The Poultry Yard Eggs for Incubation

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 116, 6 August 1927, Page 26

The Poultry Yard Eggs for Incubation

By

GEO. H. AMBLER.

Just now poultry-keepers are saving up eggs for incubation. A few notes on this subject will therefore not be untimely

It behoves every poultry-keeper to collect eggs intended for incubation regularly and frequency. This applies to each and every season. In the winter months one has to guard against the cold and frosty weather, which is sufficient to kill the germs within the eggs. In the summer the hot weather is liable to start incubation and the eggs are apt to be • turned” by broodies. If eggs are not collected frequently in the winter, it is quite usual for the cold or frost to break the shells. . Having collected the eggs they must be carefully stored. One section advocates staring the eggs in an upright position, but I recommend putting all eggs being saved for incubation flat, which seems to me to bo the only natural way. Having closely watched the movements of the yolk and albumen within the egg through an aperture made in the shell, I must say that with the eggs flat there is not the strain on the membranes that is present in the upright position. Hence smaller risk of broken yolks. STORING OF EGGS In the winter months the eggs should be stored in a reasonably warm room, while a colder store place must be selected for summer use. But early in tho season the weather is often so “biting” that: the eggs need to be well covered. At ordinary times they can be placed flat on sawdust in a drawer, but in the very frosty weather one should have a greater depth of material. The eggs should be

turned morning and night as usual. Trouble, such as infertility and weak germs, usually accrues where the eggs are unprotected from the bitter elements, so that one cannot be too careful in collecting and storing. Equal care is also necessary with eggs sent on a journey, and many breeders err in not distinguishing between the seasons of winter and summer. It is wrong to presume that what applies to the former can be adopted for the latter and vice versa. SITTINGS OF EGGS It is not easy to get strongly-fer-tilised eggs early in the season, and more difficult still where the eggs are sent on a journey. Early on hatching eggs must be more carefully packed for transit than later on when the elements are more favourable. Merely to place each egg in its section within the egg-box is but to ask for Rather should there be a good depth of material at the bottom, with the eggs well wrapped up in paper and over them another layer of sawdust or the like with felt * or flannel directly under the lid/ In some patterns of egg-boxes the eggs nestle in strips of felt, and the latter is used as a top covering. These boxes are ideal for the despatch of eggs on long distances. In transit the box of eggs is apt to be placed out in the open on a railway station, if sent by rail, and one can realise the amount of harm done to badly-packed eggs. At any rate it is my contention that poor results with travelled eggs are very often due to faulty packing. AGE OF EGGS Poor hatching results are also due in a great number of cases to the use of stale eggs. I incline to the view that incubation commences from the time that the egg is laid. Therefore the poultry-keeper should set the eggs at the earliest possible moment after they are laid. The best time to put the eggs down for incubation is when they are three days old. I am not going to say that eggs of an older age are useless, but the poultrykeeper who follows my rule of setting eggs three days or so after production will obtain maximum hatching results. This applies not only to the number of chicks out, but also to the vigour of those hatched, although I have kept eggs for two weeks and more and still obtained good results, and I have also had very bad returns with eggs of a week old. AVOID STALE EGGS When being stored the eggs must be turned twice daily—morning and night—and carefully treated as already mentioned. That will lend a helping hand even with stale eggs, preventing the contents from sticking fast to the shell. In a nutshell, then, poultry-keepers who use stale eggs for incubaitlon merely run the risk of inferior hatchings to those from fresh eggs. It often happens that a poultrykjeeper stores his eggs for a long time until he has saved sufficient to fill an incubator. It is far preferable, however, to start the incubator half-full, using fresh eggs, than to run it full, with stale ones. Ducks’ eggs are even more perishable than hen’s eggs, and should always be set when fresh. The, outer shell is very different in construction from that of a hen’s eggs, and I have made a general rule placing the keeping power of ducks’ eggs at up to seven days. WINTER EGGS There are many factors which govern the supply of winter eggs. Some are more important than others; but each has a distinct bearing upon the matter. The way in which the fowls are fed and housed obviously plays an important part. If they are supplied with unsuitable foods, or if they have to sleep in cold and draughty and damp houses, eggs will be conspicuous by their absence. The age of the hens is likewise an important consideration. Old hens rarely pay, and dependence should be placed upon hens in their first or second season, for it is during this time that they produce by far the greatest number of eggs. Still another matter that has an important influence upon the winter yield is the time the pullets are hatched. It is among the general purpose breeds that our most prolific winter layers are to be found, and such birds Should be hatched during the latter part of August or during September. Those brought out later are rarely of much service. The aim should always be to induce the hens to commence to lay round about April. If they start before this they are very likely to cease as soon as the weather becomes cold; whereas, if they are much later than this they are unlikely to begin before June. Obviously it is not among the table breeds that we must look for our best winter layers. Neither is it among the non-sitting varieties. It is among the breeds belonging to the general-purpose class that the most

prolific winter layers are to be found, and this is the type of jien that should be relied upon for winter egg production. Pay reasonable prices for your stock; it always pays in the long Do not send for a sitting of eggs until you have got a broody. See that the broody has a dust bath and drinking water near the nest. Dust the nest with insect powder, also treat the chicks with same when they hatch out. Because you can tell a day-old duckling from a day-old chick do not run away with the idea that you know everything about poultrykeeping. GENERAL NOTES A black ink or crayon drawing more than 3,000 years old may be seen at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London. The subject is a domestic jungle fowl. The drawing is on a limestone flake, and was chipped from the interior of Tut-ankh-amen’s tomb. Although it dates back to about 1,422 8.C., there is no traces of fading. Scientists who have studied the preparation and ornamentation of the tomb consider that it is the first drawing known of the domestic fowl. THE PEKIN DUCK GRAND OLD VARIETY There is decided evidence of a revival of interest in this grand old variety of duck. Several have made their appearance in the show pen and scored against the more modern varieties. The Pekin is well worth consideration, as it is a most prolific egg producer and is really a splendid table duck. The Americans are fully aware of its excellent economic qualities and it is bred in large numbers in the? land of the Stars and Stripes. It originally came from the town of Pekin, from which it takes its name, and was introduced into America and Britain over 50 years ago. It enjoyed great popularity many years ago in the British Isles, and some of the best exhibition stock was bred in Scotland. In that country it was bred mainly for the table, and, in America, long before war days it was kept in large flocks for egg-production. In those days the Pekin could put up a flock average of 150 per bird, which, it must be admitted, was remarkably good. It also laid a large sized egg, two and a-half ounces, being quite an ordinary weight. What the Pekin did in those days it can do to-day. EARLY MATURITY As a table duckling it can beat all comers and it is a much quicker grower than other much-lauded breeds. The present day Aylesbury that is grown for the market contains a very great deal of Pekin blood. This crossing has caused the progeny to mature much more quickly.