HATCHING WITH INCUBATOR AND HEN 



197 



tion about m.y hatching eggs in an in- 

 cubator. I bought a new incubator this 

 spring. I have set it twice and had the 

 same results both times. The chicks 

 form fully and then most of them die in 

 the shell. As the same eggs do fine 

 when put under a heri, I think it must 

 be that I make some mistake in my 

 treatment of the incubator. I have, as 

 nearly as possible, followed the instruc- 

 tions that came with it. If you can give 

 me any assistance, it will be appreciated 

 very much. Mrs. W. D. W. 



Answer Your incubator is a good 

 one. Its fault, for they all have some 

 little fault, is that the ventilation is in- 

 sufficient. Take the eggs out and air 

 them after the first week three times a 

 day. This will counteract the lack of 

 ventilation. This cooling and then heat- 

 ing up again of the eggs makes the shell 

 more brittle, so that the chick is able to 

 break its way out much more easily. 

 Another thing I found in using that in- 

 cubator is that by taking the middle 

 eggs out of the row, one in each hand, 

 and putting them at the end of the row, 

 and then pushing the others along into 

 the vacant places, I got a ten per cent 

 better hatch. I got the idea from Egypt. 

 Of course, you must be sure the machine 

 stands level and that the thermometer 

 is correct. 



TROUBLE WITH INCUBATOR I want to 

 ask your advice about our incubator. 

 We bought it new in January. Out of 

 200 fertile eggs we got 75 chickens, and 

 all but nine died before they were 10 

 days old. We thought it was the fault 

 of the brooder. There were many crip- 

 ples among them, but they all died of 

 bowel trouble. On April 30th we 

 hatched 117 out of 150 fertile eggs, and 

 gave the chicks to old hens, as we had 

 laid our previous trouble to the brooder. 

 But now the last are going the same 

 way. Chicks hatched under hens at the 

 same time are healthy and strong. We 

 have only lost one so far. We feed pre- 

 pared chick feed and take the best of 

 care of the chicks. The incubator runs 

 perfectly, always 103, until the chicks 

 begin to work out of the shell, when it 

 runs up to 104 and 105. We have set 

 the incubator again. It will hatch May 

 29th. We do not intend to give up. 

 W. S. R. 



Answer The trouble is in the incu- 

 bation. At some time or other the heat 

 has been too great. This is shown by 

 there being cripples, I know it, because 



I have had the same experience several 

 times myself. Once a hat was thrown on 

 the machine ; just touched the regu- 

 lator; was only on for half a day. An- 

 other time a newspaper did the same 

 thing. My big cat slept on the incu- 

 bator another night and lost me the 

 hatch. Each of the times I worked with 

 the little chicks, giving them everything 

 I could think of, but without saving 

 them. Now, I think there is a possi- 

 bility that your incubator does not stand 

 level and that, therefore, one side or 

 corner of the machine is a very little 

 higher than the other. That side or cor- 

 ner would be hotter than the other side 

 without affecting the thermometer and 

 would cause all or most of the trouble. 

 Again, are you sure the thermometer is 

 correct? Borrow the doctor's clinical 

 thermometer. This is what I did, and 

 put them both into a bucket containing 

 about two quarts of water at 103 de- 

 grees and compared the two. You do 

 not mention if the hatch came out on 

 time. I feel sure that the eggs have 

 been overheated, or part of them have, 

 and in this way the bowels of the chick- 

 ens have been weakened, the yolk of the 

 egg has not been digested, and they 

 have dwindled and died, or bowel trou- 

 ble has come on from the undigested 

 yolk putrifying inside of them. I have 

 made so many post morterrrexaminations 

 that I^feel sure of what I am telling you. 

 Examine your incubator with a spirit 

 level to see that it is level. Test your 

 thermometer and then try again, at 

 the same time setting one or two hens, 

 and as incubation proceeds examine the 

 eggs, comparing them. I think you will 

 find that the eggs under the hen dry 

 out quicker than those in the incubator. 

 However, if this is not the case, if your 

 incubator eggs dry out too quickly (the 

 air space being larger than that under 

 the hens), you will have to regulate this 

 by the ventilators of the incubator. Keep 

 them closed. As yours is a hot-air in- 

 cubator, there is no need of fanning out 

 the stale air. The fault, if any, with your 

 incubator is too rapid a circulation of 

 air, thereby drying the eggs out too 

 soon. I think you had better run it 

 half a degree cooler than you have been 

 doing. I say this because the cripples 

 and bowel troubles denote too high a 

 temperature. I hope these hints may 

 help you. Let me hear from you again 

 if you have any more trouble. 



NATURAL INCUBATION I am a reader 

 of your articles and get much good from 



