Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-02-13
This and That
About Eggs
Eco Fertility

BY carefully kept trapnest records
it has been found that fertility is not
very strong with hens that produce
from 80 to so eggs in succession.
The strongest fertility is found
from February to May, inclusive, and
from September to October, inclusive.
November, December, July and Au-
gust registers the poorest fertility. 1t
has also been found that the vital
strength of the sperm and the fertil-
ity of the egg. are stronger in July
and August than in December and
stronger in August than in July.
There is no question about fertil-
ity being Influenced by the condition
of the weather. Extreme heat de-
presses the fowl. and fertility drops.
Changes from summer to winter are
often accompanied by very rough
and irregular weather, and this has a
telling effect. Weather that is cold
and wet, does more damage to fer
tility than does cold and dry weather:
and windy, cold day is more detri-
mental than a cold and quiet one.
Freak Eggs
The condition of the oviduct at the
time the egg is laid, has much to do
with the presence of abnormal eggs.
such as are from time to time found
in the nests.
A soft shelled egg may be due to
the lack of shell-forming material,
like oyster shell. but cases are quite
frequently reported where ample
lime stuff is fed. In such cases the
cause may be overfat, or infiamma-
ton of that part of the oviduct that
forms the shell. Fright, too, may
cause the expulsion Of an egg before
it is shelled.
-yolked eggs may be caused
by two ovums rupturing at the same
time and together finding their way
into the oviduct and placed under
one shell.
An egg is found within an egg
The theory presented by DIR. Conn,
no doubt is correct: there is some
irritation Of the central portion of
the oviduct, albumen is formed with
out the normal stimulus Of the xolll,
and it then is forced downward
where shell is formed upon it and,
as it is small. sometimes this pro-
duces irregular contract'ons which
force the egg upward, where ii
encounters another egg in the pro-
cess of development and becomes
imbedded in it; then a shell is
formed around the whole mass.
Luck" or witch" eggs are more
or less common. They are small,
dwarf eggs, about the size of
pigeon egg. Any hen is likely to lay
one of these freak little eggs, though
she usually will not lay more than
one or two of them in a lifetime. The
egg does not come at the end of the
laying, as is commonly supposed. 1t
is just as apt to happen right in the
middle of a period of productivity.
1t Is usually caused by some kind of
an accident which gives the forming
egg a bad start. These freak little
eggs may be round like a marble, or
long like a bean, and they may
average less than half the size of a
regular egg.
Egg Flavor
Age has a marked effect upon egg
flavor, as germs enter through the
porous shell and start a process of
The flavor Of fresh
eggs varies with the food Of the hen.
II the hen eats large amount of
animal food land this is especially so
Of fresh fish the eggs will have a
stronger, coarser flavor than when
the hens are fed chiefly upon grains. i
Strong favored vegetables, such as
onions, for instance, effect the taste
of eggs in a very marked degree. !
Another very important point in Sc
curing eggs of good flavor is to keep !
them away from strong smelling |
The color of the shell has nothing /,
whatever to do with the flavor. |
Markets are frequently influenced by !
color Of shell, and purchasers labor !!
under the mistaken idea that either |
a brown shelled or a white-shelled !
egg, as the case may be. excels in !
flavor. Food alone adds flavor, good .
Or bad, as likewise is the case with ,
the COW and her milk.