if not break, the eggs. The nests of the sitting hens 

 in Her Majesty's poultry-yard at Windsor are made of 



