POULTEY. 129 



of a ladderwhen properly inclined, but with a sufficient distance between 

 the wall and the upper one to allow the poultry-maid to stand con- 

 veniently upon when she has occasion to examine the nests, which it is 

 her duty to do every day at least once, and in the forenoon. The 

 highest of these she can reach by standing on a stool or step-ladder. 

 By this contrivance the hens, when desirous of reaching the nests, have 

 no occasion to fly, but merely to pass from one stick to another. If the 

 size and form of the house permit, a similar construction may be made 

 on the opposite side, care being taken to leave an open space in the 

 middle of the room, and a sufficiently wide passage for the attendant to 

 pass along the walls. It is not at all required to have as many nests as 

 hens, because they have not all occasion to occupy them at the same 

 time ; and besides, they are so far from having a repugnance to lay in 

 a common receptacle, that the sight of an egg stimulates them to lay. 

 It is however true, that the most secluded and darkest nests are those 

 which the hens prefer. 



The nests, if built into the wall, are in tiers from the bottom to the 

 top, the lowest being about three feet from the ground, and a foot square. 

 If the laying-chambers consist of wooden boxes, they are usually fur- 

 nished with a ledge, which is very convenient for the hens when rising. 



But the best receptacles for the eggs are those of basket-work, as 

 they are cool in summer, and can easily be removed and washed. They 

 ought to be fastened not directly to the wall, as is generally the case, 

 but to boards fixed in it by hooks, well clinched, and with a little roof 

 to cover the rows of baskets. They will thus be isolated, to the great 

 satisfaction of the hen, which delights in the absence of all disturbing 

 influences when laying. All the ranges of nests should be placed cheque- 

 wise, in order that the inmates, when coming out, may not startle those 

 immediately under : those designed for hatching should be near the 

 ground (where instinct teaches the hen*V) choose her seat), and so ar- 

 ranged that the hens can easily enter them without disturbing the eggs. 



Wheaten or rye straw is the most approved material for the bedding, 

 being cooler than hay : the hens are sometimes so tortured by lice as to 

 forsake their nests altogether, in an agony of restlessness. A Dorking 

 housewife has assured us that she once lost an entire clutch, from having, 

 as she believes, given a bed of hay-seeds to her sitting hen. The chicks 

 were all glued to the shells, and thus destroyed, owing, as she thinks, to 

 the high temperature occasioned by the fermenting seeds. 



For all purposes two cocks in a good run are considered in the poultry 

 counties contiguous to London as sufficient for twelve or fourteen hens, 

 but in France they allow twenty mistresses to each cock, which no doubt 

 is on account of the high temperature there. In a confined yard, five 

 hens are sufficient for one cock in our cold country, and a double set 

 will not answer in very limited space. When there are two or more 

 cocks, care should be taken not to have them of equal age or size, for 

 in this case they are always jealous and quarrelsome ; if one is decidedly 

 ascendant, the other will never presume to dispute with him. It will 

 be judicious also to avoid the introduction or changing of cocks in the 

 breeding season, for the hens require constant intercourse with them, 

 and several days frequently elapse before they become familiarized with 



