<'0\T.UOI,MN(i THE KK(M)l)IX(i HA HIT .V! 



that the last hatch docs not run into June. Eggs are always on sale at 

 this plant. Ln a talk with the proprietor the other day, he said that 

 since he lias given trap nests a thorough trial, lie is able to do titty per 

 cent, better. He says he need not keep as many hens to get the same 

 amount of eggs, for the reason that he is rid of the drones and saves 

 on the feed. 



The idea is to keep only profitable hens. Does the fanner keep the 

 cow that can furnish little or no cream upon her milk? Then why 

 should that same farmer harbor a lot of hens that are not worth the grain 

 given thein? Again the advice of the writers ''cull closely — cull again," 

 can be sounded, and I can assure all practical poultrymen that if they 

 wish to establish profitable egg farms they should install trap nests and 

 arrest the drones. 



In these days of high priced feed we must cut down as much of that 

 expense as possible, and we can do it if we retain the workers and get 

 rid of the loafers. Trap nests do not require the attention that some 

 writers would like to make us believe. The careful poultryman makes 

 a number of trips among his flocks, and in doing so it is but a few min- 

 utes time spent to inspect the nests. A glance will tell if the hen has 

 laid, and with well ventilated nests — as we know the Ideal trap nest to 

 be — a hen does not suffer one bit. We would just as soon think of giving 

 up our incubators, our brooders or our bone cutter, as to give up our 

 trap nests, and so will every poultryman that has given them a proper 

 trial . 



CHAPTER V. 



CONTROLLING THE BROODING HABIT. 



Controlling the brooding habit. Breaking broody hens. Is broodiness 

 opposed to profitable egg production ? Can a hen lay two eggs in one day ? 



JOSH BILLINGS said: '-The time to set a hen is when the hen is 

 readv." Unfortunately for Josh's philosophy, when we attempt 

 it's practical application we often find that we have no use for the sitting 

 hen when she is ready, and the hen is not always ready when we are. 



Broodiness is the survival of an ancestral trait that has only been 

 retained because necessity demanded it. Since the advent of the incu- 

 bator and brooder the sitting hen has been slowly passing. 



As the necessity for her passes away much of the unpractical sentiment 

 commonly associated with her will disappear. As artificial-incubation 

 and -brooding will never become universal, on account of economic 



