THE SELECTION OF BROODY HENS 



with a mixture of hay and leaves. There is no doubt that 

 a good deal depends upon the nest for successful incubation. 

 It must neither be too dry, nor yet too moist, both factors 

 being detrimental to the eggs or rather the embryos within. 



Protection must also be afforded against rats and other 

 egg-stealers. Some keepers make the nest on the bare earth. 

 If the sitting-boxes have six compartments, and large broody 

 hens are selected, fifteen eggs may be set under each hen, 

 though sometimes more than this number is placed under 

 her. It is a mistake to set too many eggs, as the bird 

 cannot cover them properly, and those eggs on the outer 

 zone of the nest suffer from loss of heat, no matter however 

 careful one may be to shift them from one position to another. 

 A Silkie hen can cover from ten to twelve eggs, and this is 

 just about as many chicks as the mother can properly look 

 after, though upon this point opinions are divided. Very 

 large broods have been successfully hatched out, both under 

 natural and artificial conditions, but there is one matter upon 

 which most men are agreed in connection with Pheasant- 

 rearing, and that is that late nests of eggs do not, as a rule, 

 prove very satisfactory, and by a late nest the author means 

 one set in June. 



A remarkable late hatching was recorded by Mr Walter 

 Jones, gamekeeper to Col. Arthur Turner, on whose estate 

 some young Pheasants about two days old, ten in number, 

 were observed on the 20th of September, the brood being 

 in a healthy condition. Such instances of late hatching, 

 though exceptional, are by no means rare, yet game-rearers 

 are not in favour of late broods, and this for multifarious 

 reasons. About the third week in May is quite late enough. 



When eggs get broken in the nest they should be removed 

 and the rest of the eggs cleaned. Each sitting-box should 

 be numbered, and precisely the same remark applies to the 



IS5 



