388 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



during flock should install trap nests and find out not only which hens 

 are laying but also how many eggs each lays. 



Halpin points out : ' ' Instead of breeding from the best hens, poul- 

 trymen often breed from the poorest. In many farm flocks there are 

 hens that do not lay an egg during the fall or winter. In the spring 

 these hens get out-of-doors and begin to lay. They are not used to 

 the nests in the house and often hide their nests under a brush pile or 

 in some other hiding place where they are not discovered. A hen of 

 this type frequently lays but fifteen or twenty eggs a year. By 'steal- 

 ing' her nest she manages to furnish half of the chicks that are raised. 

 This is equal to saving heifer calves from the poorest cows in the herd. " 



Saving eggs for hatching. — To produce good eggs for hatching, the 

 flock should be liberally fed and encouraged to take plenty of exercise, 

 but should not be forced by a stimulating ration. When an incubator 

 is used, eggs are commonly kept until enough have accumulated to fill 

 the machine. Eggs should be kept only as long as is necessary, for 

 the fresher the egg, the quicker the hatch, and the larger the chick 

 produced. When held in a cool room at a temperature of about 50 de- 

 grees, eggs can be kept from 10 to 14 days without serious injury. It 

 is best to keep the eggs on an egg tray or padded table top and to turn 

 all of them each day. 



A sufficient number of vigorous males should be placed with the fe- 

 males to ensure fertile eggs. With good strong males, from 10 to 15 

 hens of the general purpose breeds and 20 to 30 of the egg breeds may 

 be mated to each male. When the fowls are confined to a small yard, 

 less can be mated than when they have free range. 



When enough eggs have been secured for hatching, the males should 

 be kept separate from the flock, for males are not required for the 

 maximum production of eggs and one of the largest losses in market 

 eggs in spring and summer is caused by the development of the germ in 

 fertile eggs. With infertile eggs this cannot occur. 



Incubation. — Many people hatch the chicks too late in the season. 

 They then seldom reach maturity before cold weather, and hence the 

 pullets produce few if any winter eggs. This also results in stunting 

 the pullets, for it is difficult to grow them well in winter in an ordinary 

 house, and in the spring they have not reached normal size when they 

 begin to lay. If hens are used for hatching, they should be well cared 

 for during the winter so they will want to sit early in the spring. The 

 smaller breeds have so little tendency to sit that usually an incubator 

 must be used to secure early chicks. 



Incubators are easy to operate, if the directions furnished with the 

 machine are carefully followed. It is important to have the machine 

 well regulated before putting in the eggs, to use good oil, and to keep 



