EGGS AND INCUBATION. 



1011 



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Fig. 1361.— Egg-taster. 



tards, and fine weather and 

 an attentive mother hasten 

 incubation. Hamburgs will 

 hatch in 20 days, game ban- 

 tams often in 19, turkeys in 

 26 to 29 days; guinea-hens 

 in 25 or 26 days, peafowls 

 in 28 to 30 days, ducks in 28 

 days, geese in 30 days, swans 

 in 35 to 42 days. 



If valuable eggs are 

 cracked, they can oftqn be remedied by placing a piece of gummed 

 paper over the fracture. 



Fig. 1359 represents an egg-protector. An egg can lie within 

 it, and heavy, clumsy breeds cannot crush their eggs. 



Fertility and Egg-Testers. 



One common way to test the fertility of eggs is to hold the egg 



between the shaded 

 eye and a candle, in 

 a dark room, after 

 the egg has been un- 

 der the hen six or 

 seven days. If fer- 

 tile, jt will be dark ; 

 if unfertile; translu- 

 cent. A' practiced 

 eye soon becomes 

 expert and reliable. 

 The appearance of 

 each is illustrated in 

 Fig 1360. 



There are several 

 egg-testers on the 

 market, and among 

 the best is the one 

 shown in Fig. 1361. 

 With this the eggs' fertility can be determined in from 24 to 36 

 hours, thus saving for proper consumption all unfertile eggs. If 

 the number of sterile eggs withdrawn be considerable, they can be 

 boiled and used as chicken food, and the remaining eggs distributed 

 under other hens which commenced to sit at the same time. 



Fig. 1362. 



