METHODS OF HATCHING CHICKENS 299 



a greater weight of eggs in a year even though her eggs 

 average much less in weight. The large egg may be normal 

 for one hen and the smaller egg for the other. Other 

 things being equal the one will hatch as well as the other. 

 The size of egg is a matter of breeding or heredity. It is 

 well to use the larger eggs for hatching, because in that 

 way it will be possible in a few years to breed up a strain 

 of fowls that will lay larger eggs. Abnormally large or 

 small eggs should not be used for hatching. Eggs that are 

 not normal in shape should also be discarded. Ill-shaped, 

 rough-shelled, dirty eggs should not be used. 



It is very important to select fresh eggs, the fresher the 

 better. It is possible to keep eggs several weeks and have 

 them hatch, but eggs lose in hatching quality the longer 

 they are kept. They will keep in a cool place better than 

 in a warm place. They should not be kept in a moist, damp 

 room. It is a good plan to turn them once a day and to 

 handle them with clean hands. 



There is great difference in eggs in fertility and hatch- 

 ability. One of the chief causes of infertility in eggs is 

 close confinement of the layers. Experiments have shown 

 that eggs produced by fowls on free range are more fertile 

 and hatch better than those from fowls confined in yards. 

 (West Virginia Bulletin 71.) In these experiments about 

 three times as many eggs tested infertile from the confined 

 fowls as from those having unrestricted range. Whether 

 the increased fertility from the latter was due to possibly 

 greater exercise or to natural foods found on the range, 

 the experiment does not show. So much importance, how- 

 ever, is placed on this point that many of the large 

 hatcheries refuse to use eggs that have not been laid by 

 hens that enjoy free range. 



Testing the Eggs. After six or seven days of incuba- 

 tion, the infertile eggs may be taken out and saved for the 



