176 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



HATCHING WITH INCUBATOR AND HEN 



Poor Hatches We have been run- 

 ning our incubator since February 

 and our hatches have been quite poor. 

 Our hens are two years old and so 

 are our roosters. The hens are fed 

 regularly, and have a large run with 

 plenty of alfalfa; a clean airy coop. 



The chicks, when hatched, are 

 strong and vigorous. We have some 

 six weeks old and we have not lost 

 one, but when they are hatching 

 many die in their shells. Out of 450 

 eggs 77 tested out not fertile or dead 

 germs, and out of 373 remaining eggs, 

 only 182 hatched. We are hatching 

 White Leghorns. Can you tell us 

 what to do, or what the matter is? 

 We have been following your advice 

 in many things. 



Do you think that slamming of 

 doors or jarring is bad for incubators 

 when hatching? Mrs. M. F. De W. 



Answer I think the fault in your 

 incubator is that it has not sufficient 

 ventilation. An insufficiency of oxy- 

 gen will cause poor hatches such as 

 you describe. With the care you give 

 your fowls and their being two years 

 old, the fault does not lie in the par- 

 ent bird or their eggs, therefore it 

 certaintly comes from a faulty incu- 

 bator. In the future, air the eggs 

 three times a day; fan out the stale 

 air of the incubator each time you air 

 the eggs, and if you find they are dry- 

 ing out too much, sprinkle them, af- 

 ter the first week, twice a week with 

 warm water . Slamming the door or 

 jarring the incubator during incuba- 

 tion is not advisable, but on the day 

 of hatching it would not injure them. 



Infertility Will you kindly tell me 

 what to do to make eggs more fer- 

 tile? I have a fine pen of Colum- 

 bian Wyandottes, eight pullets mated 

 with a cock two years old. They are 

 fed on dry mash of bran, ground bar- 

 ley, corn meal, alfalfa meal and beef 

 scrap with plenty of grit, shell, char- 

 coal and ground bone before them all 

 the time, and are running in a -corral 

 of grass and clover; they have plenty 

 of fresh water and the hens lay well. 

 What chicks I do get are strong and 

 healthy; out of fifteen eggs only two 

 were fertile. 



I have another pen, four hens, two 

 years old, mated with a cockerel one 

 year old. Fed the same in every way; 



their shells are smooth but full of 

 clear spots. What shall I feed to 

 make shells better? Mrs. E. H. G. 

 Answer The usual requirements 

 missing from the food when eggs are 

 infertile are green food and animal 

 food, therefore, I would advise you to 

 feed more green food, more animal 

 food and a great deal less barley and 

 corn meal. Wyandottes are apt to 

 get too fat to have good fertility un- 

 less they have plenty of exercise. 

 From your account, I think neither 

 pen has sufficient exercise and the 

 four old hens require more lime. Mix 

 some fresh quick lime in water to the 

 consistency of pancake batter; let it 

 stand 24 hours, then pour out a cake 

 of it on the ground. It will socn dry, 

 and by crumbling a little of it every 

 day, the hens will pick it up. Add a 

 teaspoonful of baking soda to a quart 

 of their drinking water and keep this 

 before them for a week. By this 

 means I think your egg shells will 

 improve. 



Airing Eggs in Incubator You 

 have stated that you aired your eggs 

 about one hour daily. Would that 

 have a tendency to make your hatch 

 come off late, or did you run the ma- 

 chine higher to offset the cooling? 

 Did you start in from the first week 

 to air that length of time, or was 

 it gradual? If I aired them longer 

 without chilling, could I get them 

 out in time, or does airing make them 

 late? The chicks that come out were 

 very wet; some of them stuck in the 

 shell; the stuff drying down and glue- 

 ing them in. Mrs. N. A. R. 



Answer After the eggs have been 

 in the incubator 48 hours, I com- 

 mence airing them about five min- 

 utes twice a day, gradually increasing 

 the time two minutes each time. By 

 the third week I am airing them 20 

 minutes twice a day, or if the incu- 

 bator is a hot-water machine, I air 

 them three times a day in a room 

 that is not lower than 70 to 75 de- 

 grees, because I do not want to chill 

 the eggs. If they are too much 

 chilled or cooled off, they are apt to 

 be weakly, the hatch retarded, and 

 the chickens have difficulty in coming 

 out of the shell, such as you describe. 

 Evidently you have either cooled the 

 eggs too much or you have run the 



