Experimental Shipments 



Arrangements''' were made with two New Hampshire producers, a trucker, 

 and a Maryland hatchery for checking and candling eggs at the farm, at 

 the truck terminal, and at the Maryland hatchery. Similar arrangements were 

 also made on air shipments with New Hampshire producers and a Florida 

 hatchery. 



New cases carried eggs with less average breakage than those that 

 had been used. It is difficult to describe the exact condition of a used case 

 or to make accurate comparisons between used and new cases. In one 

 shipment to Florida the breakage was nearly 50 percent higher in used 

 cases than in new. The important factor is not whether they are new but 

 whether they are really sound. There is a tendency to use old cases a little 

 too long. Paper cases have been known to make 40 or more trips, but this 

 is the exception. One shipper replaces about 10 percent of his cases with 

 new ones on each shipment. 



By Air 



A shipment of 18 cases of hatching eggs was made to Jacksonville, 

 Florida, from Concord, N. H., by air in June, 1948. Seven cases were 

 candled at both points and only l/o to 1 percent were cracked or broken. 

 The breakage by rail at the same time was 2% percent. Time by air is 

 about 18-20 hours against three to four days by rail. But the difference in 

 breakage would not pay for the higher charges. Sufficient data on com- 

 parative hatchability were not available to evaluate this factor. 



By Rail 



Forty cases of hatching eggs were shipped by rail to Florida in May, 

 1948. Eight cases were candled before and after shipment. The average 

 breakage was 4.8 percent. The breakage in the different types of cases 

 used was: 



New fiber 7 eggs per case (1.9%) 



Used fiber 10 eggs per case (2.8%) 



Heavy wooden 27 eggs per case (7.5%) 



One lot of new fiber cases went through with less than 1 percent break- 



age. 



By Truck 



Twenty lots of hatching eggs in eight shipments, during a seven months' 

 (April to December) period, were sent from New Hampshire to a Mary- 

 land hatchery. 



These eggs were candled at the farm, at the shipping terminal, and at 

 the Maryland hatchery. Breakage averaged as follows: at farm, six eggs per 

 case; farm to shipping terminals under one egg per case; shipping termi- 

 nal to hatchery, almost eight eggs per case. 



Breakage Tests 



Shipments were made of eggs from two producers from New Hamp- 

 shire to Maryland on the same truck. An average of 6.5 eggs per case were 



*The Poultry Branch, P.M. A., U.S.D.A.. made inspections and obtained data at the Maryland 

 hatchery (also Florida) and cooperated in checking, candling, and obtaining data on the New Hamp- 

 shire end. The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture assisted in grading and candling in New 

 Hampshire. 



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