PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 501 



Simple Precautions for Securing Firsts. — Almost one-half of 

 the annual hot weather egg loss from low grade and spoiled 

 eggs is traceable to defects in management existing before 

 the eggs are laid and capable of control by the producer. 

 Lamon and Ojiperman' found, during a test carried on in 

 Kansas and lasting from June 17 to August 2G, that by taking 

 the following simple precautions over 97 per cent of the eggs 

 taken to town during that time were graded as firsts: 



1. The males were kept from the laying flock. This may 

 be accomplished by caponizing the young males not needed 

 for breeding purposes, or disposing of them as broilers before 

 they reach breeding age. The birds reserved for breeding 

 should be confined except during the breeding season, at 

 the end of which they should again be confined or disposed of. 



2. The hens were furnished with plenty of roomy clean 

 nests. 



3. The eggs were gathered twice daily. 



4. They were kept in a cellar that was cool, dry and free 

 from odors. 



5. The eggs were taken to market twice a week and care- 

 fully protected from the sun on the way to town. 



6. AH eggs that were small, dirty, misshapen, or found in 

 stolen nests, were kept for home use. 



Home Preservation of Eggs. — Commercially, poultry prod- 

 ucts are preserved most largely by the aid of artificial 

 refrigeration. In the case of eggs, they are also preserved 

 by breaking out of the shell and drying. The dried product 

 is packed in barrels for shipping, but for best results must 

 be kept under refrigeration when held for any length of time. 

 This dried product is soluble and is usually dissolved in water 

 before using. 



For home preservation, the most successful method yet 

 devised seems to be with the aid of water glass (soluble sodium 

 silicate). A 10 per cent solution is made by adding one part 

 of the water glass to nine parts of boiled rain-water that has 

 been cooled. March and April eggs, preferably infertile, 

 give the best results. The solution should be put in an open 



' Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin No. 160. 



