34 The Business Hen. 



they show it then, either by drying down too much, or not enough. 

 Therefore there is no need to worry about the air cell ; it will take care of 

 itself, and it cannot be used as a guide for the application of moisture or 

 ventilation ; as it opens up too late to be of any use to the operator. Also, 

 if the chicks are vigorous, they will kick out of the shell with quite a 

 small air space, while weak birds fail to escape from those that are dried 

 down to "regulation." 



It is best to trim and fill the lamps in the morning, and regulate the 

 machine then, for the next 24 hours. Never touch the lamp at night. 

 Turn the eggs early. 



While chicks are usually all out of the shell 24 hours after the first 

 pip is noticed, ducks require 48 hours to finish up in. We say "the hatch 

 is over," and are ready to open and clean up when most of the birds that 

 we see are fully out of the shell and dried off. If partially liberated birds 

 that are sticking to the shell at some point can be found at just the right 

 time — not too soon or too late — they can be saved. Just how much this 

 sort of assistance pays it is difficult to say. The writer helped 22 duck- 

 lings out once, and tied a red string to the leg of each ; and so far as 

 one could keep track' of the gang, they survived and throve with the best of 

 the lot. It seems well therefore to give the little fellows any chance for 

 life that we can, though undoubtedly the best way is to "get the right flop" 

 on managing the incubator and let it do the hatching. 



Just before "opening up" prepare everything for a quick shift — an 

 assistant, pan of hot water, two flannel cloths, and let the temperature 

 run up to 106 or 107. Take out a tray and clean off all but pipped eggs, 

 and help the birds out, placing them on the wet flannel spread on the 

 tray; add to them the same sort of eggs from the other tray. Promptly 

 replace it in the incubator, and the other flannel steaming hot anywhere 

 inside the rig. Get the temperature to 104^4 degrees quickly as possible. 

 A few hours more and the birds will probably all be liberated. If a 

 chipped egg has a live chick in it, you can hear its bill tapping on the shell 

 if you place it to your ear. 



When eggs are shipped from a distance, if duck eggs, they cannot be 

 got into the incubator or under the hen too soon. If hen or turkey eggs, 

 they should be placed in a quiet, cool place till required, but 24 hours is 

 long enough to hold them. 



Though nearly all incubators on the market can be made to produce 

 fair hatches, there is a great difference in the amount of time and care 

 needed to secure them. This is due to the variety of contrivances 

 employed to regulate the heat in the egg chamber. The incubator, there- 

 fore, of most value to the operator, is the one that has the most simply 

 constructed, conservative and accurate regulator. There are machines 

 that will hold the heat steady for nearly a week without the operator's 



