6o 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY 



be found, on killing and dissection, for a 

 period of five to ten days. This matter is fully 

 explained in older that the entire independence 

 of the chicken upon any food for at least 

 twenty-four hours, or even more, should be 

 quite evident. It also accounts for the small 

 amount eaten during the first week of a chicken's 

 life. 



We may now pass to practical points, and 

 first amongst these is the securing and keeping 

 of eggs for sitting in good condition. They 

 should be collected at least once 

 Storing every day, lest they be partially 



llggs. incubated by the laying hens, and 



twice a day is better ; indeed, in 

 very cold weather, unless the house is sheltered, 

 it is desirable to get them in out of the frost 

 even oftener than that, since a few hours of 

 frost may kill the germ. The nests must be 

 kept clean, with fresh, well-broken straw re- 

 newed as required, and it is important that 

 every nest should have a nest-egg from the first, 

 to teach the hens to lay there. Nest-eggs of 

 unglazed white pottery are very serviceable. 



Eggs are best stored in a cool but not very 

 cold place — about 50° to 60° is best — and with 

 the large end down. We gave this advice as far 

 back as 1872, after considerable testing of it to 

 that time : all our subsequent experience has 

 corroborated its soundness. There is a distinct 

 percentage of better result every way when eggs 

 are stored in this position, if the other circum- 

 stances are equal. The air-chamber is less ex- 

 panded when so stored, and even for eating, 

 after some weeks there is perceptible difference 

 in the " freshness " of eggs thus kept. Eggs may 

 be stored in this position either in bran or in a 

 board pierced with holes ; and if the board, or 

 the bran-case, be covered over by a piece of 

 blanket or sacking made to fit, and a cool 

 and quiet place is available, the very best will 

 be done for the eggs. The covering over is not 

 to keep them warm, but to prevent draught, 

 which increases evaporation of the fluid con- 

 tents, and enlarges the air-chamber : this pro- 

 cess we want to retard as much as possible. If 

 eggs are kept on their sides they should be 

 turned every day or two ; and we remember 

 seeing the announcement of an appliance maker 

 that if eggs were turned daily, they would 

 hatch after six or even twelve months, a state- 

 ment not, however, borne out by experiments. 



It is often desired to preserve summer eggs 

 for winter use, and there are several methods of 

 doing so. Some housekeepers smear them all 

 over with butter; others bed them in dry salt, 

 or even in bran, which answers fairly for three 

 months. .Strong brine will keep them longer. 



but hardens the whites and imparts to them a 

 saltish taste ; and a much better liquid medium 

 is prepared with two gallons of water to a 

 pound and a half of quicklime, ten ounces 

 of salt, and two ounces of cream of tartar. 

 Bedded in this liquid, eggs will 

 Preserving ].;eep fairly good for nearly a year. 

 A more recent method, adopted by 

 several large firms, consists of exhausting the 

 air space within the &^% and then hermetically 

 sealing the pores of the shell with hot paraffin 

 wax ; this, however, entails special plant. 



By far the best method, however, for the 

 average poultry-keeper is to place the eggs, as 

 soon as laid, in a solution of water-glass (sili- 

 cate of soda), which is now largely sold by 

 chemists for the purpose. It is a greyish-white 

 liquid about as thick as treacle. One pound of 

 it should be mixed with about a gallon of water 

 boiled to expel air (measured after the boil- 

 ing) ; if the eggs float in this a little more water 

 should be added. This liquid should be kept 

 in glazed earthenware jars, not metal, stored in 

 a cool place, and, provided that genuine fresh 

 eggs are put in, the jars carefully fastened 

 to prevent evaporation, and that the eggs are 

 covered by the water-glass, they will eat like 

 new-laid for several months after, and keep 

 exceedingly well for eighteen months. After 

 six months they crack when boiled, but if the 

 shell be pricked before cooking, even this can 

 be obviated. So perfect is the preservation that 

 hatching of eggs six months old, after dissolv- 

 ing the silicate entirely off the shells, has been 

 reported in the British Medical J oiirnal. 



Whatever process be used, it is important to 

 store or treat the eggs the same day as laid, if 

 they are fertile eggs. But there is no doubt 

 at all, and it has been proved by many experi- 

 ments, that sterile eggs, laid by hens without 

 a mate, keep considerably better than fertile 

 ones. Whether hens lay as well without a mate 

 as with one is a point that has occasioned much 

 discussion. The one point that does emerge 

 from it is that there can be very little difference, 

 since both propositions have much testimony. 

 In a small pen we think hens are more contented 

 with a mate, and we have many times had, as 

 we think, proof that mating up affected some- 

 what the date of laying. But in larger runs, 

 with flocks of laying hens, these points would 

 not be very noticeable, and there is no doubt 

 whatever as to the superior keeping qualities of 

 sterile eggs. 



Hens not infrequently acquire the pernicious 

 habit of eating their eggs, sometimes perhaps 

 from accidental breakages. Often such a habit 

 may be cured by filling carefully emptied egg- 



