8 HOW TO HATCH, BROOD, FEED AND PREVENT 



Light the lamp and run the machine until you have perfect control of the 

 regulator, so that the thermometer will stand at 102 degrees for several 

 hours before placing the eggs in the incubator. If your machine is a hot 

 air machine it doesn't matter so much about its being level, but other con- 

 ditions must be the same as a hot water machine. You should use the 

 best oil you can procure. If you get cheap oil your wicks gum and the 

 burners will clog up and ofttimes an explosion will result. I have lost my 

 entire hatch several times by using poor oil. The lamps would blaze up 

 and my eggs get too hot before I knew it and the chicks would all be 

 dead in the shell. 



Proper Temperature for Successful Incubation 



YOUR thermometer should register 102 degrees for several hours before 

 you place your eggs in the incubator. See that your regulator 

 works perfectly according to the directions that came with your ma- 

 chine. I cannot tell you just how it should be, for there are so many differ- 

 ent kinds, but each machine has instructions which you should go by to 

 the letter in setting up your machine. After placing the eggs in the incu- 

 bator turn your lamp up a little so that it will not take so long to get your 

 eggs to the proper temperature for incubation. When your thermometer 

 registers 102, if it has a tendency to run higher, turn down the blaze of your 

 lamp until it will stay at 102. Keep a steady heat of 102 the first week. If 

 it runs to 103 the last of the first week, no harm results; the second week 

 keep the temperature at 103; the third week keep the temperature at 103 

 and 104. Do not let it run higher than 104 if you can help it. At pipping 

 time keep the temperature at 103 and 104. This is the critical time. Too 

 high a temperature and not enough ventilation is the cause of chicks dying 

 in the shell. Your eggs are at least two degrees hotter at pipping than 

 your thermometer registers because of so much animal heat in the eggs 

 and the exertions the chicks make to free themselves of the shell. This is 

 the reason I advise a temperature of 103 degrees, and not to exceed 104. 

 You will hatch a greater per cent with the temperature at 103 than a 

 higher temperature. As the hatch progresses remove the shells and turn 

 all the eggs with the pipped side up. They will ofttimes smother when the 

 pipped side is against the wire. 



Do not be afraid to open your machine so long as you keep your tem- 

 perature up to 103 and 104. Do not disturb it until the chicks begin to 

 come out of the shell. If you do not remove the shells, they will some- 

 times slip over an egg that is pipped and smother the chick. If your ma- 

 chine has not more than one or two ventilators, go to your machine every 

 half hour and fan the door back and forth two or three times and fill the 



