130 THE HOME’ POULTRY BOOK 
ten times its bulk of water. It is then poured into 
a crock and the eggs completely submerged. If 
kept in a cool place, the eggs will remain in good 
condition for months. It is necessary, of course, 
that they be fresh at the beginning, and it is better 
to use eggs from hens with which no male birds are 
running. These eggs should not be sold, however, 
for the shells break easily when placed in hot water 
and the eggs often pop when boiled. And apart 
from that fact, the wise amateur makes it a point 
never to sell eggs which he is not sure are less than 
two weeks old, even to his unsuspecting relatives. 
The easiest way to keep track of chicks in order 
to tell at a glance from which pen they came is to 
punch the webs of the feet with punches made for 
this purpose and costing twenty-five cents. Al- 
though some breeders wait until the chicks are a 
month old, it is safer to do the work before the end 
of a week, for then there is little bleeding and con- 
sequently less danger that the chicks will acquire the 
reprehensible habit of picking each other’s feet, as 
happens when they get a taste of blood. In some 
instances the feet of chickens have been picked al- 
most to pieces. 
The punching should be done quickly and the hole 
