FOR EAKL\ llATCllIiNG, INCLBATOKS ARE DESIRABLE 



Although an incul)ator involves some initial expense, it is always ready when wanted. Breeders 

 cannot afford to take any chances of having their chickens hatch too late, and if they depend 

 on hens, the hens may not be inclined to brcodiness when they are needed. An incubator 

 is always broody. Photograph from the Bureau of Animal Industry. (Fig. 18.) 



will Stop e^^ laying immediately. A 

 hen will not lay an ej^g in cla\' time when 

 her feet get cold and her comb frozen 

 at night. Trees are bad roosting places 

 if pullets are to lay. 



Houses do not need to be expensive; 

 even an old piano box, if tight, makes 

 a good house for a small flock. The 

 houses must be free from drafts, they 

 should have curtain fronts for ventila- 

 tion and the floors must be dry and well 

 covered with litter. When storms come, 

 keep the birds indoors and feed a little 

 more. 



.\G.\IN' — "H.\TCH early" 



All this is of no avail if the dates are 

 wrong. If a jjullet is hatched on 

 June 1, she is timed to begin laying 

 not before November 15, no matter 

 of what breed she may be nor how she 

 may be handled, and the chances are 

 she will not begin before January 1. 

 If she is hatched on May 1 and is a 

 Leghorn, well fed and housed, she will 

 proljal)ly begin to lay between October 

 136 



15 and November 1 and will keep up the 

 good work all winter long. By careful 

 timing of hatching so that pullets come 

 at intervals from March 1 to April 30. 

 the problem of a winter egg supply is 

 on a fair way to solution. 



Before jjroceeding further in the 

 discussion, certain correlated benefits 

 from earh- hatching should be pointed 

 out. The poultry raiser who hatches 

 his chickens early has the advantage in 

 every respect over his neighbor who 

 lets nature take her course; not only do 

 his pullets make good as winter layers, 

 but the young males can be sold as 

 broilers when the broiler inarket is at 

 its best. Furthermore, the early 

 hatched bird makes better growth, is 

 more thrifty and is more resistant to 

 disease than the late-hatched one. If 

 the poult r\nnan raises standard-bred 

 fowls, his best advertising will come 

 from exhibiting at the poultry shows. 

 Here growthincss, vigor and size for 

 age arc essential. These features, of 

 course, are almost out of the question 



