1 70 POULTRY-CRAFT. 



quite evenly clouded, but lightest at the small end ; has the air space at the 

 large end clearly defined, and the line marking the air space remains fixed as 

 the egg is turned before the light. An egg containing a dead germ may show 

 more faintly clouded than a fertile egg, as if less advanced ; or the germ may 

 be discernible, black and unstable not dark red and in a fixed position, as in 

 the live egg. As decomposition proceeds and the egg becomes decidedly 

 rotten, it appears more unevenly clouded, and the line of the air space tends 

 to remain level as the egg is turned before the light. The infertile eggs may 

 be fed to chicks and fowls. 



The novice must expect to make some mistakes in testing. Give the egg 

 the benefit of the doubt ; mark it, and test again a few days later. 



240. Moistening Eggs during incubation is not necessary. In a dry 

 climate, if the heat is intense, or a dry wind is blowing while the eggs are 

 hatching, it may be necessary to dampen the nest and the earth about it to 

 prevent drying of the membrane after the shell is pipped; but sprinkling 

 before the shell is broken can hardly have any effect on the contents of the 

 egg- 



241. Chilled Eggs. If hens are set in covered nests, and the keeper 

 sees that they go back in time and shuts them in, there will be no cold eggs. 

 If eggs do get cold, it is as well to continue incubation, and note results. In 

 the early part of the period their condition can be determined by testing ; later 

 one must wait until the time is up ; then, if chicks are hatched, judge from the 

 chicks themselves whether they are worth keeping. Eggs under hens will 

 stand much more cooling than in an incubator. Many instances have been 

 known of eggs exposed to an almost freezing temperature for some time hatch- 

 ing good strong chicks. Chilling seems to be less injurious during the second 

 week of incubation than earlier or later. 



242. When the Chicks are Hatching it is best to watch them quite 

 closely. Some hens become excited when the chicks begin to " cheep," and in 

 their restlessness crush eggs, so that the chicks cannot turn in the shells. * If 

 possible, such hens should be changed with hens that have been sitting for a 

 shorter period. A few hens, perhaps one in a hundred, will kill chicks as 

 fast as they hatch, and one must be on the lookout for these. Trampling 

 chicks in the nests after hatching, is as often due to weak chicks as to clumsy 

 hens ; but there are some hens not to be trusted, and some that will get along 

 very well if the nests are not too full, but not so well with a full nest. When 

 there are many hens available, it is not hard to so shift them around that the 

 losses of chicks in the nests are kept low. 



243. Helping Chicks Out of the Shell. If chicks are alive, and seem 



* NOTE. Such restlessness is not due to annoyance at being disturbed by the 

 attendant examining the eggs. These restless hens will fuss and crush the eggs though 

 left entirely to themselves, and the same is true of many hens that trample chicks. 



