The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1912-06-12
WHY BAD EGGS?
Can Be Avoided by Careful
Management.

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During warm weather there are
many bad eggs placed ON the market.
These bad eggs may be dirty, broken,
i%ncubated, shrunken or held, rotten,
or moldy and bad favored. The Ohio
Experiment Station wishes to call at
tention to the fact that these bad eggs
are largely the result of conditions
that could be improved by careful
management.
Some of the causes of dirty eggs are
unsanitary conditions about the poul-
try house, lack of litter in the
house, an insufficient number of
nests, poor nesting material, allowing
hens to roost on nests and not gather
ing eggs often enough. The few dirty
eggs that are produced should be con-
sumed at home and not washed and
sold.
With these faults corrected the num-
Der of broken eggs would be lowered,
for some of the above conditions re-
suit in both dirty and broken eggs.
The cause of some of the breakage,
however, is the lack of mineral matter
for the egg shell. Oyster shells or
bone will furnish this mineral matter
for the production of thicker shelled
eggs.
Whenever a fertile egg is kept at a
temperature above 70 to 80 degrees F.
incubation starts. If conditions are
favorable for it the process of incuba-
ton continues; if not, the germ dies
and decays. The loss from this source
will be lowered if eggs are gathered
twice a day during hot weather and
placed in a cool, moderately dry Gel
lar until marketed. A storage place
for eggs should be free from any bad
doors. The eggs should be protected
from the hot gun while being taken to
market. Eggs which have been tested
out of incubators or gathered from
nests not visited the previous day
Some of these contain dead germs
and are certainly not very desirable
food. If sitting hens are separated
from the laying flock and 10 male
birds allowed with the hens, except
during breeding season, the losses
from incubation will be still lower.
H0ns lay as we'll without mating and
infertile eggs do not deteriorate near
ly so Don az do fertile mes.
Shrunken or held eggs make up one
of the greatest losses. They are very
common in the fall and early winter.
Shrunken or held eggs, aside from
losing moisture, may become musty
or may rot if kept in a cellar that is
too damp, and, if fertile, may incubate
if kept in a storage room that is too
warm.
If the above precautions are OBJ
served there will be fewer rotten eggs.
Washed eggs rot more readily than
sold at all, would better be sold dirty
than washed.
Moldy and bad favored eggs may
develop in storage. The feeding of
onions to laying hens has produced
an onion flavor in eggs. Storing in
musty cellars or with some fruits,
vegetables, fish or cheese will give
bad 1avors to the eggs.
Egg producers should take sufficient
pride in their product to give it proper
care from the time it is laid until 1t is
marketed. Subsequent handlers should
exercise a similar precaution. Eggs
may be a delicacy or only an ordinary,
or even inferior, material for food
purposes, depending very largely upon
the way they are handled by producer,
middleman and consumer.
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