Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1918 — INFERTILE EGGS MUCH PREFERRED [ARTICLE]

INFERTILE EGGS MUCH PREFERRED

Loss in Careless Handling Estimated at $45,000,000 Yearly in United States. I ........ DISPOSE OF ALL MALE BIRDS Warm Weather Will Soon Begin to Take Toll Unless Roosters Are Removed From Laying Pens— Not Needed for Eggs. Forty-five million dollars every year is the estimated loss from improper methods of producing and handling eggs, according to specialists of the United gtates department of agriculture. About one-third of tills loss is due to partial hatching of fertile eggs which have been allowed to become warm enough to incubate, and is preventable. Production of infertile eggs is the remedy. ■’ vcT* Male Not Necessary. An infertile egg is one that is laid by a hen that has not been allowed to run with a male bird. In most cases 14 days is long enough to wait for the eggs to become infertile after the male bird is removed from the females. The male bird in the flock has no Influence on the number of eggs the hens lay. He merely fertilizes the germ of the egg, which is not necessary when the egg is to be sent to market or used for table purposes. It is impossible to hatch an infertile egg or to cause a blood ring to form in one. Infertile eggs keep in good condition in temperatures that will cause fertile eggs to rot. After the hatching season, cook, can, sell, or confine all of the male birds. Tiens not running with a male

bird will produce infertile eggs—quality eggs that keep best and market best Fertile Egg Spoils Quickly. A fertile egg is Just the opposite of the infertile in many respects. It is the egg that is produced from hens that are running with male birds, although occasionally there 4 are hens running with'male birds that lay infertile eggs. This is often the case with hens that are confined in yards and runs, and birds that do not have green feed, or those that are overfat. The fertile egg should only be produced during the breeding season. The fertile egg is the one from which the chick is hatched, and that spoils so quickly w’hen subjected to the ordinary methods of handling on the farm and when marketed in the hot summer months.

Coop Hens; Let Chicks Range. It is best to confine the mother hens until the chicks are weaned. The mother hen that is allowed to range unrestricted with her chicks frequently takes her brood through wet grass and as a result some are chilled and die, especially the weaker ones which are likely to be left behind. The loss of young chicks which follows such practice is large and mainly preventable, specialists of the United Stater department of agriculture say.