65 



during the period of incubation. Egg testers can be purchased 

 at a low price from the manufacturers of incubators or at poul- 

 try supply stores. Eggs must be tested in a dark room or at 

 night. The first test should be made at the expiration of seven 

 days. If the egg, when looked at in the tester, is clear, it is in- 

 fertile and should be removed from the nest. If the egg, when 

 looked at, is cloudy or dark, with a well defined air space at the 

 big end, incubation has begun. The water test, described in 

 the next section, should be made on the nineteenth day, and 

 eggs with dead germs in them taken out. 



THE WATER TEST. 



Where a sitting hen does not have a chance to get out 

 doors, her owner should supply moisture to make good the loss 

 to the eggs by evaporation. Eggs should be sprinkled on the 

 seventh and on the fourteenth day. Remove the hen from the 

 nest and with a whisk broom sprinkle the eggs thoroughly with 

 water of a temperature of 95 degrees. On the nineteenth day 

 the eggs should be given a bath. Fill a 'pail with water of the 

 temperature of 95 degrees, and after it has become still drop 

 the eggs in it one by one, letting them remain from one to 

 three minutes. If there is a lively chick in the egg in a minute 

 or two it will begin to bob up and down as a float does on the 

 water when a fish is nibbling at the bait below. Take the egg 

 out and put it back in the nest, wiping it with a towel if it' is 

 winter, but letting the surplus water remain if it is summer. 

 In case an egg does not show any movement after being in 

 the water three minutes if it does not "jump'' you might as 

 well throw it away, as it will not incubate. Chicks from 

 eggs treated in this way come out strong and clean and make a 

 surprising growth. 



