36 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 



mature hens should be allowed to sit, and that pullets are 

 not to be trusted; but our own experience and that of very 

 many large breeders does not confirm this. We have con- 

 stantly set pullets, and never had any more reason to complain 

 of them than of older birds. 



The nests may be arranged under the shed any way so 

 that no one can see into them, with the one proviso that they be 

 actually upon ike ground. Chicks thus obtained always show 

 more constitution than those hatched on a wooden bottom at a 

 higher level. This holds good even at all times of the year. 

 We are aware that eminent authorities who recommend ground- 

 nests in summer prefer a warm, wooden box in winter, for the 

 ^^~\^ sake of the hen ; but she will rarely suffer. 

 l^ ^^\ The heat of her body while sitting is so great 



a^^^^^^^ that a cool situation seems grateful to her 

 at least, a hen set on the ground rarely 

 forsakes her nest, which is otherwise no un- 

 common case. We knew of a hen which, 

 during the month of January, made her 

 nest upon the top of a rock in one of the 

 highest and most exposed situations in the 

 Peak of Derbyshire, and brought a large brood of strong 

 chickens into the yard. It is only necessary the birds should 

 be protected from wind and rain, in order to avoid rheumatism ; 

 and this is most effectually done by employing for the nest 

 a tight wooden box, like Fig. 7, open at the bottom, and also 

 in front, with the exception of a strip three inches high to 

 contain the straw. Let one of these be so placed in the 

 back corner of the shed, touching the side, the front being 

 turned to the back wall, and about nine inches from it ; and 

 the hen will be ill the strictest privacy, will be both perfectly 

 sheltered and k ;pt cool, and will never mistake her own nest 

 for the one which may be placed in the other corner. 



A damp situation is best for the sitting shed, and will 



Fig. 7. 



