The Cornell Reading- Courses 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

 NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



Entered as second-class matter at the post oflSce at Ithaca, New York 



B. T. Galloway, Director A. R. Mann, General Editor 



COURSE FOR THE FARM, ROYAL GILKEY, Supervisor 



JANUARY 15. 1915 /o2Ta^d^'Sd 



INCUBATION 



F. T. FixchI 



The essentials for successful incubation are: (i) eggs possessing strong 

 hatching qualities, (2) a good hatching device, (3) correct methods of oper- 

 ation, (4) a favorable environment. The absence of one or more of these 

 factors means that a lower percentage of the eggs will be hatched than 

 should be, and that the chickens hatched will be weak. 



In order to secure the quality of eggs desired for hatching purposes, 

 there must be strong, active breeding-stock that is skillfully housed, yarded, 

 and fed ; and the eggs must be properly handled and selected before incuba- 

 tion. It is the purpose of this lesson to discuss how the other three essen- 

 tials of successful incubation may be secured. 



NATURAL INCUBATION 



In most respects a hen is still superior to an artificial incubator as far as 

 methods and results are concerned. However, there is as much opportun- 

 ity for choice between the different breeds of hens for incubation purposes, 

 and between different hens of the same breed, as between the difterent 

 types of incubators. 



If the natural method of hatching chickens is to be employed, it will be 

 well to choose sitters from the general-purpose breeds, such as the plymouth 

 rock, the wyandotte, the Rhode Island red, the orpington, and others 

 of this type. Sitters from the breeds of the type most suitable for use as 

 meat, such as the cochin, the brahma, and the like, are usually faithful 

 but clumsy. Hens from the breeds of the type most valuable for egg pro- 

 duction, or the so-called non-sitting breeds, such as the leghorn, the ham- 

 burg, and the like, are too small, usually Hght, and untrustworthy. In 

 selecting hens for brooding purposes, it is well to choose those that are the 

 least excitable when approached. A nervous hen is likely to break some of 

 the eggs in the nest or to step on the Httle chicks. 



» Revised by H. P. Buchan. 



[1839] 



