possess the same peculiarity of shape, you can be 

 reasonably sure that they were all laid by the same 

 hen. You can use that hen's eggs for market 

 instead of putting them in the incubator next time 

 (unless you remedy the defect in the bird), and 

 leave room for better ones. 



Among the causes of unfertile and weakly fer- 

 tilized eggs are an insufficient number of cocks for 

 the hens, or, which is just as bad, too many cocks 

 to a yard or colony : old or worn out cocks, ill 

 conditioned or debilitated cocks ; overfat or aged 

 hens ; too close confinement of breeding stock, 

 lack of green food, too much meat, forced egg 

 production by the use of condiments ; low vitality 

 of stock, from neglect to feed properly or protect 

 from the weather, or diseases. 



Stale eggs are almost as bad as unfertile ones. 

 After an egg is eight days old it begins to weaken, 

 both the germ and the sac or tissues which en- 

 velope the yelk. The older the eggs are, the 

 fewer the chicks that hatch, and the weaker are 

 those which do hatch. The percentage of deformed 

 chicks increases with the age of the eggs. 



As the yelk forms no part of the chick, but is 

 absorbed or taken into the chick just before hatch- 

 ing, and is its natural nourishment for the first 

 twenty-four hours after hatching, it is important 

 that the egg should be as fresh as possible when 

 placed in the incubator. If the yelk should be 

 stuck fast to the skin of the egg, the chick must 

 die, although it may break the shell. 



Persons have written to us, saying that they 

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