EGGS AND INCUBATION 



495 



ally the amount of incoming pure air. A thermometer 

 within may be read through the glass front. Incubators 



should stand level, and a popular 

 location in which to operate them 

 is a dry cellar that will maintain 

 a uniform temperature. 



The artificial process of incu- 

 bation in the incubator requires 

 one to look carefully after the 

 following features of importance. 

 These are location, temperature, 

 ventilation, and moisture, and 



from Ohio State University. following disCUSSion of these fact- 



ors is abstracted from writings by Professor F.S. Jacoby,head 

 of the Poultry Department at the Ohio State University.* 



The location of the incubator may have a decided influ- 

 ence upon the number of chicks hatched. Heretofore the 

 usual recommendation has been to locate the incubator in 

 a cellar that maintains a more or less uniform temperature. 

 With the improvement of the mechanical parts of the incu- 

 bator, this reason for location is not so important as it used 

 to be. The important point is pure air. The room, whether 

 a cellar or not, should be so arranged that both the heavy 

 gases near the floor and the light odors near the ceiling have 

 a means of being dispelled. If the air in the room is impure, 

 the air in the incubator will be even more so. The uni- 

 formity of temperature in a cellar is a decided help in the 

 operation of the incubator, but it is better to have a room 

 with a variable temperature, if the air is purer thereby. The 

 most satisfactory results are obtained in a room having a 

 cement or dirt floor, with a temperature of 60 to 70 F. 



Temperature. The normal incubation temperature of 

 hen eggs is 103 F. The position of the thermometer will 



*Artificial Incubation of Chickens, Bulletin 16, Vol. XV, Agricultural Extension 

 Service, Ohio State University. 



