Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1914-02-24

to reset, which we do by putting them
under two hens and have the remain
ing one to set over again after she
has set only seven days.
A good homemade egg tester or can
die can be made from large shoe
box or any box that is large enough to
go over lamp by removing an enc
and cutting hole a little, larger than
the size of a quarter in the bottom
of the box, so that when it is set over
common kerosene lamp the hole III
the bottor will be opposite the blaze.
hole the size of silver dollar should
be cut in the top Of the box to allow
the heat to escape. An infertile egg,
when held before the small hole with
the lamp lighted inside the box, will
look perfectly clear, the same as a
fresh one, while fertile egg will show
a small dark spot, known as the EN-
bryo, with a mass of little blood veins
extending in all directions if the en-
bryo is living. If dead, if the egg has
been incubated for at least Sc hours,
the blood settles away from the en-
bryo toward the edges Of the yolE,
forming in some cases an irregular cir
Gle of blood, known as a blood ring.
Eggs vary in this respect, some show
ing only a streak of blood. The test
ing should be done in dark room.
Proper Methods of Marketing Eggs.
When ready to sell the eggs grade
them according to size and color and
put them into the following classes, is
the advice contained in farmers bull
letin 562 of the department of agricuL
ture:
Large white eggs, large brown eggs,
small white eggs, and small brown
eggs. A uniform lot will, as rule,
command a higher price than a mixed
one. When taking them to town keep
them covered and out of the direct
rays of the sun. The following rules
should be followed in the care of
eggs:
1. Keep the nests clean; provide
one nest for every four hens.
2. Gather the eggs twice daily.
3. Keep the eggs in cool, dry room
or cellar.
4. Market the eggs at least twice a
week.
An infertile egg is one that is laid
by hen that has not been allowed 20
run with a male bird. or by hen
from which a male bird has been sep
arated from seven days to three weeks.
Experiments have shown that the time
varies. In most cases, however, IA
days is long enough to wait for the
eggs to become infertile after the male
bird is removed from the female. 1t
is impossible to. hatch an infertile egg
or to cause blood ring to form in
one. 1t also keeps in good condition
in temperatures that will cause fer
tile eggs to rot.
A fertile egg is just the opposite Of
the infertile in many respects. 1t is
the egg that is produced from hens
that are running with male birds, al
though occasionally there are hens
running with male birds that lay IN
fertile eggs. This is often the case
with hens that are confined in yards
and runs, and birds that do not have
green feed, or those that are overfat.
The fertile egg is the egg from which
the chick is Matched, and the egg
that spoils so quickly when subjected
to the ordinary methods of handling
on the farm and when marketed in the
hot summer months under adverse
conditions.
When the young chicks are Matched
they should be marked in some way,
so that it can be known just what pen
or pens they are from. If birds from
certain pens are to be Kept for breed
ing or other purposes; also To be able
to tell the year in which the birds are
Matched. A good method of marking
the chicks is to punch small hole in
the web of the foot between the toes
with a harness punch, using the small
size punch.
1t is advisable to market the old
hens in the summer as soon as the
second laying season is over, as hens
over two years old rarely lay as many
eggs as they do in their pullet and
yearling seasons. If they have been
toe-punched, Il will be an easy nat
ter to tell exactly in what year they
were Matched. Before sending the old
hens, males. and young cockerels to
market, they should be confined in a
small pen for at least two weeks, to
increase their weight and put on lat,
and should be given all the feed they
will consume of mixture Of two
parts corn meal. one part middlings or
low-grade -four. and one part bran.
adding enough water to make a criim-
bly, mash. Water or skim milk shoulS
also be kept before them during this
fattening period. ell