ARTIFICIAL 

 FERTILITY IN EGGS 



GREEN FOOD NECESSARY TO FERTILITY- 

 VIGOR AND GROWTH OF CHICKS DEPEND 

 UPON VIGOR AND HEALTH OF PARENTS 



C. A. HULBERT 



IN ORDER to understand the requirements of artificial 

 incubation we shall need to first consider the observed 

 facts in relation to the natural process. A late spring 

 obstructs the fertility of the eggs for early hatching un- 

 less a store of vegetable food was put away for winter use. 



Hens that are steady layers 

 are very liable to disappoint 

 the owner in the matter of fer- 

 tile eggs in the spring. It will 

 be found that not one egg 

 in a dozen will hatch. Later, 

 after the same hens have 

 been given a daily run, and 

 have picked the fresh grass, 

 no fault will be found on the 

 ground of fertility. Hens need 

 green food in the spring more 

 than any other creature on the 

 farm. During the season for 

 selling eggs for hatching we 

 hear more or less complaint 

 about rotten eggs. Begin- 

 ners are apt to believe that a 

 rotten egg is an infertile egg and 

 that it must have been old be- 

 fore shipping. On the other 

 hand, a rotten egg is good proof 

 that it was fertile, but the germ 

 not being strong, it soon died 

 after the heat of the hen or the 

 incubator started to develop it. 

 The truth is that eggs do not 

 become rotten when there is no 

 male bird with the layers. 

 They merely dry up. An egg not 

 impregnated will come out from 

 under a hen at the end of three 

 weeks' incubation perfectly 

 clear, while one that is impreg- 

 nated if sat on forty eight hours and then taken out will at the 

 end of three weeks be of bad odor. 



When an egg that has never been in an incubator is broken 

 the albumen adheres closely together and does not run over so 

 large a surface. An infertile egg placed under the heat of 103 

 degrees for one week will in appearance and taste be equal to a 

 fertile one that has been laid away for two weeks. 



Just why some chicks outgrow some others when the con- 

 ditions are apparently the same is a question that is hard to 

 answer. There are, however, several reasons which may be 

 assigned as a cause for this lack of growth in the early days of 

 a chick, the main one being lack of vitality and vigorous consti- 

 tution of the parent bird. 



It may appear to some that if these conditions exist at one 

 stage of the hatching season they would also prevail at others, 

 but that is not necessarily the case. Much of the vigorous 

 growth of a chick or the reverse depends upon the condition of 

 the parent fowl at the time the egg was laid, which is the begin- 

 ning of the chick's growth. In view of this fact attention must 

 be paid to the healthfulness and vigor of the flock from which 

 the eggs are gathered for incubating purposes. 



Then again much depends upon the condition under which 



INCUBATING AND BROODING 



the eggs are incubated. Good sound eggs laid by vigorous 

 stock should when properly incubated bring forth chicks that 

 with correct handling should grow right from the start; but the 

 treatment, feeding and conditions surrounding the chick dur- 

 ing its early life have a great deal to do with its rapid and vig- 

 orous growth. 



We must observe all these facts; employ every agency at 

 our command; see that right conditious exist; use nothing but 

 strong, well developed parents, and if proper care is given the 

 youngsters we will reap the reward of our labor in dollars and 

 cents. 



IS— AN INTERESTING FAMILY 

 The photograph from which the above half-tone was made was taken in Australia. 



CONDITIONING BREEDING STOCK 



SELECT BREEDERS WITH REGARD TO VIG- 

 OR-SUPPLY FOOD AND CONDITIONS RE- 

 QUISITE TO SUCCESS -WINTER FEEDING 



T 



H. A. NOURSE 



\HE problem of conditioning breeding birds is by no means 

 a difficult or intricate one. Any poultryman wor- 

 thy the name selects each season birds of the devel- 

 opment and style that denote vigor and constitution, 

 while selecting the shape required for the variety in hand. It 

 is a fact that birds of standard size and shape are not pro- 

 duced year after year by any but healthy, vigorous stock and 

 the breeder cannot avoid protecting the constitution of his 

 strain when following the course necessary to produce good 

 representatives of his \'ariety. Constitutional vigor is the 

 source of strong procreative power and is built up only by 

 careful breeding for a term of years. 



With this characteristic well established it remains only to 

 maintain good health and normal condition of flesh to produce 



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