EG<iS LAID OUTSIDE THE NESTS 27 



To illustrate: on the 9th inst., an egg was found in the dust box, on 

 the 10th another, in the same place. An Ideal was placed in the dust 

 box; on the 11th, no egg was found; on the 12th, a pullet with no leg 

 band (I do not give them bands until they begin to lay) was found 

 with her egg in the Ideal. She was given a band, and on the 13th 

 and 14th laid in this same nest box; since that time she has laid 

 regularly in the same nest, although it has been moved to another 

 place, and no more eggs have been found in the dust box. 1 could 

 cite many of these cases if necessary. 



Those who do not favor tlie general use of trap nests, may believe 

 that it is impossible to prevent a large percentage of eggs from being 

 laid outside the nests, and I have no doubt that, this is true with 

 many of the traps in use. which are of such construction that they 

 only present the nests to view a part of the time. As imitation is a 

 strong factor in hens learning to use any nests, they do not so readily " 

 learn to distinguish between the unoccupied nest which they can see 

 and the closed nest which they cannot see. The Ideal presents the 

 nest to the view of the hens all of the time ; when it is occupied the 

 other hens recognize the fact that it is a case of one at a time, and 

 wait for it to be vacated, or look for another nest which has the 

 same appearance, only it is unoccupied. Still another cause of this 

 trouble is the presence in the pen of different types of nests. Some of 

 the hens may become attached to a certain style of nest and refuse to 

 enter another kind. If locked out of their favorite nest for a long time 

 they may lay in front of it or elsewhere outside. These facts are given 

 to serve as suggestions merely. Any construction or arrangement of 

 the nest boxes that proves satisfactory in results will be correct; while 

 if many eggs are found outside the nests, it will show that something 

 is wrong and needs to be changed. 



All of the foregoing may seem to be very trivial to those who regard 

 it as a foregone conclusion that some hens will deposit their eggs any- 

 where, anyway, whether or no, and we should let it go at that and 

 pick up the eggs. I assure the reader that when eggs are laid around 

 anywhere, or under the roosts at night, in considerable numbers, some- 

 thing is radically wrong Either a lot of unprofitable drones are being 

 maintained at the expense of the birds that regularly use the nests or 

 conditions of feeding or care exist that are not conducive to the best 

 results in egg production. 



