HOUSING AND HYGIENE 281 



by night and by day, is better if these two fixtures were some- 

 what separated. Wlien tlie nests arc placed under the perches 

 a dropping board is necessitated and tiie nests must either 

 be too low for the convenience of the caretaker or the perchc^ 

 too high for the hens in heavy laying. If the perches are not 

 more than three feet high the bottoms of the nests will per- 

 force be so low as to make it difficult to clean out below them 

 and so dark that the floor is of little use for feeding, and the 

 hens are likely to lay there rather than in the nests. 



Fk;. 154 



A good type of wall nest. 



The perches should be the most frequently disinfected 

 of any part of the house. With the nests below the perches 

 they are very likely to catch some of the drippings from the 

 spray and the eggs be tainted. 



In bedding the nests the same care should be taken as is 

 suggested for the hatching nest (see page 198). 



Nests for ducks should always be on the floor. In fact 

 there is no need of nests where the floor of the house is kept 

 well bedded with straw. 



Perches. — Perches are necessary for chickens, but not for 

 waterfowl. The droppings of the former adhere to the feathers 

 if the birds are not on an elevated perch. With water- 

 fowl the voidings are semifluid and the feathers so arranged 



