130 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



ten times its bulk of water. It is then poured into 

 a crock and the eggs completely submerged. If 

 kept in a cool place, the eggs will remain in good 

 condition for months. It is necessary, of course, 

 that they be fresh at the beginning, and it is better 

 to use eggs from hens with which no male birds are 

 running. These eggs should not be sold, however, 

 for the shells break easily when placed in hot water 

 and the eggs often pop when boiled. And apart 

 from that fact, the wise amateur makes it a point 

 never to sell eggs which he is not sure are less than 

 two weeks old, even to his unsuspecting relatives. 



The easiest way to keep track of chicks in order 

 to tell at a glance from which pen they came is to 

 punch the webs of the feet with punches made for 

 this purpose and costing twenty-five cents. Al- 

 though some breeders wait until the chicks are a 

 month old, it is safer to do the work before the end 

 of a week, for then there is little bleeding and con- 

 sequently less danger that the chicks will acquire the 

 reprehensible habit of picking each other's feet, as 

 happens when they get a taste of blood. In some 

 instances the feet of chickens have been picked al- 

 most to pieces. 



The punching should be done quickly and the hole 



