20 



PiriEiiNS Axn All About Them. 



NEST BOXES. 



I am altogether opposed to fixed nest boxes. They 

 are not easih' cleaned, and are propagators of vermin 

 and disease. In a fixed range of nest boxes if infec- 

 tious disease of any kind makes its appearance the 

 whole range is infected, and must be pulled down and 

 destroyed. Further, fixed boxes, especially when 

 some height from the floor, have other serious dis- 

 advantages. Hens, when about to lay, are often unable 



Open Nest Box, with Upper 

 and Lower Compartments. 



Open Nest Box with Division 

 on Floor Level. 



to reach their box and lay on the floor, or they injure 

 themselves in their attempts to reach the box. Again, 

 if a youngster falls out of such a box the jar when he 

 reaches the ground oft knocks the life out of his body, 

 or else breaks a limb. Portable nest boxes are, I 

 am firmly convinced, much the best to use. Each 

 pair may have a double box about two feet six long 

 and sixteen inches deep, or two single boxes of smaller 

 size. These comprise all the internal fittings needful 

 in a Pigeon loft. Xest boxes should only be there in 

 the breeding season; removed at the end of that season, 

 thoroughly cleansed, allowed to remain exposed to the 

 weather for a few weeks, then scrubbed, dried, and 

 put away till the following spring, or else broken up 

 for firewood. If specially made boxes are preferred, 

 then I advise that they be well painted inside and out 



