(HAP. IV. 



HATCHING BOXES. 



623 



for the door, which also opens upwards, and we do not, therefore, like 

 them so well as our own. But one or two of these boxes have netting 

 stretched across the bottom as a protection against rats, and this is a 

 very necessary precaution where these pests are troublesome. Such a 

 box as this can be used anywhere, whether one hen or a score of hens 

 are set in the same place, and they can also be utilised as laying-boxes 

 when the hatching season is over. 



In those places where only a few hens are to be set we should advise 

 that, later on in the year (except in unusually severe seasons), say, 

 after the early part of May, the hens have their nests made out in the 

 open. Of course, some shelter will be necessary, but if one of the 

 hatching-boxes be used, all that will be required will be either a rough 

 covering or a coop, or the hen can be set 

 in a coop, and then will not need to be 

 disturbed when her chickens come out. 

 On farms there are often sheds scattered 

 about which can also be utilised. One 

 of the difficulties of this plan, at least in 

 many parts of England, is that foxes are 

 preserved, and help themselves, as is 

 their wont, to the poultry. And we 

 suppose the same complaint can be made 

 as to other animals in every part of the 

 world. These matters must be dealt 

 with according to the local conditions, 

 and, whilst it would be wise to adopt 

 the outside plan where the conditions permit, yet if foxes and other 

 predatory animals abound the hatching had better take place where 

 the hens and chickens can be protected. 



Perhaps one of the best plans for those who have large farms, and 

 we have seen it adopted in several places, is to put the hatching in 

 charge of some of the labourers, so that they can raise the chickens 

 near their residences. The usual plan is to pay them a specified sum 

 per bird hatched and reared to a given age. In this way the cordial 

 co-operation of those taking charge of setting hens is secured. This 

 applies only to those who practice poultry-keeping on a large scale, but, 

 if poultry are to be made to pay, it is desirable that the attendants 

 should have some direct interest in their success. However slight this 

 interest may be it will prove a stimulus to greater care and effort, 

 and far more than repay the outlay involved. 



The advantages of the plan we have been recommending are that 

 there can be no fighting amongst the hens, which often takes place when 

 they can see each other, causing breakage of eggs, and great annoy- 

 ance as well as disappointment to the owner. Then the saving of 

 trouble is great, as all the hens can be set in one room, which, of 

 course, could not be done unless they were completely shut up. The 

 proper airing of the eggs is also secured, and the sitters can be allowed 

 off the nests by turns at the convenience of the attendant ; and also, 

 as we shall see presently, the progress of the eggs can be easily 



Fig 177. Hatching Box. 



