i883.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



37 



So man}' incubators being in operation at 

 nearly the same time caused ([uite a scarcit}- 

 of eggs, about 3,000 being required. Altliough 

 tliis number is easily obtained at times, the 

 demand was rather sudden at a season when 

 they are not plentiful. The operators were 

 coinjielled to procure eggs from all sources, 

 the consequence being that many of them 

 were unfertile (unimpregnated) and utterly 

 unfit for the purpose. Not one of the above 

 parlies has had any previous experience in 

 constructing or managing an incubator, nor 

 have tliey ever seen incubators in operation 

 except at exhibitions. They engaged in the 

 work for purposes ot experiment, and, as the 

 result has been so satisfactory, other incuba- 

 tors are being conslructed for many other 

 citizens of JIamnionton, so that in a few 

 weeks, with the experience derived from tlie 

 first attempt, the sitting hen is liable to per- 

 petual banishment from that locality. 



The incubator used by these gentlemen is a 

 very simple afl'air. The one operated by Mr. 

 Crowell, capacity 150 eggs, derives its heat 

 from one lamp, the larger ones being heated 

 by two lamps. The outer dimensions show 

 Mr. Crowell's incubator to be about three feet 

 wide and four feet in length, the larger sizes 

 being about four wide and five in length. 

 They can be made, however, of any dimen- 

 sions desired. The lower part is simply a box 

 with no top, the bottom of which is perforated 

 with twelve one-half incli holes, into which 

 are inserted tin pipes for the purpose of ad- 

 mitting air to the eggs. It is called the 

 veutilator-box. Directly over the ventilator- 

 box is the egg-drawer, the bottom of which is 

 covered by strong, coarse muslin, tightly 

 drawn, upon which rests the eggs, whieli are 

 separated into narrow rows by slats, the slats 

 being fastened at the ends by strips on each 

 side. A space of two inches at the front of 

 the incubator drawer allows the slats to be 

 moved backward or forward, which turns the 

 eggs. The egg-drawer has no top, but is 

 covered by the heater, which is again only a 

 box, but the bottom is constructed of zinc, 

 fastened to the wood by a double row of nails 

 On the right side, near the front, an elbow, 

 made of tin, projects from the heater and 

 bends directly over a lamp inclosing the globe. 

 The heated air and gaseous impurities from 

 the lamp pass into this tin tube, and turning 

 at the elbow go into the heater, being there 

 difl'used by being compelled to pass over the 

 zinc to the opposite side, where they pass out 

 through three tin chimneys placed at a dis- 

 tance of one foot from each other. On the 

 left side of the incubator, near the rear, is 

 placed an oil lamp, the heat from which is 

 made to pass over tjie zinc by tin chimneys on 

 the opposite side to the lamp. The small 

 incubator has the lamp at the rear, as only 

 one is required, the chimneys being near the 

 front of the incubator. The incubator is then 

 covered with a larger box, a space of eight 

 inches being allowed all around, whicli is 

 filled with sawdust — bottom, sides, back, front 

 and top. No boards need necessarily cover 

 the sawdust on the top. The chimneys must 

 be high enough to extend above the sawdust 

 on the top of the incubator, and the pipes at 

 the bottom of the ventilator must be left free 

 for admission of air, or rather, must extend 

 below the sawdust. The chimneys begin 



within one inch of the zinc and extend to the 

 top, i)assing through the .sawdust. The inside 

 of the egg-drawer is six inchrs in depth ; the 

 ventilator underneath, eight inches, and the 

 heater, six inches. The front of the egg- 

 drawer, to a distance of eiglit inches, is parti- 

 tioned off and filled with sawdust, tlie result 

 lieing that the incubator, when closed, is 

 completely surrounded with a layer of saw- 

 ditst eight inches thick. Thus we have three 

 boxes — ventilator, drawer and heater— one 

 .above the other and fastened on the sides, the 

 whole making a complete box covered b^' a 

 larger one. 



The eggs are undisturbed for the first three 

 or four days. At the end of that time they 

 are assorted, or tested, by holding them to a 

 strong light, such as the sun, or lamplight in 

 a darkened room. The eggs, if dark objects 

 appear within, are ))robably fertile ; if the 

 eggs are transparent, or clear, they are pro- 

 bably unfertile. To make sure, the operator 

 waits until the eighth or tenth day, when the 

 difterence between the fertile and unfertile 

 eggs will be very matked. When tested the 

 whole of the egg should be darkened except 

 that portion through which the light passes. 

