The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-22

| in the shells are clogged, and these, too,
should be discarded This does not refer
to ordinary soiling, as the latter may be
wiped off with a damp cloth and such
eggs prove satisfactory
Select for incubating the eggs which are
large without being oversized. AS a rule
the heaviest and best chicks come from
eggs of this kind and heavy chicks us
| ually make the best and most rapid devel-
opment 1t will be observed that eggs
produced in February and March average
more In weight than later in the season,
and this may explain why early hatched
chicks are usually superior physically TO
those which come later.
Fresh Eggs Hatch Best
Set the eggs while they are fresh; the
fresher the better. The germ is deli
cate thing after all. and in the course of
time it dies unless subjected to the nee
essary degree of heat to cause it to de-
Yelop This process of deterioration Is con-
tinuous in stored eggs, and the quicker
the e-giving heat is applied the better
the results are likely to be-
OF course, it is not possible under av-
erage conditions to use nothing but alb
solutely fresh eggs for incubating. The
limita tions of incubator equipment and the
number of eggs produced daily prevent
this. Therefore it is usually necessary to
hold certain proportion of the eggs for
longer or shorter periods. Just how long
1t is safe to hold them it is hard to saw
But they may be stored in such manner
to prevent to a considerable degree the
rapid weakening of the germs
The best storage room is one having a
fairly constant temperature of approxi-
mately so degrees. Rather lower than
higher. 1t should be clean and reason
ably dry. The eggs may be left upon
their sides or packed with large end up
Most poultrymen believe it is advisable to
move them or turn them occasionally
as it is the habit of the hen when filing
a stolen nest
Interesting Experiments
AT the Pennsylvania experiment station
they took another hint from the hen and
made a series of unique experiments. 1t
has often been noted that many hens
bring off large broods of husky chicks
from stolen nests. Frequently such nests
contain from IA to is eggs, and as these
are usually laid by one hen it is conclusive
evidence that certain of them are two or
more weeks of age when the actual pro-
cess OF incubation is started. In many
cases these stolen nests are so located
that the eggs are subjected to unfavora-
BILE conditions, and still they hatch we'll
This suggested the idea that proba bly,
the hen revived the germs each day by
warming the eggs slightly when visiting
the nest to deposit additional eggs. That
this warming-up process tended to keep
the germs in vigorous condition and pre-
vented to certain degree at least. the
rapid deterioration which might other
wise take place
In order to test this theory, certain lots
of eggs intended for incubation were di-
vided into equal lots and stored under
Identical conditions. One lot was warmed
for short period daily, and the other
1nt 1,n4p afx-ac !, tx..
ly all the eggs were incubated Those
which had been warmed daily gave better
results-produced more chicks than those
which had not been subjected to this
process.
As these experiments were not conduct
ed on a large scale, covering a consider
able perior of time, one is not justified in
drawing any final conclusions from them
Therefore, it is not possible to state Just
to what extent this pIan can be profitably
adopted by those operating on large
scale. However, the results secured are
Doth interesting and promising. and the
scheme is worthy of testing, especially in
cases where comparatively few eggs are
used. The writer would appreciate re-
ports from any poultrymen who make
comparative tests this spring.
Eggs intended for Matching, as well as
those actually in process of Incubation
should never come in contact with oil of
any kind. especially kerosene. This fire.
quently happens on plants where lamp-
heated 1ncubators are used. In filing the
lamps one often gets oil on the hands,
and this is transferred to the shells of
the eggs when the latter are being turned.
Thls indicates the wisdom of attending
to the eggs before looking after the
lamps.
Oil Fumes Dangerous
II might well be stated In this connec-
tion that oil fumes IN the incubator cellar
seems to have a bad effect7on the eggs in
the machines; That larger matches may
be secured where the oil supply is stored
in separate apartment and the filing of
the lamps attended to there 1t is quite
possible that the penetrating fumes may
also adversely effect the eggs before these
are placed In the machihes. and the stor-