NEST BOXES. 195 



and three feet high, and was said to be capable of hatching 

 five hundred chickens at a time, with a loss of only two per 

 cent, if the eggs were fresh and impregnated. I saw it in 

 operation there, with a large number of chickens just hatched 

 out. It was worth seeing, as an object of curiosity, but it was 

 not adapted to general use, as the chicks hatched in it were not 

 as hardy as those hatched under hens. Nor will any apparatus 

 be produced, in my opinion, that shall not be objectionable, on 

 account of the delicacy of the chicks produced. It will do 

 very well to read the descriptions of ingenious inventions for 

 doing away with the services of hens, as incubators, but it is 

 not for man to improve on the works of nature, as applied to 

 egg-hatching. 



NEST BOXES. 



The best nest boxes are those that hide the hens from sight 

 when we are passing near them. This rule applies to our com- 

 mon breeds much more than to the large Asiatic fowls, the 

 latter being more domestic in their habits, and not easily 

 frightened from their nests. 



It has been recommended by experienced breeders, to con- 

 struct the boxes, so as to admit the fowls on the back sides, and 

 have lids hung on hinges on the top of the tier, to be raised 

 up to examine the nests. This plan has its advantages and 

 disadvantages. It affords a quiet retreat for the fowls, but does 

 not allow the breeder to see at a glance whether all is right 

 therein, as he should be able to see, when his hens are incu- 

 bating. It sometimes happens that two fowls crowd into one 

 nest by mistake, and if it be the nest of a sitting hen, serious 

 results often happen in the destruction of eggs, as I have before 

 stated. Again, it is a question whether permanent or moveable 

 boxes are best. I use both kinds, but give the preference to the 

 latter the moveable ones. For the large breeds, I construct 

 them fifteen inches in diameter, each way, and from eight to 

 twelve inches high, with the fronts sawed out obliquely from 

 each upper corner, towards the centre down within six inches 

 of the bottom ; thus affording ingress without obliging the hens 

 to hop down, which our large breeds cannot do without danger 

 of breaking the eggs. Furthermore, some of them cannot get 

 into a nest one foot high, without considerable effort at flying 

 up, when a common, native hen would hop up with the great-] 



