GLKANINOS TN BEE CULTURE 



POULTEY DEPARTMENT 



*■'■ SWAT THE KOOSTER," AND THEREBY SAVE 

 $15,000,000 A YEAR. 



The Department of Aijjriculture lias just 

 .sent out a beautiful i)lacard. At tlie top of 

 the sheet we read : 



" proijuce infertile eggs." 



This placard contains eleven pictures of 

 eggs that have been under a hen or in an 

 incubator for different periods of time. As 

 we cannot give the cuts we give the reading 

 under them. 



No. 1. — Fertile egg after 24 hours at 103 F. ; 

 fertile germ beginning to hatch; not perfect for food. 



No. 2. — Fertile egg after 36 hours at 103 F. ; 

 blood ring formed: not good for food. 



No. 3. — Fertile egg after 48 hours at 103 F. ; 

 l.lood ring not fully developed; unfit for market; will 

 be thrown out by candler. 



No. 4. — Fertile egg after 72 hours at 103 F. ; 

 blood-vessels of embryo chick clearly marked. 



No. 5. — Fertile egg after 7 days at 103 F. ; com- 

 l)are with infertile and fresh egg. 



I.A.. — Infertile egg after 24 hours at 103 P.; no 

 fertile germ; no blood ring; slill good food; it would 

 be still better if kept cool. 



2A. — Infertile egg after 36 hours at 103 F. ; com- 

 pare with fertile egg under the same conditions. 



3A.— Infertile egg after 48 hours at 103 F. ; still 

 good food. 



iX. — Infertile egg after 72 hours at 103 F. ; not 

 an absolutely fresh eg;;, but useful in cookery. 



5A. — Infertile egg after 7 days at 103 F. ; still 

 usable for food. It would be a perfect egg if it had 

 been kept cool. Compare with fresh egg and fertile 

 <>!?§■• 



In the middle of the sheet occurs the 

 following alarnung information; and it cer- 

 tainly ought to be alarming to every farmer 

 and poulh'y-keeper. 



PliRlILE EGGS COST THE PARMER $15,000,000 A YEAR 



Farmers lose $45,000,000 annually from bad 

 methods of producing and handling eggs. One-third 

 ol this loss is preventable, because it is due to the 

 partial hatching of fertile eggs which have been al- 

 lowed to become warm enough to begin to incubate. 



The rooster makes the egg fertile. 



T)'e fertile egg makes the blood ring. 



You can save the $15,000,000 now lost from blood 

 rings by keeping the male bird from your flock after 

 the hatching season is over. 



The rooster does not help the hens to lay. He 

 merely fertilizes the germ of the egg. The fertile 

 germ in hot weather quickly becomes a blood ring, 

 which spoils the egg for food and market. Summer 

 heat has the same effect on fertile eggs as the hen 

 or incubator. 



INFERTILE EGGS WILL NOT BECOME BLOOD RIXG.S. 



After the hatching season cook, sell, or pen your 

 rooster. Your hens not running with a male bird 

 will produce infertile eggs — quality eggs that keep 

 best and market best. 



RULES FOR HANDLINQ EGGS ON THE FARM. 



Heat is the great enemy of eggs, both fertile and 

 infertile. Farmers are urged to follow these simple 

 rules, which cost nothing but time and thought, and 

 will add dollars to the poultry-yard returns: 



1. Keep the nests clean; provide one nest for 

 every four hens. 



2. Gather the eggs twice daily. 



3. Keep the eggs in a cool dry room or cellar. 



4. Market the eggs at least twice a week. 



5. Sell, kill, or confine all male birds as soon as 

 the hatching season is over. 



NOTICE. 



Valuable published information on the raising and 

 care of poultry and eggs, and individual advice on 

 these subjects may be obtained by writing to the 

 Bnicau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



A. D. Melvin, Chief, Bureau of .Vnimal Industry. 



Approved: 



D. F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture. 



In addition to the above, Poultry Life in 

 an article on the subject says a fertile egg 

 will begin to germinate at a temperature of 

 90 degrees. 1 f this is true, an egg that has 

 boen exposed to a temperature of 00 degrees 

 down in Florida, here in Ohio, or anywhere 

 else, for 24 hours, would become a rotten 

 egg if kept long enough at a moderately 

 warm temperature; and this same authority 

 says, also, that an infertile egg may be un- 

 der a sitting hen or in an incubator 21 days 

 or more, and still be tit to eat. 



Perhaps now I might mention something 

 that I should other-wise have been a little 

 backward about telling. Eggs that do not 

 hatch, either under the hen or in an incuba- 

 tor, I boil and feed to the chickens; and I 

 have never yet seen any bad effects from 

 feeding boiled eggs that had been 21 days 

 in an incubator. If the germ was started, 

 of course the chicks will have *' boiled chick- 

 en;" and the way they fight for it I have 

 thought sometimes it might start cannibal- 

 ism. 



Well, in cutting open an infertile egg it 

 looks so much like a good egg boiled that 

 I have several times tasted of the 3'olk, but 

 could find nothing unpleasant about it. In 

 fact, this same poultry journal I have men- 

 tioned says that an infertile egg will stand 

 a temperature of lO.'J for 21 days and still 

 be fit for food. 



Now, the above emphasizes particularly 

 the fact that a hen should never under any 

 circumstances be allowed to sit on eggs all 

 night long. If you wish to get a reputation 

 for good eggs, gather them every day sure, 

 and twice a day is better. If the hen steals 

 her nest, use the eggs in your own home. 

 Second, find some place to store your eggs 

 until they are ready to go to market where 

 it is at least moderately cool. Do not leave 

 them an hour in the sun in a warm room, 

 and certainly not anywhere near a hot stove. 

 If you have no cool cellar, and would like 

 to keep your eggs several days, put them in 

 a pail and hang them in the well, as we used 

 to keep the butter in hot weather in the 

 good old times. 