 A tester can be made by using a tube of 

 pasteboard, placing the egg at one end and 

 the eye at the other, and directing the egg- 

 end of the tube toward the light. The eggs 

 are springled once a day after the fourth day 

 (o the tenth, then twice a day to the fifteenth 

 day, and then three or four times daily till the 

 twenty-first. The eggs are turned every four 

 hours during the day, and, if convenient, also 

 during the night. Strong chicks (the only 

 ones worth saving) are left to themselves 

 when coming out, no assistance being needed; 

 but a damp cloth is kept over the eggs when 

 sbout to liatch, and pie-pans of water ,are kept 

 on the bottom of the ventilator-box for fur- 

 nishing moisture. From 80 to 105 degrees is 

 the heat required, the regular temperature to 

 maintain being 103. The eggs are allowed to 

 cool down to 7.^^"' at least once a day. The 

 tubes in the ventilator box do not extend up 

 to the eggs, but the air passes in, absorbs 

 moisture from the water, passes through the 

 muslin bottom ot the drawer, is there heated, 

 and usually remains until it passes out when 

 the drawer is opened. Five gallons of oil are 

 used during the three weeks to each large 

 heater. About two days are required to get 

 the apparatus thoi-oughly heated to the re- 

 quisite temperature ; but this slow generation 

 of heat is balanced by a corresponding reluct- 

 ance in parting with it, which accounts for 

 the even temperature so easily obtained. No 

 regulator of any kind is used. The incubator 

 is merely heated and operated for a few days 

 in order that the handler may become familiar 

 with it, when the eggs are then placed in the 

 drawer. The difliculty is rather too much 

 heat instead of too little. It may injure the 

 eggs to raise the temperature too high, but 

 the danger is less than when the heat is de- 

 ficient. Two of the above incubators for a 

 short time were heated to 110^, but the re- 

 sults were good. 



After the chickens are hatched they receive 

 no food for twenty-four hours. They are then 

 fed on finely-choiiped hard-boiled eggs, the re- 

 fuse ones from testing being good for the pur- 

 pose. In two or three days the food may be 



varied so as to consist of fresh milk, oat meal 

 well moistened with milk, moi.stened corn 

 meal, screenings, and, as they get older, with 

 chopped cabbage, boiled potatoes and such 

 other food as may be relished. Avoid feeding 

 dry meal or bran. They are cared for by an 

 artificial mother, made on the princii>le of the 

 incubator, except that the zinc is at the top 

 instead of the bottom of the heater, the heat 

 passing in and finding an outlet through 

 pil)es at the side instead of tlie top. Above 

 the heater a stream of air passes, is heated in 

 ils passage over the zinc, and comes out in an 

 inch tube into the brooder, wliich is a box 

 with a woolen fringe extending all around it, 

 through which the chicks push and pa.ss in or 

 out. The air thus is pure, and, as the tube 

 extends to the top of the brooder, the warm 

 air is above the chicks, and difl'iises itself all 

 around them. Some operators intend to ex- 

 periment with hot water tanks for this pur- 

 pose. So far Mr. Pressey has not lost a sin- 

 gle chick from any cause except accident, and 

 they are nearly four weeks old. The other 

 oj)erators have not had the care of their 

 chicks but little over a week, and the latest 

 report from Jilr. Crowell was that he had sus- 

 tained no loss. Mr. Packard, however, lost a 

 few, owing to mi.stakes in management. 



Whether incubators are reliable may per- 

 haps be decided by studying the above re- 

 sults. When comparing these with the work 

 of hens there may be cited the case of Mr. 

 Samuel Draper, of Hammouton, who places 

 eg2S under hens, the eggs being procured 

 wherever he could get them, as was doue iu 

 the case of the incubators. Not a chick 

 came out. The chicks hatched in Mr. 

 Pressey's incubator have been compared with 

 others hatched under hens, and the incubator 

 chicks are larger, more vigorous and in every 

 respect superior. This is due to freedom from 

 vermin, regularity in feeding and excellent 

 care. They were all active and strong as 

 soon as dried, not a weak chick appearing 

 among the whole lot of 115, and the unani- 

 mous conclusion is that the chicks hatched in 

 the incubators can be more easily raised than 

 with the use of hens. 



The vitality of eggs has something to do 

 with good hatches. But few people stop to 

 consider what kind of eggs they place under 

 hens, and they are never tested for fertility, 

 the hen being as liable to bring off one chick 

 as a dozen liens will lay at all seasons of the 

 year, but the eggs will not always hatch, 

 whether in an incubator or under a hen. 

 One of the principal cau.ses of a failure is 

 the mating of too many hens with one cock. 

 The eggs may be fertile, but the result of 

 lack of vigor in cither of the parents is that 

 the chick progresses during all the stages of 

 incubation well enough until it is compelled 

 to work ils own way out, when it dies it the 

 shell from weakness. The hens in a yard may 

 be laying, but the cock may have been frosted 

 during cold weather, especially if he has a, 

 large comb and wattles, and many of the eggs 

 from the hens will, through his lack of vigor, 

 be unserviceable for incubation. To get the 

 best results not over seven hens should be 

 in company with one cock. Tlie hens should 

 not be too fat, but must be well fed and well 

 sheltered. Two cocks must under no circum- 

 stances be permitted in company with the 



