Twenty-four hours: The germ spot mottled and about the size of a
dime. This egg, if not too dark shelled, can readily be detected
with the candle, the germ spot causing the yolk to appear
considerably darker than the yolk of a fresh egg. Such an egg is
called a heavy egg or a floater.
Forty-eight hours: By this time the opaque white membrane, which
surrounds the germ, has spread well over the top of the yolk, and
the egg is quite dark or heavy before the light. Blood appears at
about this period, but is difficult of detection by the candler,
unless the germ dies and the blood ring sticks to the membrane of
the egg.
Three days: The blood ring is the prominent feature and is as large
as a nickel. The yolk behind the membrane has become watery.
Four days: The body of the chick becomes readily visible, and
prominent radiating blood vessels are seen. The yolk is half covered
with a water containing membrane.
These stages develop as given, occurring at a temperature of 103
degrees. As the temperature is lowered the rate of chick development
is retarded, but at any temperature above 70, this development will
proceed far enough to cause serious injury to the quality of the
eggs.
For commercial use eggs may be grouped in regard to heating as
follows:
(1) No heat shown. Cannot be told at the candle from fresh eggs.
(2) Light floats. First grade that can be separated by candling,
corresponding to about twenty-four hours of incubation. These are
not objectionable to the average housewife.
(3) Heavy floats. This group has no distinction from the former,
except an exaggeration of the same feature. These eggs are
objectionable to the fastidious housewife, because of the appearing
of the white and scummy looking allantois on the yolk.
(4) Blood rings. Eggs in which blood has developed, extending to the
period when the chick becomes visible. (5) Chicks visible to the
candle.
The loss due to heated eggs is enormous; probably greater than that
caused by any other source of loss to the egg trade. The loss varies
with the season of the year, and the climate. In New England heat
loss is to be considered as in the same class as loss from dirties
and checks. In Texas the egg business from the 15th of June until
cool weather in the fall is practically dead. People stop eating
eggs at home and shipping out of the State nets the producer such
small returns by the time the loss is allowed that, at the prices
offered, it hardly pays the farmer to gather the eggs. In the season
of 1901 hatched chickens were commonly found in cases of market
eggs, throughout the trans-Mississippi region, and eggs did well to
net the shippers three cents per dozen.
Damage to eggs by heating and consequent financial loss is
inexcusable. In the first place, market eggs have no business being
fertilized, but whether they are or not they should be kept in a
place sufficiently cool to prevent all germ growth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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