Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-06-08
THE CARE OF EGGS
FOR BEST RESULTS

The care Of eggs for Matching is the first
step toward successful incubation If we
except, of course fertility. Shall they be
turned or not? Shall they be placed on
end or on side? What temperament shall
they be kept in? These three questions
should be settled beyond all dispute, but
we regret to say are not. Different writ
ers give as many different methods and
the new beginner is left completely at sea,
with some old ones, for one is always
beginner in the poultry business in the
sense that there Is always something to
learn There are many things by the
very nature Of the business that can never
be definitely settled, but the questions
above enumerated are not included in the
unfathomable. Experiment stations should
take them up and answer them. The last
question relative to temperament is, we
think. fairly well settled but the other
two confuse and confound the novice as
much as ever. There are enough prob
lens for him to wrestle with without
these.
The temperament Is fixed between As
and go 1t might stand a trife wider
varia ton, hut best results are obtained
between these figures. If kept much
above so, incubation is liable to start
which If arrested by lowering the tenn
perature to any extent would cause the
germ to die and the egg become rotten
1t is best to have the temperature as
even and equabe as possible. and not up
and down, cellar is generally the best
place in which to keep eggs To illus
trate how carelessly eggs are sometimes
kept l will give an incident in my own
family that occurred over half century
ago. related by my mother. Some eggs
were set that had been kept in a cup
board near the kitchen stove and in three
days they commenced to hatch out, to
the great establishment no doubt of the
hen, which probably gave her a great
bump of conceit as to her Matching abn-
ity This may SAVIOR some Of the ancient
Egyptian methods of incubation, but the
story Is true The incident occurred long
before incubators were thought of
Nevertheless we would not advocate
placing eggs near the kitchen stove in
order to save the time of either hen OF
incubator
l have read in the last few days two
statements from prominent authorities as
TO the turning of eggs. one was made
by an experiment station and said that
they should always be turned daily The
other statement emanated from DR. r. T.
Woods. in The American Poultry World
considered an authority in matters per-
tanning to poultry, which emphatically
contradicted the experiment station
Now. can both be right or is it, like
the tariff, case where both sides may
be right to some extent? If they are as
we'll or better. not turned. ii surely saves
work But is it? What do you think
about il. reader? Why do you and the
hen turn the eggs during incubation ?
Isn't the principal reason because you
wish 10 keep the developing germ. which
always floats on top, from sticking to the
SHELF Another reason is of course to
equalize the heat Is il not. then. reason
able to suppose that the germ will he less
liable to adhere to the shell if the eggs
are turned daily before placed in incu-
baton? If an egg was TO remain in one
position for two or three weeks, the lat
ter being about the limit as to the time
which IT can be kept, it surely seems rea-
sonable to suppose that the germ, floating
on top has adhered to the shell. in which
case IT would he doubtful Of Matching, or
if it did hatch he deformed The hen
that steals her nest certainly turns her
eggs many times while laying a clutch
for if YOU watch a hen while laying in a
partly filled nest you will notice her
treadng them and poking the eggs under
her with her nose We think II II was
bad thing for a hen TO turn the eggs
nature would have taught her better.
Therefore we think il best to give the
eggs The benefit of the doubt and turn
them daily. However, this question could
be settled beyond any doubt il some OF
the stations would take hold OF It and
make tests with fertile eggs laid by the
same hens.
How about the position in which the
egg shall he placed awaiting incubation?
shall it he placed on end or on the side ?
Here again we can go 10 the hen that
stole her nest for knowledge We find
that the eggs lay on the side in the nest.
II better to be on end nature no doubt
could have found some means Of manag-
ing it that way. If we break an egg we
find on each side Of the yolk 2 white
stringv substance that makes one almost
gag when eating a raw egg This Is the
thread that holds the germ in position