METHODS OF HATCHING CHICKENS 289 



tion that incubator chicks hatched earlier in the season, or 

 in the colder months, have greater thrift. Chickens hatched 

 by incubators in January, February and March are more 

 easily reared than those hatched later. It is not assumed 

 that the results secured were the best that may be obtained. 

 It was an incubation experiment. Chicks hatched in differ- 

 ent ways were put under like conditions of brooding, and 

 even though the brooding might not have been the best, 

 the value of the incubation comparison should not thereby 

 be lessened. The following is a summary of the results : 



1. From 879 eggs set, incubators hatched 533 chicks, or 

 60.6%. 



2. From 279 eggs set, hens hatched 219 chicks, or 78.8%. 



3. Eliminating eggs broken in nests, the hen hatched 

 88.2% of eggs set. 



4. The incubators hatched 78.5% of "fertile" eggs, and 

 the hens hatched 96.5%. 



5. Eggs incubated artificially tested 22.7% as infertile, 

 while those incubated by hens tested out 11.8%. 



6. The incubator's showed 16.6% of chicks "dead in the 

 shell," and the hens 2.8%. 



7. Chicks hatched under hens weighed heavier than 

 chicks hatched in incubators. 



8. The mortality of hen-hatched chicks brooded in 

 brooders was 10.8% in four weeks, and of incubator- 

 hatched chicks 33.5%. 



9. The mortality of hen-hatched chicks brooded under 

 hens was 2.2%, and of incubator chicks 49.2%. 



10. In other tests the mortality was 46.5% for incubator 

 chicks brooded by hens and 58.4% brooded in brooders. 



11. Hen-hatched chicks made greater gain in weight 

 than incubator chicks, whether brooded by hens or brooders. 



At the Ontario Agricultural College, experiments gave 

 the following results: "Nine hundred and fifty-eight eggs 



