HATCHABLE EGGS 



GETTING FERTILE EGGS— MERITS OF GREEN FOOD— SELECT THE EGGS— DEFINITE 

 RESULTS FOLLOW DEFINITE CONDITIONS— THE VALUE OF MEAT AND CUT BONE 



A. F. HUNTER 



S THE hatching season approaches we shall do 

 well to consider how to get eggs that will pro- 

 duce strong, vigorous chicks. It is of little 

 advantage to hatch weak, puny chicks. They 

 linger along a week or two, then pine and die; 

 there is no satisfaction in hatching such chicks, 

 and yet, unfortunately, a great many such are 

 hatched. If the knowledge requisite to the 

 hatching of strong, vigorous chicks was more generally taught, 

 and lived up to, the'present chick mortality would be decidely 

 lessened, and our profits very much increased. 



We use the above title, "hatohable eggs," and use it ad- 

 visedly, because thousands and thousands of eggs are put into 

 incubators or under hens which never ought to be used at all; 

 they will not hatch if incubated, or, if they do hatch, the chicks 

 produced will be too weak and puny to live long. The witty 

 "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" was asked when the educa- 

 tion of a child should begin, and replied, "twenty years before 

 the child is born," and we ought to begin to work for the good, 

 hatchable eggs at least a year before the eggs are produced. 

 This, of course, means selecting the birds for our future breed- 

 ing stock while they are still chicks; their strong, sturdy appear- 

 ance at that time plainly indicates strength and vigor of consti- 

 tution which will make them hardy and vigorous birds. 



An excellent illustration of the great benefits of strength 

 and vigor in the breeding stock is seen in a letter from a Tenn- 

 essee poultryman from which we quote: "I give my incuba- 

 tor good attention and use only the best eggs, carefully tested 

 for good, even shells, and I always set two hens at the same time. 

 When I test out the infertile eggs I replace with live eggs from 

 under the hens, so that all the eggs left in the machine are strong- 

 ly fertile, and it is no wonder to me that I hatch nearly all of 

 them. From time to time I compare it precisely, so that when 

 hatching time comes the chicks hatch like popping corn. When 

 I take off a hatch I do not expect a single chick to die, and they 

 rarely ever do. If this sounds to you like bragging let it go at 

 that, but the statement is true, that from the last three hatches 

 I have made not a single chick has died. They have been 

 raised in brooders, in the dead of winter as well as at other sea- 

 sons of the year 



"The suggestion that you make, that I ha^-e to incubate 

 5,000 eggs a month to market 2,000 broilers a month seems to 

 me, in the light of my own experience, simply preposterous. 

 You may be right, but give me such hens as I have, let me se- 

 lect the eggs, run the incubators and superintend the feeding 

 and care of the chicks, and I woiild not give any one ten cents 

 to guarantee me 4,000 broiler chicks from 5,000 eggs. I know 

 I should do better than that here in Tennessee. If this sounds 

 like foolishness to you, it must be because you have operated 

 in the north and raised your chicks in confinement. Mine have 

 large runs on blue grass and white clover from the time they 

 are two weeks old, the year around, and they inherit good con- 

 stitutions from parents raised in like manner, and they just 

 simply don't die." 



There is a moral in that story. What a splendid example 

 of strength and vigor in the breeding stock, grown from chicks 

 that inherited strength and vigor from their parents. Note, 

 too, that the eggs are "only the best eggs, carefully tested for 

 good, even shells." Far too many of us do not "select" the 



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eggs from which the chicks are hatched, to say nothing of "se- 

 lecting" the hens that are to lay the eggs! If however, we are to 

 have generations of strong-constitutioned stock we must work 

 for it as does our Tennessee friend; we must build up the strength 

 and vigor by careful and persistent "selection" for these much 

 desired qualities. 



SELECTING THE BREEDERS 



In the winter is a good time to study the birds from which 

 we wish to select our next season's breeders, picking out those 

 that are most active and vigorous, and that went to laying 

 promptly after getting through the molt. The eggs of hens are 

 of larger average size and the chicks hatched from hens' eggs are 

 (as a rule) larger, stronger and more vigorous, and mature into 

 larger and better birds. Select breeders for their strength and 

 vigor and from birds that did the best laying in their pullet 

 year, then we will have accomplished the one step in the gen- 

 eral upbuilding of the strength and vigor of the whole flock. 



Practical poultrymen of large experience agree that the 

 prime causes of lack of vigor in the chicks are inbreeding; breed- 

 ing from weak and debilitated stock and breeding from imma- 

 ture stock. It is easy to avoid all three of these causes of lack 

 of vigor in the chicks, and if we give our attention early to se- 

 lecting the birds from which we are to raise the following sea- 

 son's chicks we shall start in with a great advantage. 



RAISING THE BREEDING STOCK 



Our future breeding birds should be brought up on free 

 range, where they can get plenty of fresh air and exercise and 

 have plenty of shade when they want it, and should be fed a 

 ration which will produce flesh rather than fat so that they grow 

 strong, muscular, hardy, and have much reserve strength. 

 This stock after being brought into the houses for the winter 

 should have plenty of fresh air and abundant exercise. To at- 

 tain these things the curtained front scratching shed house is 

 desirable and they should be compelled to work and scratch 

 for every kernel of grain they eat. Scratching and searching 

 quickens the circulation and promotes digestion; in other words, 

 it promotes and preserves good health; and such birds, fed a 

 well-balanced ration, and breathing sweet, pure, fresh air, will 

 produce good, sound eggs, eggs with firm yolks and whites of 

 the right constituency and with sound, strong shells, and when 

 put in an incubator or under hens, with the hatching conditions 

 right the chicks will come out "like popping corn." 



Green food in winter is most essential. When running at 

 large in the fields growing pullets eat a very great quantity of 

 grass-blades, etc., and when they are brought into the pens of 

 the poultry houses they must have green food regularly supplied 

 to them, if good health is to be maintained. What this green 

 food is depends upon what supplies we have; it may be any 

 one of several things or it may be of several kinds. Cut clover 

 or alfalfa in the mash are the best articles for this green food 

 supply, and fresh cabbages are a close second. Almost any 

 kind of vegetables or fruits such as turnips, beets, carrots, 

 apples, etc., are good,, and the birds eat them greedily. Not 

 only do these green foods promote the general health of the 

 fowls, but they are economical to feed because they "extend" 

 the ration and thus save the consumption of grain and more 

 costly foods. 



