PROFITS IN" POULTRY. 



cause they seek their nests about and under the farm 

 buildings in fence corners, under brush-heaps, and va- 

 rious out-of-the-way places. If clean boxes, provided 

 with straw or other nesting material, had been put up 

 at convenient points, the hens would have used them and 

 would not " steal " their nests. A very good size for a 

 nest-box is little more than one foot square and nine or 

 ten inches in depth. They should be well made; and 

 if planed and painted, all the better. Apply kerosene 

 freely to the inside, where the boards are nailed to- 

 gether. This should be applied early in spring, and 

 again about the first of July; it will kill hen-lice and 



also prevent their getting 

 a foothold about the boxes. 

 Nest-boxes should never 

 be permanently attached 

 to buildings, but placed 

 upon a floor, or hung up- 

 on the side of a hennery 

 or other convenient place 

 for both fowls and atten- 

 dant. An excellent plan 

 for thus securing the boxes 

 is shown in Fig. 18. At 

 one side of the box, near 

 the top, is bored an inch hole, through which a wooden 

 or iron pin driven in the side of the building passes 

 loosely. Considerable annoyance is often experienced 

 by laying hens interfering with those that are sitting; 

 often a whole sitting of eggs is broken. This trouble is 

 readily avoided by those who have a poultry-house with 

 two rooms, by the use of sliding boxes, as shown in Fig. 

 19. A hole is cut through the partition about two feet 

 from the floor, to the bottom of which is firmly nailed a 

 shelf or platform, e, e, about two feet in length and 

 nearly one foot in width. Upon this board rest the 



Fig. 18. 



