POULTRY. 



hold on perfectly cylindrical support- 

 ers) should be placed loiifrthwisc, and 

 rest on trcsscls in eai-li end wall, six 

 feet from tiie front wall, and at a con- 

 venient height, which must depend 

 on the elevation of the house from 

 the floor, which should be formed of 

 some well consolidated material that 

 can be easily swept. Another perch 

 should be fi.xed ladder-wise {en eche- 

 lon) above this, but ten inches nearer 

 to the back wall, and so on, until 

 there are four of these perches, like 

 the steps of a ladder w hen properly 

 inclined, but with a sufficient distance 

 between the wall and the upper one 

 to allow the poultry-maid to stand 

 conveniently upon when she has oc- 

 casion to examine the nests, which 

 it is her duty to do every day at least 

 once, and in the forenoon. The high- 

 est of these she can reach by stand- 

 ing on a stool or step-ladder. By this 

 contrivance the hens, when desirous 

 of reaching the nests, have no occa- 

 sion to fly, but merely to pass from 

 one stick to another. If the size and 

 form of the house permit, a similar 

 construction may be made on the op- 

 posite side, care being taken to leave 

 an open space in the middle of the 

 room, and a sufficiently wide passage 

 for the attendant to pass along the 

 walls. It is not at all required to 

 have as many nests as hens, because 

 they have not all occasion to occupy 

 them at the same time ; and besides, 

 they are so far from having a repug- 

 nance to lay in a common receptacle, 

 that the sight of an egg stimulates 

 them to lay. It is, however, true that 

 the most secluded and darkest nests 

 are those which the hens prefer. 



" The nests, if built into the wall, 

 are in tiers from the bottom to the 

 top, the lowest being about three feet 

 from the ground, and a foot square. 

 If the laying chambers consist of 

 wooden boxes, they are usually fur- 

 nished with a ledge, which is very 

 convenient for the hens when rising. 



" But the best receptacles for the 

 eggs are those of basket-work, as 

 they are cool in summer, and can ea- 

 sily be removed and washed. They 

 ought to be fastened, not directly to 

 622 



the wall, as is generally the case, but 

 to boards fixed in it by hooks, well 

 clinched, and with a little roof to cov- 

 er the rows of baskets. They will 

 thus be isolated, to the great satis- 

 faction of the hen, which delights in 

 the absence of all disturbing influ- 

 ences when laying. All the ranges 

 of nests should be placed check-wise, 

 in order that the inmates, when com- 

 ing out, may not startle those imme- 

 diately under. Those designed for 

 hatching should be near the ground 

 (where instinct teaches the hen to 

 choose her seat), and so arranged 

 that the hens can easily enter them 

 without disturbing the eggs. The 

 house should be thoroughly fumigated 

 with tobacco and sulphur in spring, 

 to kill the disagreeable lice, the straw, 

 &c., all changed, and the dung care- 

 fully removed. 



" Wheaten or rye straw is the most 

 approved material for the bedding, 

 being cooler than hay : the hens are 

 sometimes so tortured by lice as to 

 forsake their nests altogether, in an 

 agony of restlessness. A housewife 

 has assurred us that she once lost an 

 entire clutch, from having, as she be- 

 lieves, given a bed of hay seeds to 

 her sitting hen. The chicks were all 

 glued to the shells, and thus destroy- 

 ed, owing, as she thinks, to the high 

 temperature occasioned by the fer 

 menting seeds. 



" For all f)urposes two cocks in a 

 good run are considerd as sufficient 

 for twelve or fourteen hens, but in 

 France they allow twenty mistresses 

 to each cock, which no doubt is on 

 account of the higher temperature 

 there. In a confined yard, five hens 

 are sufficient for one cock, and a 

 double set will not answer in very 

 limited space. When there are two 

 or more cocks, care should be taken 

 not to have them of equal age or size, 

 for in this case they are always jeal- 

 ous and quarrelsome ; if one is deci- 

 dedly ascendant, the other will nev- 

 er presume to dispute with him. It 

 will be judicious, also, to avoid the in- 

 troduction or changing of cocks in 

 the breeding season, for the hens re- 

 quire constant intercourse with them, 



