SOFT EGGS. ^ 59 



which, in different forms, produces chalk, marble, limestone, and the shells of 

 such animals as oysters, etc. The requisite quantity for the. formation of the 

 shell must be obtained in or with the food, otherwise soft eggs result. When un- 

 shelled eggs arise from a deficiency of calcareous matter, the remedy is evident. 

 A quantity of old mortar rubbish, or oyster shells heated to redness and then 

 broken up, readily supply the material required. 



Another cause of soft eggs is the excitement of t^e fowl from being driven 

 about, or being worried in any manner. HeaYy fowls, such as Crevecoeurs or 

 Dorkings, etc., that are not so active as the smaller varieties of poultry, suffer 

 much from being driven, frequently laying soft eggs afterwards. The remedy 

 in this case is simple, being merely rest. 



Inflammation of the oviduct, or egg-passage, is a third cause, and in this case 

 the eggs produced are usually irregular in form, oi very imperfect. When the 

 inflammation is veiy severe the yelks may be expelled, as they are received from 

 the ovary without any white or membrane ; at other times the white may be ex- 

 pelled with the yelks, or the eggs may be imperfectly or Irregularly inclosed in 

 membrane. The treatment of inflammation of the egg-passage is sufficiently sim- 

 ple. The object is to lower the inflammatory action ; and this is best done by 

 the use of a remedy proposed some years since by Tegetmeier, namely, one grain of 

 calomel and one twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic, given in meal. After its 

 administration the hen generally ceases to lay for two or three days, and then 

 resumes in a healthy manner ; but if necessary a second dose may be given. 



loflammatipn of the egg-passage is shown by general feverishness ; the feath- 

 ers (especially those over the back,) are puffed out, and the hen mopes about, 

 and strains to discharge the contents of the passage. This inflammation may 

 be produced by over-stimulating or unwholesome food, such as greaves and- 

 spiced poultry foods ; in these oases the disorder ceases without the use of med- 

 icine, on returning to natural food. 



Protrusion of the lower end of the oviduct not unfrequently' occurs in hens 

 that are laying. It is sometimes caused by a disparity of size between the egg 

 and the passage, and at other times seems connected with a general relaxation 

 of the system. When protrusion occurs, the plan recommended is immediately 

 to check the laying by the mediciiie above mentioned, and pnt the bird on a 

 diet which contains little egg-forming material, such as rice and potatoes ; and 

 after a few days the parts usually regain their natural position. If, however, 

 another egg is formed, it usually happens that the efforts to expel it so much in- 

 crease the mischief that the bird dies. 



Inflammation of the oviduct is not unfrequently the precursor of apoplexy; 

 if a soft egg, as frequently happens, is broken in the passage, the collapsed 

 membrane, from its irregular form, is not readily expelled, and the violent 

 efforts to get rid of it lead to the rupture of a vessel in the brain ; at other 

 times, the canal being closed, additional yelks accumulate above, causing a 

 tumor, which is ev-entually fatal, and which is rapidly enlarged by the continued 

 secretion of the oviduct. ' Tumors of upwards of a pound in weight are sometimes 

 produced in this manner. Should the membrane of a soft egg protrude, the 

 fowl should be caffght and the membrane drawn away with the utmost gen- 

 tleness, or the oviduct itself will be drawn out. 



