Arrangement of Hatching Boxes. 169 



ashes, about a foot thick, and upon this the boxes must be 

 placed. The object is to keep the underside of the eggs 

 cool, and the atmosphere in the nest moist. A hen, when 

 allowed to choose her own nest, generally selects a cool, damp 

 spot, so that we are only following nature in doing this; and, 

 as the boxes are without bottoms, the moisture in the earth 

 or ashes naturally affects the nest itself. The best plan is 

 to put these boxes all around the room, with their backs to 

 the walls, and a space of a foot between each. Thus, in a 

 room fifteen feet square, between thirty and forty nests can 

 be accommodated. As each hen has to be allowed out to feed 

 separately, it is sometimes thought advisable not to put so 

 many in one room, but to divide them, so that two or more 

 may be off feeding at one time. We have also seen a capital 

 plan adopted in some places, namely, having half-a-dozen 

 large roomy pens at one end of the room, in each of which 

 food and water is provided, and plenty of fine dry ashes for 

 a dust bath. By such an arrangement as this, half-a-dozen 

 hens can be fed at one time, but, of course, they will have 

 to be lifted off the nests, put into the pens, and returned 

 to the nests again, when they have been properly fed. The 

 saving of time by so doing is very great, for, allowing fifteen 

 minutes to each bird, it would take six hours to feed twenty- 

 four, whereas, in the way we have described, one hour would 

 be sufficient. If the attendant has little or nothing else to 

 do, then it is, perhaps, not worth the extra cost ; but where 

 there is plenty of other work to do, it will be found a very 

 economical method. 



After the box is in position, a good shovelful of fine soil or 

 ashes should be placed inside, and then hollowed out with 

 the hand like a saucer, so as to make the nest a proper shape. 

 Care is necessary, to see that the corners are filled up, or the 

 eggs will be very liable to roll away from under the hen, the 

 result of which will be chilling and addling. Above the 



