28 3IGGI.E POULTRY BOOK 



No invariable rule can be laid down respecting 

 the number of eggs to be put under a hen. The size 

 of the hen, the size of the eggs and the season of the 

 year will determine the pioper number, which may 

 be from nine to eighteen. 



The manner of making the nest, a very simple 

 operation, apparently, has much to do with the suc- 

 cess or failure of a hatch. The box in which the nest 

 is made should be so large as not to prevent the hen 

 from turning about freely, and so situated that she 

 cannot be interfered with by other hens. One of the 

 cheapest and most satisfactory nest 

 boxes for general purposes is illus- 

 trated herewith. It is a large soap box 

 with two-thirds of the top removed, 

 turned on its side. A box of this kind FIG. i. 

 set on the floor of the laying room or on a shelf with 

 the open side toward the wall but a few feet from it, 

 makes a secluded nesting place. When a hen becomes 

 broody, the box can be moved near the wall and other 

 hens shut out, and at the proper time she can be 

 carried on her own nest to the hatcning-room. A bar- 

 rel laid on its side makes a good outdoor nest. 



If a new nest must be made it should be of some 

 soft material, broken oat straw or hay, carefully spread 

 out and pressed down, hollowed but slightly, and the 

 edges raised a little to prevent the eggs from rolling 

 out. If the bottom be made too flat the eggs roll 

 away from the hen and she cannot cover them ; if too 

 convex, they roll close together, and when the hen 

 enters the nest and steps on them or among them 

 they do not separate or roll away and a fouled nest is 



