POULTRY. 
271 
of a ladder when properly inclined, but with a sufficient distance between 
the wall and the upper one to allow the poultry-maid to stand con- 
veniently upon when she has occasion to examine the nests, which it is 
her duty to do every day at least once, and in the forenoon. The 
highest of these she can reach by standing on a stool or step-ladder. 
By this contrivance the hens, when desirous of reaching the nests, have 
no occasion to fly, but merely to pass from one stick to another. If the 
size and form of the house permit, a similar construction may be made 
on the opposite side, care being taken to leave an open space in the 
middle of the room, and a sufficiently wide passage for the attendant to 
pass along the walls. It is not at all required to have as many nests as 
hens, because they have not all occasion to occupy them at the same 
time ; and besides, they are so far from having a repugnance to lay in 
,a common receptacle, that the sight of an egg stimulates them to lay. 
It is however true, that the most secluded and darkest nests are those 
which the hens prefer. 
The nests, if built into the wall, are in tiers from the bottom to the 
top, the lowest being about three feet from the ground, and a foot square. 
If the laying-chambers consist of wooden boxes, they are usually fur- 
nished with a ledge, which is very convenient for the hens when rising. 
But the best receptacles for the eggs are those of basket-work, as 
they are cool in summer, and can easily be removed and washed. They 
ought to be fastened not directly to the wall, as is generally the case, 
but to boards fixed in it by hooks, well clinched, and with a little roof 
to cover the rows of baskets. They will thus be isolated, to the great 
satisfaction of the hen, which delights in the absence of all disturbing 
influences when laying. All the ranges of nests should be placed cheque- 
wise, in order that the inmates, when coming out, may not startle those 
immediately under : those designed for hatching should be near the 
ground (where instinct teaches the hen tt> choose her seat), and so ar- 
ranged that the hens can easily enter them without disturbing the eggs. 
Wheatcn or rye straw is the most approved material for the bedding, 
being cooler than hay : the hens are sometimes so tortured by lice as to 
forsake their nests altogether, in an agony of restlessness. A Dorking 
housewife has assured us that she once lost an entire clutch, from having, 
as she believes, given a bed of hay-seeds to her sitting hen. The chicks 
were all glued to the shells, and thus destroyed, owing, as she thinks, to 
the high temperature occasioned by the fermenting seeds. 
For all purposes two cocks in a good run are considered in the poultry 
counties contiguous to London as sufficient for twelve or fourteen hens, 
but in France they allow twenty mistresses to each cock, which no doubt 
is on account of the high temperature there. In a confined yard, five 
hens are sufficient for one cock in our cold country, and a double set 
will not answer in very limited space. When there are two or more 
cocks, care should be taken not to have them of equal age or size, for 
in this case they are always jealous and quarrelsome ; if one is decidedly 
ascendant, the other will never presume to dispute with him. It will 
be judicious also to avoid the introduction or changing of cocks in the 
breeding season, for the hens require constant intercourse with them, 
and several days frequently elapse before they become familiarized with 
