CHAPTER VI. 



INCUBATION 



INCUBATION is as old as history. The ancient Egyptians knew "how 

 to hatch eggs by using artificial heat and the secret of incubation was 

 handed down from father to son. The general public were ignorant of 

 the laws of incubation and brought all their eggs to men who were 

 professionals in incubation. The secret was guarded very carefully. 

 So long did the Egyptians hatch eggs artificially that the little brown 

 Egyptian hen lost her instinct to set on eggs, and to this day the 

 Egyptian hen is a non-setter. 



The Chinese have also practiced incubation for ages. Their 

 methods are very crude as compared to the modern self-regulating 

 machines. 



They have large, thick-walled ovens in which they build a fire, 

 similar to the old bake oven of our forefathers. When the walls are 

 well heated the fire is taken out and the temperature allowed to cool 

 down to the correct degree. The attendant crawls into the oven 

 through the low, narrow door and places the eggs around the floors of 

 the oven in baskets. They have no thermometers and tell the right 

 temperature by long practice. The caretaker turns the eggs in this 

 large oven, enduring the 103 degrees of heat while he works. When 

 the temperature falls too low the eggs are wrapped up and taken out 

 while another fire is kindled and the heat brought back up to the 

 right point. 



Today we have the modern self-regulating machine that makes it 

 possible for anyone to hatch eggs. The instructions for operating and 

 adjusting the machine come with each incubator, and it is needless to 

 take space for further directions. The best place to run an incubator 

 is in a cellar or basement in which the temperature may be kept very 

 regular. Do not attempt to run the machine in a room that is hot in 

 the day and cool at night.- 



Incubation is simply a mechanical process and the machine that is 

 nicely adjusted and keeps an even temperature and ventilates without a 

 draft will hatch good eggs if the attendant will do his part. 



The first requisite in successful incubation is a good egg. The best 

 incubators made will not succeed in hatching eggs from inferior stock. 

 Too many poultrymen make the mistake of hatching from immature 

 hens. The hens intended for breeders should be selected from the 

 earliest maturing pullets from the first hatches after the molting season. 



Poultrymen are learning by costly experience that "any old egg" 

 will not do for the incubator. -If you have an egg with strong vitality 

 and generations of hens behind that egg that have a superabundance 

 of energy, then more than half of the incubator troubles are over, and 

 I might add that nine-tenths of the brooder troubles are also over. 



The egg should be placed in the machine as soon after laying as 

 possible. The sooner the better. It is possible to hatch chicks from 

 eggs one week, two weeks or three weeks old, but the older the egg the 

 less chance of hatching a strong, sturdy chick. The germ in the egg 



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