WHEN TO HATCH 



Solomon has said, "There is a time for everything under the 

 sun," so there must be a best time for hatching chickens. 



"When you are in doubt consult nature." If we consult nature 

 she will undoubtedly say the spring is the proper time, the only 

 time for hatching feathered fowl of all kinds- 

 Wild birds only lay their eggs in the springtime, and it is only 

 in the spring that nature gives them the proper food for raising the 

 young. Then, again, other birds, like the domestic fowls and pig- 

 eons, have been for thousands of generations trained to lay eggs 

 the year round and to hatch them when man so desires. 



In Egypt, where the hatching for thousands of years has been 

 done in enormous hatcheries, the hens have lost the natural desire 

 and instinct for incubation, yet even there the hatcheries are only 

 used during the spring months, when nature would hatch. 



The introduction of incubators into America, however, and 

 American progressiveness have, one might say, changed the course 

 of nature, making it almost a question of convenience or expedi- 

 ency when to hatch chickens. 



I have hatched successfully every month in the year in Califor- 

 nia, so I know it can be done, but it is not always expedient to do 

 so, and for the benefit of beginners I will relate some of my ex- 

 periences. 



When first I came to California I was informed by a poultry- 

 man that he never used his incubators later than March, for there 

 was no use in trying to raise late-hatched chickens. Another 

 breeder, who was hatching about eight hundred chickens per year 

 and hatching only with hens, told me that he hatched whenever the 

 hens wanted to set, except during August and September, as he 

 found that chickens hatched during those two months did not ma- 

 ture any quicker, nor lay any sooner than chickens hatched in Oc- 

 tober, and he did not see the use of having to feed and care for 

 chickens for two months extra, and those two months at the hottest 

 time of the year. He was a very successful breeder, winning at the 

 shows whenever he exhibited. His winning pullets were hatched 

 in April, May and June, his cockerels earlier, usually. 



The best brood I ever hatched came out on Thanksgiving day, 

 the last Thursday in November. I found that the eggs as a rule 

 were not as fertile in the fall as in the spring, and after some 

 years of experience I refused to sell eggs for hatching in the fall. 



I remember one time an eastern breeder, who had just arrived, 

 came to me in the fall and wanted to buy several settings of eggs. 

 I told him that I did not care to sell so early in the season, but he 

 argued, "You are running your own incubators, why should vou 

 refuse me?" I explained to him that I could not guarantee the fer- 

 tility of the eggs so early and rather than have customers disap- 

 pointed I made a rule of not selling. I acknowledged that I hatched 

 for myself at that season. He still persisted that nearly all the 

 hens appeared to be through the moult, all were in vigorous health, 



