INCUBATORS AND BROODERS. 1149 



III. When Chicks Bring Money. 



*' The early bird catches the worm." The early hatched chick brings 

 the money. You can hatch eggs in the incubator as soon as the hen can 

 bo made to lay. You cannot hatch eggs by the natural process in cold 

 weather unless you have special facilities for so doing. By means of 

 the incubator and brooder, you can get little broilers into market by the 

 time it is s.ife to set a hen out of doors. To raise broilers by means of 

 the incubator and brooder requires comparatively little room. Villagers 

 can do this even if they keep no hens, by contracting for eggs from such 

 i^armers' wives as raise good poultry. 



As fast as one clutch is hatched you can put another lot into the incu- 

 bator You can hatch the eggs of any birds, including those of turkeys, 

 ducks and geese. The time required for hatching the eggs of the various 

 species of barnyard fowls will be found on page 1164. The money, how- 

 ever, is in chickens. 



IV. Keep up with the Times, 



What you want to do to be successful, is to study your incubatoi- and 

 brooder until you are sure you understand the working perfectly. Prac- 

 tice with it without eggs until you are sure as to the regulation of the 

 temperature. Among other things, you must know how much water to 

 use, and the colder the weather, the more hot water. Water nmst be 

 kept in the ventilator. It must be fresh when put in, and be changed 

 every day. 



You must have a correct thermometer, and learn to use it. The heat 

 should be as near 103 degrees Fahrenheit as possible until the last three 

 days, then, not over 102 degrees. The extremes of temperature are 

 between 95 and 105 degrees. A temperature of 108 degrees for a short 

 time will not kill the life of the egg, nevertheless it should never be 

 allowed to get so high. 



Keep the incubator where there are no odors, and when the chickens 

 are hatched, let them remain in the incubator until they are dry before 

 removing them to the brooder. The heat of the brooder should never go 

 below 90 degrees. 



V. Care While in the Brooder. 



The brooder must have sufficient heat and plenty of fresh air, and the 

 air must be warm. There are several good brooders as well as incuba- 

 tors for sale in the market. We illustrate an incubator — by a series of 

 cuts — simple in its construction, perfect in its working, and that with the 

 aid of the carpenter and tinman, can be made on the farm. Also a 

 brooder. 



