INCUBATION 87 



can, by his methods of conducting the process, greatly 

 influence the development and future well-being of the 

 chick. 



Fertilization of the Egg. In order that eggs shall 

 hatch, the hen that lays them must have been mated 

 with the male. The actual fertilization of the egg 

 probably takes place as the yolk enters the oviduct. 

 In the process of fertilization the germ from the male 

 comes in contact with the germ cell, or blastoderm, and 

 causes it to develop, provided that it is exposed to the 

 right temperature. Hatchable eggs are those that are 

 fertilized and have vitality enough to insure the produc- 

 tion of a living chick. 



Eggs are usually fertile up to and including those laid 

 the ninth day after the hens are separated from the 

 males, and fertilization is impossible after the sexes 

 have been separated for 12 da. or more. Eggs may safely 

 be counted as fertile after the males have been with 

 the hens for 9 da. or more. 



The eggs of all kinds of fowls are more apt to be 

 fertile during the spring and early summer than at any 

 other time. Fertility begins to decline with the com- 

 mencement of molting, and during the fall and winter 

 the production of fertile eggs is at the minimum. The 

 average production occurs in January or soon after. 



NATURAL INCUBATION 



The poultryman very naturally prefers the incubator 

 to the hen for hatching chicks. This preference has 

 brought incubators into general use and so few chicks 

 are hatched by hens as to have made this process nearly 

 a lost art. Yet those who give the most thought to 

 poultry culture know that the best chicks grown are 

 hatched and reared by the mother hen. Chicks hatched 

 and reared artificially do better during the cold weather 

 than chicks hatched and reared naturally. As soon as 

 spring arrives, a brood of chicks with the mother hen 



