The Mena weekly star., 1919-05-01
HOW TO MINIMIZE MARKET
 EGG LOSS FROM FERTILITY
Should Be InelcPoultry shr Sell Confn All Male Birds As As
 Matching Is

A bad egg tasted is a good egg wasted, to the extent that Madam Hen often is criticized where she should be eulogised. Industriously the hen works to lay an egg day, and other conditions being equal, the egg produced is as nearly perfect food product os fowl ingenuity can make it. If the hen IS properly fed, if the nests are clean, if the eggs are gathered twice daily, stored in cool, dry room or cellar and delivered to the city consumer in prime condition, the consumer grins appreciation as he breakfasts on shirred eggs of matchless market quality.
 On the other hand, if the roosetrs are allowed to run with the flock aft CT the matching season, if the hens are not properly and regularly fed, if the nests are dirty and crowded, if the eggs are gathered only once every other day, and if thereafter the eggs are stored in warm, ill-ventilated quarters, and if marketing is deferred until enough eggs have collected to fill a crate, the city customer usually grunts disgust and shouts for a gas mask when the eggs appear opposite him at the table.
 Bad Eggs Preventable.
 Bad eggs are not the result of acci- dent; they are samples of neglect, slovenly management, and shiftless- ness. It is just as easy to produce and market good-quality eggs as it is to offend consumers with stale, fer tile eggs. Farmers lose approximate ly $50,000,000 year from bad meth ods of producing and handling eggs. One-third of this loss is preventable, because it is due to partial matching of fertile eggs which have been al- lowed to become warm enough to be- gin to incubate.
 The rooster makes the egg fertile while the fertilized egg produces the blood ring which is the partial de- velopment of the chick. The roostc does not increase egg production; he merely fertilizes the germ of the egg, and hence he should be allowed to run with the flock only during the match ing season. After the matching sea- son is over the male bird should be confined, killed, or sold.
 Heat the Enemy of Eggs.
 Summer heat has the same effect on the fertile eggs as the hen or incuba- tor. The fertile germ in hot weather quickly develops into blood ring which spells the egg for food or mar ket purposes. Heat is the great ene- my of eggs, both fertile and in fertile. On this account specialists of the United States Department of Agri- culture urge poultry producers in warm weather to keep nests clean and to provide one nest for every four fowls, in order that the nests will not be used too often and soil the eggs; to gather the eggs twice daily; to keep the eggs in cool, dry room or cellar; to market the eggs at least vice a week, and to pen or dispose of Ill roosters as soon as the matching eason is over.
 Hens isolated on range and pasture rom the male birds produce infertile 'ggs of desirable market quality. In general, about two weeks after the posters are removed from the flock he hens will again yield infertile
 ggs. Occasionally hens running with 1ale birds produce infertile eggs. but
 rule this results from the fowls 'eing confined too closely, being over it, or not having access to enough 'reen feed.