25 



Do not set dirty, washed, small or extra large eggs. The shell is porous and 

 disease germs that may be on dirty eggs might infect a number of eggs. Do not 

 turn eggs when your hands are dirty, or immediately after handling lamps or kero- 

 sene. 



The room in which the machine is operated should be clean and well ventilated. 

 If possible select a room that varies but little in temperature; in such a room it is 

 easier to keep the hatching chamber of the machine at an even temperature. Where 

 there is a strong odor of lamp fumes, or where there are decaying vegetables, or 

 where moulds grow upon bits of boards or upon the walls, an incubator will not 

 usually do good work. The lamp burns brighter, the eggs hatch better, and the 

 chicks have more vitality when the air in the incubator room is pure. 



Operating the Machine. 



We have obtained the best average hatches and the best chicks, other things 

 being equal, by operating the machines at 103 degrees F., with the bulb of the 

 thermometer resting on the top of an egg, not at the side of the egg, nor at the 

 bottom. This heat is maintained throughout the hatch. We are particular to set 

 clean eggs, usually not over two days old, which have been held at a temperature 

 between 55 and 75 degrees. The eggs are best put in the machine in the morning; 

 then the gradual heating of the eggs goes steadily on during the day and by night 

 we know that the machine is not too hot or cold. Moisture is used from the start; 

 we are more particular about moisture during the first week of the hatch than at 

 any other period. No ventilation is given until after the ninth day of incubation. 

 Our best hatches in nearly all instances are from machines operated at a -very even 

 heat, with plenty of moisture, and little or no ventilation up to the ninth day. 

 After this period the eggs need plenty of air and the ventilators opened gradually 

 until wide open at hatching time. The hatch appears to be made or lost during the 

 first week of incubation. 



We do not like to let the chicks off the trays or down in -the nursery. If they 

 pant, it is nearly always from a lack of air ; in such cases we open the door slightly 

 or sufficient to keep the chicks comfortable. 



■ 



General Symptoms of What is Commonly Called White Diarrhoea in 



■ Young Chicks. 



When chicks are about twenty-four to ninety-six hours old they resemble each 

 other very much in appearance, with the exception that we have noticed that hen- 

 hatched and chickens hatched in moist incubators were longer in the down, or 

 looked larger and fluffier. The trouble generally begins about the fifth ^ay. Some of 

 the chicks will have a thin white discharge from the vent, the chick is not active, it 

 has a sleepy look ; also the head appears to settle back towards the body ; one thinks 

 the chick was cold or in great pain. Some of the chicks get in the warmest spot 

 under the hover, others have intense thirst. The white discharge from the vent is 

 not always present. The chicks may die in large numbers between the fifth and 

 tenth days, or there may be a gradual dropping off each day until they are six 

 weeks of age. The disease kills some quickly, others linger for a week or more. A 

 few chicks appear to recover, but seldom, if ever, make good birds. They are small, 

 unthrifty, and are good subjects for roup or any other epulemic. 



To "the ordinary observer a post-mortem examination may reveal any or all of 

 the following conditions: The lungs will usually show small white spots in them. 



