ARTIFICIAL INCUBATING AND BROODING 



in the form of a thick glairy fluid, and is prevented from mixing 

 with the yolk by the membrane or sac which surrounded it be- 

 fore it became detached from the cluster. It is also strength- 

 ened by a second and stronger membrane, formed around the 

 first immediately after falling into the funnel, and having what 

 is like two twisted cords of a more dense albuminous character, 

 called by anatomists chalazes which pass quite through the 

 white at the ends, and being, as it were, embedded therein, thus 

 preventing the yolk and germ from rolling about when the egg 



ing duplicated as well as the yolk. Should these yolks be fer- 

 tilized and the egg hatch, we get the occasional four-legged 

 or other chicken monstrosities. 



SOFT-SHELLED EGGS 



A further result of stimulating food is varied from the above 

 when the ova mature in excess of one a day. In place of fall- 

 ing into the passage in pairs, as above, the two drop in sepa- 

 rately but on the same day. This results in soft eggs, not from 



2— OVARY AND OVIDUCT OF A HEN 



is moved, and serving to keep the germ uppermost, so that it 

 may best receive the heat imparted during incubation. 



THE AIR CHAMBER 



It is during the passage of the egg through the lower part 

 of the oviduct that it gets covered with the two skins which 

 are found inside the shell. These, although lying close around 

 the egg, at the thick end become separate, and form what is 

 called the air-bubble or chamber. This, in newly-laid eggs, is 

 a mere speck, and is that portion which shows the result of the 

 evaporation previously referred to. This speck of air space 

 becomes daily larger as the egg gets older, and is frequently 

 equal to one-fourth of the entire egg. This egg-chamber, if 

 perforated with the finest needle will prevent the egg hatching. 



When the egg has advanced more than half-way down the 

 oviduct, it is still destitute of shell, which begins to be formed 

 by a process of secretion, and when about completed the various 

 shades of brown and tinted coloring matter are imparted in 

 those breeds in which colored eggs are peculiar; sometimes in 

 very brown eggs white spots appear, but which can readily be 

 rubbed off. When the shell and coloring are complete the egg 

 continues to advance along the oviduct till the hen goes to the 

 nest and lays it. 



THE RESULTS OF TOO STIMULATING OR EXCESSIVE FOOD 



Eggs are produced from the surplus food, which is that 

 over and above what is required for the sustenance of the hen, 

 and, if such is too stimulating, or given in excessive quantities, 

 the result is that in the former case the ova are produced so 

 rapidly that sometimes two of them drop into the oviduct togeth- 

 er, which results in the eccentricities which frequently puzzle the 

 poultry keeper. These ova travel together along the pas- 

 sage and receive the white separately, but become enveloped 

 in one shell, and when laid are commonly known as a double- 

 yolked egg, but more properly it is a double egg, the white be- 



the want of shell-forming material, but rather because the shells 

 cannot be formed as fast as the mature egg is ready for such 

 covering. 



CROOKED EGGS 



Crooked eggs 

 are no uncommon 

 thing in the poultry 

 yard, and are at- 

 tributable as fol- 

 lows: Twenty-four 

 hours are usually 

 sufficient for the 

 formation of a per- 

 fect shell, but when 

 b y stimulation a 

 second ovum falls 

 close on its prede- 

 cessor, reaching it 

 before laid, the sec- 

 ond egg, which is up 

 to this time soft and 

 is lying against the 

 hard one, becomes 

 covered with a shell, 

 and when laid pre- 

 sents a flat or crook- 

 ed side the result of 

 its position against 

 the hard one. 



3— DEFORMED EGGS 



1— "Marble-sized" tses containinE albumen 

 but no yolk. 



2 — Crooked egg. 



' TvFo eggs with an imperfect shell. 



4 — Double-yolked eggs. 



1 + 



ONE EGG WITHIN AN0THER-"MARBLE-S1ZED" EGGS 



To over-feeding is also attributable the further irregularity 

 of one perfect egg being found within another, and caused by 

 irritation of the oviduct, which contracting in front of the per 



