Sept. 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of NSW. 721 



As to the other remedies, the most common is to fill an egg-shell with mustard and 

 pepper and put it in the run. A hard-boiled egg just out of the boiling water is also said 

 to be a cure, as it burns them. Fresh egg-shells given in large quantities is an American 

 remedj' highly spoken of. In fact, there are any amount of remedies. 



I have said nothing of specially constructed nests. These are so made that when the 

 egg is dropped by the fowl it rolls out of sight. The difficulty is to make a nest so con- 

 structed comfortable enough for a hen to lay in it. On the wlK)ie. the egg-eating- 

 preventing nest is no good. 



The only absolute safe way of curing an egg-eater is to wring her neck. Do not let 

 the vice go on ; always be or the look out, and if it breaks out, cure it at once. A whole 

 flock of hens may be ruined as egg- producers if this is not done. There is, as I have said, 

 a choice of remedies, and the poultry-keeper has only himself to blame if he loses many 

 eggs by egg-eating hens. 



Egcj Organs. — The egg- 

 producing organs of a hen 

 are very delicate, and sub- 

 ject to a number of com- 

 plaints, which have probably 

 increased since the inception 

 of the egg-laying competi- 

 tions, as evidenced in the 

 conductors' reports, which 

 usually tell us how many 

 hens died during the month, 

 and in almost every instance 

 " from ovarian troubles." 

 Realising this, it is well 

 breeders should be acquaint- 

 ed with the nature and 

 function of the egg organs. 



Anyone who has dissected a 

 hen is, no doubt, familiar with 

 the cluster of small eggs that are 

 found in her intestines; they 

 resemble very much a bunch of 

 grapes, and vary in size and 

 number. In a good-laying strain 

 of hens they will often number a 

 hundred or more. The .section 

 where this rudimentarv egs is 



Organs and oiary of hen. 



this rudimentary egg 

 formed is called the ovarium. 

 It will be noticed that all these 

 eggs aie covered separately with 

 a filmy and transparent sac. and 



12. Lung. 



13. Ovarv. 

 U. Egs-." 



15. Eag eiiteiinii; oviduct. 

 lf>. Int'umlilaihim. 

 17 Oviduct. 

 IS. Etjg- ii;issin;r through oviduct. 



1. Liver. 



2. Gallbladder. 



3. Spleeu. 



4. Gizzard. 



5. Duodeuum. 



6. Pancreas. 



7. Intestine ,.^. ^ 



connected by a very narrow stem 8, 8. Free e.xtremities of oosca. IP. Oviduct. 



to the ovary of the hen. These ^' ^- Oppninir of ureters. 20. Cloaca 



1- , *' • ., 10. Heart, 



rudimentary eggs are in the very n stomach. 



first step of egg-formation, and 



their number controls the laying 



capacity of the hen in the finished product at the end of her laying i>eriod. They are the 



supply upon which she draws. They mature one at a time, growing larger and larger, 



and gradually separating from the cluster, and when matured in the ovarium, they detach 



themselves, their weight causing them to fall into a funnel-sha|)ed tul)e. which leads direct 



to the oviduct. In tlie ])assage from the ovarium to the oviduct, the egs travel- an. 



average of 24 inches, and in a well-fed healthy hen. they follow one another very rapi'lly. 



21. Opeuinii- of the oviduct. 



22. Martriii of amis. 



