438 AGRICULTURE 



Success with the incubator depends much more on the 

 operator than the machine. For unless the temperature and 

 ventilation are kept right, the eggs properly turned, and 

 other necessary conditions met, the hatch is sure to fail. 

 The directions supplied with the machine must be faith- 

 fully followed, else one need not hope for success. 



Testing for infertile eggs. About the sixth day after 

 setting the eggs should be tested and the infertile ones re- 

 moved. The testing may be done by placing a small lamp 

 or a lantern in a box through one side of which just oppo- 

 side the light a hole has been cut somewhat smaller than 

 an egg. The testing should be done in the dark, preferably 

 at night. The egg is held against the opening in front of 

 the light. As the light shines through, the infertile eggs 

 will appear clear, while the fertile egg will show a network 

 of threads leading out from a center, and floating about 

 as the egg is turned. If a number of hens were set at the 

 same time, and many infertile eggs are found, one hen 

 may be released, or given a new supply, and the fertile 

 eggs distributed among the others. 



Care of newly hatched chicks. The chicks first 

 hatched from a setting should be removed from the nest 

 in about twenty-four hours. If they are not, they will begin 

 to leave the nest themselves, and the hen is likely to desert 

 the nest before all the eggs are hatched. The chicks must 

 be kept warm and comfortable until the mother is ready for 

 them. 



When the hatching is done in an incubator, the chicks 

 are left for twenty-four hours after hatching and then re- 

 moved to the brooder, which must be at a temperature of 

 from ninety to ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit. By the time 

 the chicks are a month old the brooder may be brought 

 gradually down to seventy degrees. 



