HOW TO GET EGGS 107 
has in its body several thousand ova (ova are very tiny unripe 
yolks, which will grow into eggs by and by). Thus equipped, the 
pullet presents herself to the poultry-keeper as if saying: ‘Here 
I am, kind master, with 2000 eggs in my cupboard. Treat me well 
and give me the proper food and I will develop and produce those 
eggs. If the food you give me does not help me in that direction 
I shall devour the majority of my unripe yolks, for I shall be 
compelled to draw from the reserve that Nature has provided me 
with.’ ” 
No one, I take it, will swear to the exact number of ova in the 
body of a pullet, but there is little doubt that the numbers are 
greater than any hen is destined to convert into eggs. 
The great point to be considered is this: ‘“‘How many of these 
ova—or potential eggs—can we assist the hen into making into 
‘new-laid’?”’ Because there is no doubt the poultryman can 
co-operate with the hen in egg-production. The eggs are there ; 
it is his business to see that they are well and truly laid. The part 
played by the farmer is to get the hen into that condition which is 
most favourable to production. The bird will do her part if only 
we do our part. 
Tur WaTER SUPPLY 
Next only in importance to food for egg-yield is the supply 
of water; indeed one cannot consider water less important, for 
without it there would be no egg and no fowl. But few house- 
holders, and only a few farmers, realise the immense importance of 
a copious and continuous supply of fresh water. The hen that has 
to wait to drink has to wait to lay, for it is certain that eggs cannot 
be produced without a sufficient amount of water. If the hen has 
to wait a long time the potential egg will probably vanish, and 
where two eggs would have been laid with ample supplies of fluid 
only one will materialise. 
Only those who have had to carry water to large flocks of laying 
hens can realise the immense quantities of water they consume. 
There is nothing rouses my wrath more than to see the drinking © 
vessels empty. I would a hundred times rather see the food cut 
