TESTING EGGS FOR INCUBATION 



Success is what we all want to attain in what ever we undertake, 

 and I earnestly hope "that my practical talks on poultry may help 

 others to make a success of it. 



"Success with the Japanese," wrote George Kennan, in one of 

 his interesting articles during the war, "is not a matter of perhaps 

 or somehow or other, nor does it depend upon the grace of a merci- 

 ful God. It is carefully 'pre-arranged' by an intelligent forethought, 

 a perfect system and an attention to details that I have never seen 

 surpassed." 



Success in the poultry yard can be attained or "pre-arranged" in 

 exactly the same manner. Failure in the chicken business (as in 

 warfare) is due to lack of forethought, lack of system, and care- 

 lessness with regard to details. Forethought is the studying up and 

 thinking how to do a thing, thinking out beforehand the best way 

 of doing it and arranging for it. 



The experiences of others by teaching us may save us not only 

 dollars and cents, but chagrin and disappointment. I spend a good 

 deal of my time in visiting the ranches of some of my correspond- 

 ents, either to help them out of difficulties, or to mate up their pens 

 for them, or to start up their incubators, or to overhaul their brood- 

 ers or plan their henneries, and in this way I become acquainted 

 with the needs and difficulties of a number of amateurs or beginners 

 in the poultry business. Some of the troubles of others may teach 

 us what "not to do." 



"I wish you could tell me what is the matter," wrote one. "I 

 had good luck last year, but only half the fertile eggs hatched last 

 time." 



I answered by spending a day at her ranch. "What is the mat- 

 ter with your hatches?" said I, "and on what day did they come 

 out?" 



"The first hatch this season came out on the twenty-second day," 

 was her reply, "and as it was a day too late, I decided to run the 

 machine half a degree higher than the directions order, and I 

 suppose I got it too hot." 



"Did you have any crippled chickens in the hatch?" 



"Yes, in the last hatch there were a number of nice big chicks 

 that could not stand up. Their legs sprawled out and I had to kill 

 them." 



The Incubator 



Cripples usually come from over-heating the incubator, or from 

 irregularity of heat. Poor or insufficient ventilation will also cause 

 cripples. 



Now, what was the reason for these failures and what can others 

 learn from them? After a careful examination of the incubator, 

 which was a good one of the most approved make, I decided first 

 that the incubator did not stand perfectly level ; secondly, that the 

 thermometer was at fault. When the incubator is in the least de- 

 gree out of level, the heat will go to the highest side, leaving the 



