NESTS AND THEIR CONDITION. 29 



TABLE 7. Number of nest ft In number of hens kept on 9.2 Kanxaa farms. 



The horse stable, straw stack, under the corncrib, or out in the weeds 

 are the places usually chosen by the hens when a sufficient number of 

 nests is not available. It is well known that vigorous bacterial 

 growth depends largely upon moisture and warmth, and these factors 

 are. usually present in such places. The result is that when a nest 

 full of such eggs is discovered, from 50 to 80 per cent of them have 

 already developed into seconds, blood rings, and rots. 



The excuse is often given by farmers that if they went to the 

 trouble and expense of providing liberal nesting facilities the hens 

 would not utilize them, as they prefer the secluded nest of their own 

 choosing. While it is true that in many instances hens will steal 

 their nests rather than lay in places provided for them, especially 

 during the spring which is the natural hatching season, it was 

 observed that on the farms where nests were provided at the rate of 

 one for every four or five hens, and were kept free from vermin, 05 

 per cent of the eggs were laid in these nests, and it was only oeca- 

 sionallv that a hen would lav elsewhere. 



UIKTY NKSTS. 



It hardly seems necessary to make any mention of dirty nests, but 

 the investigations of the past year prove conclusively that either 

 through carelessness, neglect, or utter indifference the nests often 

 become so filthy that the hens refuse to lay in them. When such 

 nests are used the new-laid eggs come in contact with the droppings 

 of the fowls, which contain numerous bacteria, and the e<nrs mav 



~ ~ . 



therefore become infected before they are removed from the nest. 

 This does not necessarily mean that the eggs are unfit for food at 

 this time; but the infection having taken place, they are likely sub- 

 jects for the production of spots and rots. One of the greatest needs. 

 therefore, in improving the condition of eggs on the farm is to pro- 

 vide an abundance of clean nests free from vermin. 



