28 The Business Hen. 



Each year the percentage of hatchable eggs has astonishingly increased, 

 and the number of eggs which would have to be thrown out because of 

 not fulfilling the requirements has materially decreased. The result is that 

 the average size and beauty of the egg has materially increased year by 

 year. This principle was strikingly illustrated during my boyhood days on 

 the old farm, where my aunt, who took charge of the hens believed that 

 round eggs would hatch pullets and long eggs slightly wrinkled at the 

 small end would hatch cockerels. For years she would select the round- 

 est eggs for hatching, with the result that year .by year our eggs became 

 rounder and rounder, until they were abnormally so, and it became almost 

 a trade mark of the eggs from my grandfather's farm. Of course the 

 per cent of pullets continued as usual. Wise Mother Nature could not be 

 thwarted so easily. The sex of an egg cannot be determined by its shape 

 or by any other external conditions. 



It is well to select only perfectly shaped eggs, uniform in color, of 

 good texture and firm shell, neither over large nor very small, because they 

 will be more apt to produce chickens that lay similar eggs, which look 

 better, and therefore sell for a higher price, and which also hatch more 

 satisfactorily. Eggs which differ in size get different degrees of heat in 

 the incubators, because the larger the egg the warmer it will become, it 

 being closer the source of heat above. The more uniform eggs are in tex- 

 ture of shell the more uniformly they evaporate moisture. Eggs, like 

 milk, being a direct secretion of the blood, are affected in color, flavor and 

 odor by the foods consumed. 



Keeping eggs weakens their vitality. If they are held at too low a 

 temperature the chilling injures them. If they are kept in too warm a 

 temperature, development begins. Just what temperature is best for hold- 

 ing eggs for hatching is not known. It appears to be between 55 and 65 

 degrees Fahrenheit. Eggs evaporate moisture very rapidly if kept in 

 a very dry room. Therefore they should be kept from a direct draft of 

 air. They should be turned daily in order to prevent the yolks rising 

 to the surface and adhering to the shell, in which case the vitelline mem- 

 brane may become ruptured when the egg is turned. Eggs should prove 

 fertile within three or four days after the male has been introduced to the 

 flock. They should be fertile with the second egg after copulation takes 

 place and may be fertile with the first egg. 



