POULTRY BREEDING. 243 



the hen will break the egg by stepping on it after it is laid. 

 Having two compartments, however, makes necessary a further 

 provision. The nest must be so constructed that it will be 

 impossible for a hen to lay in the front compartment without 

 causing the trap to operate. A number of well known types 

 of trap nests, including the nest which has formerly been used 

 at this Station, which are otherwise very satisfactory, are so 

 arranged that the trap is not sprung until the hen enters the 

 second compartment of the nest. It has been demonstrated 

 in our work here that in such a nest there will always be a num- 

 ber of hens which will lay in the front compartment of the 

 nest without entering the rear compartment at all. Such a hen 

 after having laid passes out of the nest without springing the 

 trap, and hence makes it impossible to obtain a record for that 

 egg. It has been the theory in the construction of two com- 

 partment nests of the type mentioned that the hen would go 

 into the rear compartment where the nest proper was made in 

 order to lay. This may be good theory but as a matter of 

 actual fact hens will more or less frequently lay in the front 

 compartment of trap nests of this type. 



4. A trap nest to be ideal must be as simple as possible in 

 construction and in operation. There are various types of trap 

 nests on the market which no doubt are very satisfactory for 

 the man who operates perhaps two or three such nests all told. 

 These nests, however, are so complicated that it would be hope- 

 lessly impossible to operate and keep them in repair and work- 

 ing order for a flock of say 2000 hens. If one is to use trap 

 nests on a large scale and continuously they must not only be 

 simple in construction but must be such that it will take a mini- 

 mum of time for the caretaker to empty and set them. Trap 

 nesting is an expensive operation at best and it becomes more 

 expensive the more complicated the nest is. 



5. The nest should be durable and not likely to get out of 

 order in such way that it will not operate satisfactorily. 



The trap nest now in use at this Station was devised to meet 

 these requirements and has been found to do so in a very satis- 

 factory manner. 



