THE GALLINACEOUS TRIBES 



229 



as uniform as possible. Thus a cellar, an un- 

 used room, or a stable are all sviitable. Where 

 the raising of poultry is done on a large scale 

 special cellars are built. Good ventilation is 

 necessary; the place should never be damp, 

 nor should vegetables in a state of putrefac- 

 tion be kept in it. Nevertheless, do not 

 choose a cellar exposed to drafts, for nothing 

 is more injurious when the eggs are turned 

 over. The temperature should never go 

 below 100° F., nor above 105°. If the tem- 

 perature falls below 100° the eggs will be 

 chilled when turned, and if removed into 

 another room they will be exposed to a 

 current of air. In no case should the incu- 

 bator be placed either near a stove or near 

 an open window. 



When the incubator comes from the deal- 

 ers and is unpacked and fixed according to 

 the directions sent with it, the lamp being 

 fixed and the regulator set up, the next thing 

 to be done is to place it in a perfectly hori- 

 zontal position, and then to study and com- 

 prehend its arrangement and subdivisions. If 

 we open the door that closes the hatching 

 chamber, we see that the interior is separated 

 into two divisions by a horizontal partition, 

 which can be removed in several pieces. In 

 these drawers, as they are called, the eggs are 

 placed, and beneath them 

 is the drying compartment 

 for the chicks. These 

 drawers are movable, and 

 are easily opened when the 

 eggs have to be turned. 

 They do not come close to 

 the door, and through the 

 space thus left the chicks 

 drop easily into the drying 

 place after leaving the 

 shells. 



In constructing the in- 

 cubator the aim has been 

 to put the eggs under the 

 same conditions as obtain 

 under the mother's brooding wings. In the 

 latter case the egg takes the temperature of 

 the hen, and the external air reaches it freely. 



It would have been easy enough, by the help of 

 thick partitions, to keep up a minimum of heat 

 and an even temperature, but in that case the 

 eggs would have been deprived of necessary 



Whiti: Mi;riii.iN Hi.N" 



Incubator with Chicks One Hour Old 



ventilation, which involves the question of life 

 or death to the chicks. The whole secret of 

 incubation is to maintain around well-fertilized 

 eggs an even temperature and a regular circu- 

 lation of sufficient fresh air. For this purpose 

 we find an opening made beneath the drum 

 which incloses the lamp. 

 Through this opening the 

 outside air passes around 

 the lighted lam]3 and enters 

 the incubating compart- 

 ments. 



The ideal temperature 

 for these machines is 100° 

 F. at the beginning of the 

 incubation, rising gradu- 

 ally to 103° F. 



And now what are the 

 principal points to be ob- 

 served while the incubator 

 is performing its functions .' 

 First, the regular renewal 

 of fresh air and the proper quantity of atmos- 

 pheric moisture, and next, the regular turning 

 over of the eggs. Ventilation and moisture 



