MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 117 



When the hens are tied up to their pegs for feeding 

 purposes, which pegs should be 3ft. 6in. to 4ft. apart, 

 it is not necessary to put up boards between them to 

 prevent fighting. The hens have something else to 

 think of during their brief enlargement, and, besides, 

 if a bellicose spirit should arise, they cannot get at 

 each other to do any harm. Even if they can just 

 touch each others' heads, the one that is getting the 

 worst of it is not bound to keep that portion of her 

 anatomy in danger, but can retire gracefully, as other 

 " hen-pecked " creatures, besides fowls, have been 

 known to do ere this. 



It is a very good thing to keep a Tweed landing- 

 net lying about among the pegs to which you fasten 

 up the hens. This large salmon net, which is fitted 

 with an extra size iron ring, should have a very soft 

 and large-meshed net attached, and will often be 

 found useful to catch any hen that may get loose from 

 her peg, or, for any other reason, be required at a 

 moment's notice. 



One of Boulton and Paul's portable pheasantries is 

 also a useful adjunct to the hatching yard. In it eight 

 or ten hens that are just beginning to contemplate 

 the assumption of maternal solicitude can be safely 

 confined close at hand ; and, as there are convenient 

 handles, by means of which a couple of men can 

 transport the whole apparatus with ease when a 

 change of position is considered desirable, and a 

 wire-netting bottom through which the hens can 



