Chapter XI 



Problems of Incubation and Brooding 



WE have reached the most interesting as well as most 

 difficult and important problem pertaining to the poultry 

 industry, viz., the. development of the chick. Its development 

 in the egg as an embryo and the aftergrowth of the baby chick 

 are at the very foundation of successful poultry culture. If 

 the foundation is successfully laid there is hope that the super- 

 structure will be enduring. There can be but little profit in 

 poultry culture unless large numbers of chicks can be correctly 

 hatched and successfully reared. 



The whole problem goes back to the quality of the egg, 

 and this depends on the character of the foundation stock. 

 This hinges on many factors, such as feeding, breeding, en- 

 vironment, and the personality of the breeder. Many shake 

 their heads and say "There's nothing in it." The trouble is 

 they have not the patience and courage to grapple with its 

 problems. These are not so easy to solve as may appear on 

 the surface. The wisest fail at times. 



Producing the Ideal Egg 



Take the problem of producing a perfect egg for incuba- 

 tion. Does it mean nothing more than shell, albumen, and 

 yolk? It rather means a shell of ideal shape and texture; egg- 

 contents containing the exact nutrients required to develop 

 the embryo; and an ideal germinal vesicle, one that contains 

 all the possibilities of size, shape, color, vigor, and productive- 

 ness required to fulfill the ideal in the breeder's mind. 



It is an easy matter to err in the selection of foundation 

 stock. There may be some taint of disease or disqualification 

 that escapes observation, and years of breeding may be neces- 

 sary to eliminate them. Feeding, environment aiid heredity 

 determine the character of the embryo. Much that has been 

 said in preceding chapters bears on this problem. When the 

 best possible egg has been produced, if it does not receive 

 proper care its virtue is soon lost. 



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