THE IMPORTANCE OF STRONG-GERMED EGGS 



WEAK GERMS ARE THE RESULT OF A LACK OF VITALITY IN THE BREEDING STOCK, 

 IN THE EGGS OR IN THE INCUBATION— HEALTHY, VIGOROUS BREEDING STOCK FOR 

 GENERATIONS IS NECESSARY TO PRODUCE STRONG-GERMED EGGS FOR HATCHING- 

 HOW TO CHOOSE BREEDERS— FIVE ESSENTIALS IN MAINTAINING HEALTH AND VIGOR 



P. T. WOODS, M. D 



EVERY year at hatching time we hear the same com- 

 plaints — the same old story. The eggs either run 

 too low in fertility or they do not hatch well, or 

 perhaps they show fair fertility — hatch reasonably well, but 

 the chicks do not make a good live of it. We are asked why 

 is there so large a percentage of infertile eggs? Why is it 

 that more of the fertile eggs do not hatch? Why do fully 

 formed chicks die in the shell? Why do so many chicks die 

 between the third and the tenth days after hatching and so 

 many others when three or more weeks old? Reasons and 

 explanations without number have been given — some reasons 

 that are not reasonable and explanations which do not ex- 

 plain. Yet the real answer is comparatively simple— the 

 breeding stock, the germs in the eggs, the newly-hatched 

 chicks — one, any, or all, are lacking in vitality. 



Vitality, the dictionary tells us, 

 is "vital force," "animation," "the 

 principle of life," "the quality or 

 state of being vital," and to be vital, 

 in brief, means "to be capable of liv- 

 ing." In the egg we have a store- 

 house of wonderful energy in the form 

 of potential vital force, the existing 

 possibility and power to create with- 

 in itself a fully endowed living chick, 

 provided the conditions are reason- 

 ably favorable and the stock back of 

 that egg possessed a sufficient amount 

 of vitality to pass on to the embryo an 

 abundance of vital force or power to 

 live and thrive. 



We must begin somewhere, and- for 

 poultrymen the only possible and logi- 

 cal way to make a beginning is to start 

 with the breeding stock. Every breed- 

 er knows that it takes several gener- 

 ations to fix feather, shape, type or 

 other desired points, andjthat it takes 

 several generations of careful breeding 

 to get rid of certain undesirable qual- 

 ities or faults when breeding to stan- 

 dard. But many breeders forget or 

 fail to apply the same line of reason- 

 ing when seeking to fix vitality, if they 

 do seek it at all, in their flock. Vitality 



or vital force must, like all other desirable qualities, be bred 

 for and fixed by generations of careful breeding, and at the 

 same time lack of vitality must be bred out. It takes time 

 and requires attention, as does everything else that is worth 

 having. On the farm range, where natural conditions alone 

 prevail, where the chicks are all hen hatched, where the 

 stock ranges throughout the year and where only the fittest 

 survive to breed in the normal breeding season, and where 

 also the cock that rules the barnyard has the most progeny, 

 perhaps the rule is proved also by the exceptions. In the 

 average breeding yard or run, however, the rule applies with 

 greatest force. Here we find many breeding birds lacking in 



condition or stamina; such can not be expected to transmit, 

 vitality when their own vital force is only a little more than 

 equal to their own immediate needs. The majority of eggs 

 from such stock are sure to be lacking in vitality or "weak- 

 germed." Begin now and keep at it year after year, to cull 

 out all specimens that are not in the pink of condition. 

 Refuse to breed from any bird that has ever had serious illness 

 no matter if it is otherwise a "good specimen" and appears 

 to have been "cured." There is no known way, with a living 

 dumb animal, to tell just how complete the cure may be 

 and it is the wisest course to take no chances where health 

 and vitality in breeding stock are concerned. Breed only 

 from the best specimens of physical excellence as well as you 

 can judge it, select your breeders for health, vigor, strong 

 perfect shape, perfect condition and freedom from deformities. 



A P. T. WOODS OPEN-FRONT BREEDING HOUSE SLIGHTLY MODIFIED 

 (Tliia house is fully described and plans are published in our book entitled "Poultry Houses 

 and Fixtures.") 



Do this every season and you will have a good start on the 

 right road toward increased vitality but it is not the whole 

 secret, only the beginning. 



Given healthy vigorous stock to start with you have 

 only begun to fight. You must keep them sound, healthy 

 and vigorous by good common-sense care and management. 

 They must be at all times, in so far as may be possible, cap- 

 able of transmitting to their progeny through the eggs a. 

 sufficient supply of vitality, "the principle of life," to render 

 them "capable of living." This is not half so difficult a 

 matter as some pseudo-scientists of the poultry world try to- 

 make us believe. It is the natural tendency of all young- 



