Norwich bulletin., 1916-02-24
SELECTION AND CARE
 OF MATCHING EGGS.
Some Valuable Pointers By L. E. Card of the Connecticut Agricultural Col Ieee.

sSSSs Now that the time for matching the chicks for our next winter layers is almost upon us, it is well to consider lay our plans deeply and well for a thorough seasons work, writes Les lie E. Card in the bulletin issued by the Connecticut Agricultural College. Upon our ability to hatch and rear strong healthy, vigorous chicks will depend, in a large measure, the amount of income from eggs next fall and winter.
 The first and most important con- sideration in regard to incubation, whether natural or artificial is that we be able to hatch chicks having strong constitutional vigor. That is the one fundamental idea which underlies all our efforts at discovering or develop ing the best methods of incubation, and especially artificial incubation. The first point to consider is the health and vigor of the parent stock, and this far outweighs every other consideration.
 We must be sure. that the birds whose eggs are to be matched have not suffered from any heritable dis advisability of each breeder working up a strain of fowls of his own So. that he can know just what Ae is dealing with. Having strong birds, the only things necessary to keep them so are good housing and good feed, along with good feed judgment on the part of the breeder
 Give the breeders a roomy, open front house that will admit an abund- ance of sunlight and fresh air. The breeding stock should have plenty of room both for the comfort of the birds and Q give the owner more oppor- tunity to study them as individuals. Exercise is essential to prevent the taking on of excessive body fat and subsequent lowering of fertility. Feed the breeders liberally but do not force them Aim for fertile eggs and not number of eggs from the breeders. See that an abundance of green food is supplied every day; this is important.
 In selecting eggs for matching it is important to choose only those which it is desired for the bullets the fol- lowing year to produce as regards size, shape and color. There is strong tendency for a bullet to lay eggs of very nearly the same size, shape and color as the egg from which she her. self was matched. Uniformity of size, shape. and color of market eggs is very important. It is much easier to raise the selling value of the product by improving the quality than by in- creasing the quantity. The markets are discriminating as to color, some what as to size, but less as regards SudpG. IL IS LO lAS PAO0QNCA d0bdA- tage however, to have normal shaped and sized eggs in order to prevent loss in shipping.
 Eggs may be saved for matching after the pens have been mated two weeks, although it is safer and better to wait three or four weeks. They should be collected two or three times daily in order to prevent their becom- ing chilled, Soiled, or incubation be- ing started by broody hens. They f..1T and jolts are injurious. The eggs should be sorted at once and any that are unfit for matching should be dis carded. Any cracked, very dirty, or badly shaped eggs. or any that have uneven, rough, or thin shells should not be used. After this selection, size of eggs is probably most important. There is practically no difference in the hatchability of large and small eggs, other things being equal, but the large eggs insures large chick, which, if a female will in turn lay large eggs. Experiments show a close correlation between the weight of a. chick and the weight of the egg from which it was matched.
 Washing matching eggs is not to be advised. Better discard the dirty eggs than to attempt to wash and incubate them. Washing an egg, | e., moisten- ing the shell, destroys the bloom and allows more rapid evaporation than would otherwise take place. Rapid evaporation is one of the things we must try to avoid in artificial incu- bation.
 Since the fertile egg is incubated within the body of the hen for period of eighteen to twenty hours before being laid, the tiny embryo has al- ready begun to develop. The problem in caring for matching eggs is, there fore, how to hold them for the neces- sary time before incubation so that the embryos will be weakened as lit- tie as possible. Two weeks is the longest time that eggs should be held