62 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



a satisfactory number of chickens from under the 

 three hens remaining, while if 70 eggs are put into 

 a machine and anything goes wrong, the loss prob- 

 ably will be total. Such loss becomes greater in 

 proportion to the increase in the size of incubator 

 used. 



Setting a hen should be a matter of some care, 

 but it need not be the solemn rite some people 

 make it. A common and simple plan is to arrange 

 a row of commodious boxes in a quiet place and 

 make the nests for the sitting hens in them, lhe 

 boxes may be set upright and in a row with one 

 board over all of them to confine the hens, or they 

 may be set on their side with a board in front. 

 The use of a single board makes lighter work than 

 the construction of a door for each box. The 

 board may be removed at a certain hour each day 

 and the hens allowed to eat and drink and to dust 

 themselves in the box of earth or ashes which should 

 be provided for them. 



Some breeders have a little pen in front of each 

 nest and allow the hens to come off when they 

 please, which means the saving of a little time. 

 Sometimes, though, a hen will not voluntarily leave 

 the nest as often as she should, in which case she 



