126 



EGG FARM. 



by the fine wire netting, as described. The use of the 

 coarse netting that alternates with the fine, is as follows : 

 Half the labor of managing chickens is saved by confin- 

 ing in the same coop two hens with their broods. They 

 will agree perfectly, if well acquainted beforehand. We 

 take a hint from nature here ; such wild birds as live 

 chiefly on the ground sometimes incubate and lead their 

 broods in company. Wild turkeys, and their tame 

 descendants as well, are an instance in point. While 

 sitting, adjoining hens form a particular acquaintance 



FIG. 40. MANNER OF NUMBERING NESTS FOR SITTERS. 



through the coarse meshes of the netting, and, at the 

 same time, they cannot interfere with each other, or roll 

 the eggs from one nest to another. 



Without a special system of management, a consider- 

 able number of sitting hens cannot incubate and feed in 

 the same apartment without confusion, but by the fol- 

 lowing plan each is made to know her own nest and 

 return to it after feeding. In the first place, the laying 

 hens, before offering to sit, are induced to choose nests 

 scattered evenly through the whole building, by properly 

 distributing nest eggs and keeping half the nests closed. 

 The nests on both sides of the house are divided verti- 

 cally into three sections, one at each end of the room 



