Nov. 1, 1911 



673 



start that no incubator has yet accomplish- 

 ed.* On page 238, 1910, I stated that the 

 eggs that had a short "send-oflf" of only 

 one a day, under a sitting hen, gave nice 

 bright chickens; and they were almost the 

 only ones that hatched out of 60 eggs in 

 that Simplicity incubator. Now, here is 

 some more proof from that excellent Petalu- 

 ma Weekly Poultry Journal: 



FERTILITY— SITTING HENS AHEAD OF INCUBATORS. 



In looking over the pamphlet from the Oregon 

 farm station 1 find a test was made at the station to 

 determine the relative value of hens and incuba- 

 tors, with the following result: 



The incubators hatched 78.5 per cent of fertile 

 eggs, and the hens hatched y6.-5 per cent of fertile 

 eggs. Eggs incubated artificially tested out 22.7 

 per cent as unfertile, while those incubated by hens 

 tested out 2.8 per cent unfertile. 



I want to call attention to the last sen- 

 tence. With the incubator, nearly 23 per 

 cent were unfertile ; with the sitting hen, 

 not quite 3 per cent; and this Oregon farm 

 station gave this report, as I understand it, 

 as the result of a number of experiments. 

 The incubator threw out over seven times 

 as many eggs as unfertile as the sitting hen 

 did. I have been satisfied of this fact for 

 some time. Now, in that excellent little 

 book, "Poultry Secrets, "by the Farm Jour- 

 nal people, the last secret given was that a 

 lot of chicken-men in a certain locality had 

 been having wonderful success in getting 

 chickens, and good strong ones. They had 

 kept it a secret among themselves; and the 

 secret was in starting all the eggs under sit- 

 ting hens before they were moved into the 

 incubator — exactly the plan friend Smith 

 in his letter maps out. But as soon as I 

 read of their secret, I was puzzled to know 

 how they managed to have sitting hens 

 enough to furnish eggs to fill almost any 

 sort of incubator; and I shall have to con- 

 fess that it never occurred to me, until I 

 read friend Smith's letter, that my incu- 

 bator, as well as the Dixie (on the same 

 principle), was just the machine for that 

 business. Both the machines have circular 

 shelves; and each shelf holds from 13 to 15 

 eggs, according to the size of the egg — ^just 

 enough for a sitting hen. Now, here is my 

 discovery. I do not know whether friend 

 Smith has caught on to it or not. Start up 

 your incubator, and start up a sitting hen 

 at the same time. Give the hen a shelf of 

 eggs — from 13 to 15. After she has given 

 the eggs a start, so the fertile ones can be 

 sorted out, put them on the upper shelf of 

 the incubator, and again give her another 



* A few days ago I was obliged to break up a sit 

 ting hen that had stolen her nest, and she had but 

 three eggs. These eggs were up against her breast 

 —directly against the bare flesh. She had pulled 

 the feathers off or they had dropped off— I do not 

 know which. As it was hot weather they not only 

 felt damp but were greasy and shiny. ( )il from her 

 naked body had become communicated to the egg. 

 Now, no incubator, so far as I know, has ever at- 

 tempted to furnish this animal oil tliat comes from 

 a sitting hen; and is it not possible that this same 

 oil has something to do in causing the germ to start 

 any eggs where they would not have started at all 

 in the incubator? Who can tell? Again, how often 

 do we lift off a sitting hen and find an egg under 

 her wing? Does she not in like manner " hug up " 

 every egg in turn ? 



setting of fresh eggs. When they are found 

 to be fertile, say anywhere from five to sev- 

 en days, as you choose, move the first lot 

 down a shelf and put in the second setting. 

 In this way keep the hen going until she 

 throws up the job or until you get the incu- 

 bator full. Or you can have two hens or 

 more. When the eggs show by the egg- 

 tester that they have a good start, turn them 

 over to the incubator. My experiment that 

 I have mentioned showed there was an ad- 

 vantage in letting the hen have the eggs for 

 even only one day. The book "Poultry 

 Secrets "said they left them with the hen 

 clear up to the 15th or 18th day, then gave 

 them another setting, and let the incubator 

 finish them out. Friend Smith does this 

 to get rid of mites. 



Some people will object to an incubator 

 for hatching a dozen chickens every day or 

 every week; but friend Smith had his 

 "shingle out," "Baby Chicks for Sale." 

 Some of you may object, because a dozen 

 chickens are not enough to keep up the heat 

 in a tireless brooder. I reply, this objection 

 does not apply down in Southern Florida. 

 A dozen day-old chicks can be put in a bas- 

 ket under a feather duster, or they can be 

 managed without a bit of trouble in that 

 warm clime, in ' ' almost any old way. ' ' You 

 can sell a dozen day-old chicks in the spring 

 of the year at almost every house on the 

 street, town or country; and the best way in 

 the world to learn how to handle chickens 

 is to begin with not over a dozen. The ad- 

 dress of the Dixie incubator, if you wish to 

 know more about it, is the Auto Hatch Co., 

 St. Augustine, Fla. 



WHITE INDIAN RUNNER DUCKS, AND SOME- 

 THING ABOUT ADVERTISING ON 

 THE READING-PAGES. 



I am well aware that I have been criticis- 

 ing our poultry-journals rather severely, and 

 may be some of my good friends will think 

 I had better spend more time in looking 

 after our own journal instead of picking 

 flaws in some other branch of rural industry. 

 May be that is true; but here is a matter 

 that I want to submit to all of you. If 

 you say it is all right, then I will beg par- 

 don for meddling, and try to keep still. 

 In the Reliable Poultry Journal for Sep- 

 tember (please notice the journal is "re- 

 liable"), on the first page is a description 

 of the new White Pvunner ducks. The arti- 

 cle was written by a lady — Mrs. Fishel, and 

 on the same page is a picture of "a small 

 part of the hundreds " of her ducks. It is a 

 very nice picture; and the testimony in fa- 

 vor of these ducks is extravagant. They 

 are not only all white, but they run white, 

 without any off color— " not an off color has 

 appeared in over 2000 birds." The eggs are 

 also white, and run white. The ducks are 

 nice for a table fowl; and at the close of the 

 article Mrs. Fishel winds up as follows: 



To ladies who are interested in poultry, whether 

 they live on the farm, on a city lot, or in a suburban 

 home, I can conscientiously recommend this new 

 variety, and even go further and urge them to se- 



