A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 221 
equal chances to get feed and without the dangers that 
arise from having large and small in the same flock. 
It will pay the poultryman who lives in the country to 
buy broody hens if his own do not become broody so as 
to enable him to set a number at a time. A broody hen, 
especially if she is a confirmed old ‘“‘cluck,” is usually 
not highly valued if the owner has no use for her and 
may be bought cheaply. If a broody hen is moved after 
dark and handled carefully she rarely refuses to sit in her 
new quarters if she is given eggs to occupy her attention 
and require her care. A room where no other hens are 
allowed to run, a box-stall in a stable or any other safe 
and sanitary place where sitting hens may be isolated 
from their companions, may be used for this purpose. 
The packing boxes in which canned fruit is packed may 
be used for nests, selecting those used for packing two 
dozen three-pound cans. Remove the top and one side 
except a strip 3” wide at the bottom of the side removed, 
this strip being left to keep the nest material in the nest. 
In the bottom of the nest box so made put enough garden 
soil or sand to make a shallow saucer-shaped nest. Do 
not make this too much like a bowl. The bottom should 
be concave enough to cause the eggs naturally to work 
toward the center but no more. Press this down firmly 
and cover it with soft straw or hay or any similar nest 
material. Then replace the top of the box and the nest 
is ready for use. It is best first to put the hen in the nest 
and then put the eggs under her, one at a time, letting 
her arrange them under herself. Turn the opening in 
the box to the wall and leave the hen to sit in quiet 
and seclusion for 24 hours. Treat all hens alike. 
In the room where the hens are sitting keep a liberal 
supply of whole grain, corn preferably, a box filled with 
