He had accepted the fact that his eggs, taken from the warmth of their nests, were not going to produce chicks.

The eggs were always obtained from Ashfords Farm at Milford and never failed to produce chicks.

Female birds exposed to predators during ovulation produce chicks which grow their wings faster than chicks produced by predator-free females.

First, a Federal study this summer showed that 70 percent of eagle nests in the oiled area failed to produce live chicks, either because of contaminated eggs or because of human disruption.

Territories that have produced chicks in the past year are especially prone to takeovers, because nonbreeding loons use chicks as cues to indicate high-quality territories.

Experiments with egg substitution have shown that A-eggs can produce viable chicks which were only 7% lighter at time of fledging.

Two other tame birds on the same farm have already produced chicks which are now living in this barn.

One of the introduced males disappeared a year after introduction but the other successfully mated with the female with the pair producing fledged chicks in 1989 and 1990.

Commercially sold eggs are not fertilized, so the double-yolked egg one buys will never produce chicks, Dr. Austic said.

"After the hen and the rooster are ... er ... married, they will naturally wish to produce chicks."