The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1913-02-25
POULTRY NOTES

that your birds will finally run
down in constitution. Intro
duce new blood by purchasing
a male from some other breeder.
You often hear the question
asked by beginners, What is
meant by a breed, variety, and
strain ?" Breed means a GER
tain class possessing the same
characteristics of body shape,
etc. Variety is the name given
to distinguish the classes of
birds of each breed. BY strain,
is meant a cultivation of the
natural trait of the fowl to be
increased beyond others of
their breed. For example: The
breed of plymouth Rock-va-
riety, white-may be made to
increase their laying ability to
such an extent that you have
developed a strain.
Do not have too many roos-
ters running in the yard, as it
will do more harm than good.
Use about nine to twelve hens
of the larger breeds to one
male, and twelve to fifteen of
the smaller ones.
If you want to get good,
strong chicks at this time of
the year, you will have to see
that your hens get plenty of ex-
ercise, plenty of green food,
meat in some form, and have
good, vigorous male bird in the
flock.
What is a Fresh Egg?
A fresh egg is one that, when
held to strong light is perfect
ly clear and shows no black
spots or cloudy appearance;
with an air space in the large
end, one that, if put into brine
ID OF. salt to pit of water) will
sink to the bottom, one that
has clear appearance and if,
broken in saucer the yolk will
stand much above the albumen
and not fall out flat and run to-
gether. 1t is also one hard to
purchase and know when to re-
ly on it's quality.
A good egg is one that is lay
ell In sanitary nest so as not
to absorb any bad odors with
which it may come in contact.
Also, it is an egg that has no
bad fiavors caused from eating
sloppy food and drinking filthy
water; one that sis terile, that
is, layed by hen that has not
been mated, causing an infer
til egg, whose keeping qualities
are three of four times as great
as one produced by hen that
is mated.
The fertile egg when exposed
to a degree of heat above 70 for
any length of time will cause
bacteria to set in and decom-
pose very fast. An infertile
egg will not decompose, but
only evaporate, losing it's mois-
ture, which is taken into the hot
air.
The following is taken from
a Virginia farm paper:
An egg may be fresh, and yet
not be a good egg. There is all
the difference between an egg
from hen that acts as a scav-
enger. A hen that hustles for
herself on poor range lays a wa
terry egg, an egg lacking in pro-
tein. A hen that is fed on
clover, wheat bran and sound
grains lays an egg with a rich.
delicately favored white. If
the hen lacks in fat forming
feeds, the chances are that the
egg will be lacking in the same
elements. If the shell breaks
in our hands, the egg is lacking
in lime, and if hatched will
probably give a weakling chick,
subject to white diarrhoea from
the start, and quite unlikely to
reach the anniversary of tbs
first week.
Healthy appearing hens often
lay eggs that cannot be called
good if their quality and flavor
is considered. Watch your
eggs, know what kind of an egg
your hens are laying, and get
them as near perfect as possible
before Matching time. An egg
with good shell, and which
tands up well in poaching, or
tastes well beaten in milk, is a
delicacy which will always be in
demand. Given the right kind
of hen, with the light kind of
food clean nectS and rnnn md