The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-28
BEWARE OF sIcKLY STOCK

less, to attempt to secure strong off- spring from anemic. poorly fed, list less. gck1y or inbred parent stock
 Prime matching eggs are laid by fowls
 in prime condition. This is natural
 law Strong. healthy. lively chicks are
 hatched from prime eggs and no oti-
 CTS. The poultry raiser should see to 1t that his breeding stock possesses
 standard requirements for a given va riety, and that every specimen is in
 sound health. Until this condition is established beyond all doubt, matching is a gamble.
 Realizing the immense advantage of
 being able to predeternline the fer tility of eggs and their sex. from time to time claims are made that this information, can be obtained through a particular system, instrument or sc- cret, As a matter of fact, these meth ods" are all unsupported by scientific evidence. There is no theory or prac- tice by which it is possible to dis tinguish the sex of an egg, and it IS not possible to mate a pen so that the sex can be controlled. Moreover. it is not possible to determine whether an egg is fertile, without opening the egg. All claims to the contrary are no- ticns.
 The old-fashioned idea that round eggs would hatch bullets and long or pointed eggs cockerels is entirely without foundation. The shape of an egg is influenced by the contour of the oviduct or organ in which the egg receives it's albumen and shell. and tfis characteristic is peculiar to the individual hen.
 The idea that the position of the air cell indicates sex Is equally unre- l liable. And the weight or specific gray | ity of the egg is no indication of sex or fertility.
 SPECIFIC GRAVITY COUNTS l A knowledge of the specific gravity | of an egg has certain advantages. It tends to show which eggs have the best chances of being matched. For ex- ample, there seems to be some cor relation between the specific gravity | of an egg and the vigor of the hen 1 that laid it; but this observation in | dicates a state of health and nothing
 more. Then, too, the specific gravity
 serves to establish the age of an egg, and this factor, of course, has much to
 do with the matching qualities. It has ! been found that the specific gravity of the average new-laid egg is 1.03; afetr 10 days 1t is 1.072; after three weeks 1.053; and after a month 1.035. 1 The importance of selecting none but well-fofmed eggs for matching purposes ! cannot be overestimated. Not only will
 such selection produce bigger matches, but it will result in improvements gen.
 orally. Normal eggs are almost certain | to produce chickens which will lay nor
 nal eggs, while the reverse is equally l true.
 l Discard all eggs which are abnorually large or small, those which are too long, too round. flattened <on one side, clip ! tical, wedge-shaped, and those which have any excrescene or ridge. As a
 general rule, no eggs should be incu- bated which weigh less than two ounces, nor over two and a half ounces. The iideal egg weighs from 2Ss to 20 ounces to the dozen. It is an egg-shaped speci- men, nicely rounded ar one end with g gradual taper to the other, and having a firm shell of good texture. free from
 bumps, corrugations and ridges.
 Be careful not to use eggs with exceed 1 lngly thin or very thick shells, or those having invisible cracks termed cheeks
 in poultry parlance. These latter defects can be determined by taping the shell gently with one's finger nail or a lead pencil.
 l DO NOT WASH EGGS
 If eggs intended for matching are se badly soiled that the poultryman is dis lposed to wash them, this apparent neces. sity should bar them as desirable hatch ling eggs. By all means avoid washing eggs, because to do so destroys ths lmuscilagenous coating or bloom, which is intended to protect the ege I against undue evaporation, and the en trance of germs through the pores in thu shell
 4 Badly soiled eggs are not likely tt hatch we'll. because of the s0iled matte clinging to the shell. in which case wash ing might prove somewhat beneficial s but. as prevlounly mentioned. 1t werl