THE POULTRY YARD. 



225 



Eggs While Hatching. Turn them every day after 

 the second day. Prompted by nature, hens turn their 

 eggs from the outside to the warmer inside of the nest. 

 From the 7th to the 10th day use an egg-tester, and 

 examine each egg before a bright light. If all is well, red 

 streaks or veins will be visible in the fertile eggs 

 on the 7th day. Others show a dai-k mass in the 

 centre ; they have to be rejected. Such eggs are 

 useful when boiled, for feeding chickens. On the 

 19th or 20th day, some of the eggs may be cracked, but 

 may seem no further advanced than the day before. In 

 this case, it may be necessary to remove a small portion of 

 the shell around that part where the beak of the confined 

 chicken has made an opening. This requires the utmost 

 care, and should never be done except as a last resort. 

 Warm water, of blood heat, or, say, lOOdeg., is useful for 

 freeing the chicks sometimes. It may enable a weak chick 

 to free itself out of its shell, when it has not strength to do 

 so by itself. Only too strong help might be given and the 

 life destroyed. 



An Effective Egg-tester. The light (A) of a lamp or a 

 candle answers very well. A cylinder (B) of paper is set 

 around the light., into which a round hole is cut. This 



gives a streak of clear 

 concentrated light, and 

 by holding an egg- 

 testei shield (c) into 

 which the egg (D) is 

 placed in the ray of 

 light, remarkably clear 

 observations can be 

 made. With a little 

 practice the condition 

 of the contents of the 

 egg become visible. 

 After the seventh day of 

 incubation, fertile eggs will be observed to have a dark 

 patch in the centre and a number of red streaks radiating 

 from it, giving it the appearance of a long-legged spider. 

 An unfertile egg, sure to go bad, is distinguished by a dark 



Testing 



