59 



SAVING CHICKS FROM DEATH IN THE SHELL. 



Hundreds of people write to know why the chicks die in the shell 

 from the eighteenth to the twenty-first day. We will state that it is 

 usually caused by lack of vitality in the breeding stock; sometimes 

 it is caused by insufficient moisture, which causes excessive evapora- 

 tion of the egg, and it so happens that the chick lacks bulk, and the 

 chick may kick and move around and yet be unable to bring the 

 necessary pressure against the shell to make the first small opening, 

 and when it does, the inner lining of the egg dries on the chick so it 

 is unable to turn sufficiently to break the shell the remainder of the 

 way around. Sometimes we have too much moisture, and the chick 

 becomes so large that it is cramped for room, making it impossible 

 for them to crack the shell. Sometimes a poor incubator, or one 

 which has not been given the proper attention, will cause the tem- 

 perature to vary to such an extent that it will be first hot and then 

 cold and weaken the germ so the chick dies before it is able to free 

 itself from the shell. 



Strangers in a strange land. 



You can save many of the chicks which die in the shell after the 

 time has passed for the eggs to hatch. If you find an egg that shows 

 signs of life or one that has been pipped, and the chick seems unable 

 to free itself from the shell, break the shell where the chick has 

 started to pip, and pull away enough of the shell and membrane or 

 inside lining of the egg until the chick has room enough to straighten 

 out its head and neck. Leave the remaining two-thirds of the shell 

 around the chick and place it back' in the incubator or under the hen, 

 and nine times out of ten the chick will get out of the shell, dry off 

 nicely and live and do as well as many of the others. Sometimes, after 

 removing one end of the shell, if you wrap a dampened woolen cloth 

 around the other, it will cause the chick to sweat and will come out 

 nicely. If the chick is crippled and has been ruined by poor incuba- 

 tion, of course, getting it out of the shell will be of no benefit, but if 

 it is perfectly formed many of them can be saved in this w;iy. 



