314 NATURAL INCUBATION AND BROODING 



the hen. This will depend largely upon the intelligence and experi- 

 ence of the man caring for the hatch. (2) Artificially brooded 

 chicks need more attention than those brooded by the hen. The 

 hen as a mother is left out of consideration, and the poultryman 

 must use his judgment in supplying conditions which will be the 

 best adapted to the growth and development of the chicks. (3) 

 All things considered, artificially brooded chicks are more liable 

 to disease; or, it might better be said that, owing to the large 

 number handled, they do not get the individual attention which 

 they do in natural brooding, hence the chick with low vitality 

 succumbs to infection much more readily. (4) The percentage 

 of loss is usually greater; but, with more accurate knowledge of 

 brooding requirements and good care, this loss while brooding 

 should be reduced greatly. 



Summary. If one wants early chicks in considerable quantity 

 and has the time for their proper handling and brooding, he should 

 get an incubator. On the other hand, where only a few chicks are 

 wanted, or the poultryman has only limited time to give them, the 

 old hen is the best. 



Artificial methods rarely pay if one has less than fifty hens, 

 except in those cases in which it is desirable to hatch the whole 

 yield of eggs for breeding or broiler purposes. 



On an egg farm for laying breeds exclusively, an incubator is 

 a necessary part of the equipment, much more so than where 

 general utility breeds are raised. 



Broodiness. Natural incubation is dependent upon a normal 

 instinct which fowls possess in greater or less degree, and which 

 is called "broodiness." It is an entirely natural phenomenon, 

 dependent upon the physical instinct of all animals to reproduce 

 their kind, but it has been demonstrated that this instinct gradu- 

 ally diminishes, where the tendency is continually to breed for 

 heavy egg production. The natural period of broodiness follows 

 the laying of a certain number of eggs; this number depends almost 

 wholly upon the hen, and varies greatly. Sometimes hens that 

 have been persistent layers will become broody immediately after 

 laying from six to ten eggs; others will lay from two to four dozen. 

 The egg breeds rarely ever develop this characteristic to any 

 marked degree. It is called a breed characteristic, and is especially 

 marked in the heavy breeds, less so in the lighter ones. 



The natural period of broodiness is in the spring, after the 

 birds have laid their first clutch of eggs. In northern climates 



