BREEDING AND BREEDS 93 



method will provide ample free range and prevent 

 soil contamination. No matter how the fowls are 

 kept there should be extremely careful grading as to 

 vigor and size so as to reduce the contest as much 

 as possible between the physically strong and the 

 physically weak. Where crowding is practiced 

 overfeeding is common. Plenty to eat and little 

 to do is one of the surest and strongest factors for 

 producing infertile eggs and weak chicks. Plenty 

 of deep litter for the fowls to scratch in and whole 

 grain scattered in it to encourage exercise are used ; 

 preventing or reducing the dangers from over- 

 feeding, and, to a certain extent, taking the place 

 of free range and exercise in the open air. 



Numerous experiments have shown that the fer- 

 tility and hatchability of eggs can be injured or 

 lost by wrong methods of keeping eggs for hatch- 

 ing, and it is presumed that chicks hatched from 

 poorly kept eggs have a vitality inferior to those 

 hatched from eggs properly kept. As a general 

 rule, eggs should be kept in a cool place 45 to 55 

 degrees, turned daily and not set when more than 

 a week old. Defective incubation, natural or arti- 

 ficial, is also likely to impair vitality. The artificial 

 methods are probably more often at fault than 

 natural ones ; poor operators may fail with good 

 machines ; good operators may fail with poor ones ; 

 and then, of course, there is the combination of poor 

 machines and poor operators. All three combina- 

 tions will produce poor chicks. Good machines, 

 however, and good operators can be relied upon to 

 produce good results from properly managed eggs 

 laid by vigorous stock. It is essential that chicks 

 be raised in a healthy environment upon the best 

 rations and with free range. They need not be 



