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Show WHERE HENS PREFER TO LAY Like the Grouse She Naturally Seeks Spot Where She Cannot Be Sur-priced Sur-priced From the Rear. A poultryman made an experiment with his fowls to ascertain their preference pref-erence for a place in which to lay and found that more hens chose, to lay in an open box in a corner not far from a window and three feet from the ground than in anything darker, higher, high-er, lower or differently constructed, says a writer in an exchange. One hen out of forty-one left all the boxes and stole her nest in a thicket; another an-other selected a barrel on its side at the back of the house. The rest went for the greater part into corner boxes or corners of the chicken house without boxes. He says: "I think the explanation of this corner idea is simple- The wild hen, like the grouse, naturally seeks a spot where she cannot be surprised from the rear, and the habit sticks to her descendants no matter how civilized. Anything she can go Into and then face round with an assurance as-surance of safety on all sides except !n front seems desirable to her. Going Go-ing still farther into natural functions, the hen evidently wishes to be able to leave her nest with a dash for the open over the head of a formidable rssallant if necessary, thereby tempting tempt-ing it to give chase and drawing it away from the eggs. "So the nest should be at least a three-sided affair, and having a top Is no disadvantage. The entrance should be in front. I deny the value of making a rear dark alleyw-.v to the nests, as Is often planned, for this means added labor, expense and trouble, trou-ble, since another opening in front is necessary for human access f the nest." |