PRACTICAL INCUBATOR HOUSES 



81 



a shingled roof. The door is in the north end. There 

 are two windows in each side. The south end of the 

 building is built solid, with the exception of the small 

 ventilator in the end near the peak, as seen in the north 

 end above the door and just below the peak. The house 

 was painted red and trimmed in white, giving it a neat 

 appearance. 



"To construct an incubator house like the one illus- 

 trated in Fig. 158, the following bill of lumber is required: 



3 pieces 4x4-inch, 20 feet long:, for sills. 



2 pieces, 2x4-inch, 20 feet long for plates. 

 11 pieces 2x4-inch, 16 feet long for floor joists. 

 30 pieces 2x4-inch, 9 feet long for studding. 

 11 pieces 2x4-inch, 16 feet long for ceiling joists. 

 22 pieces 2x4-inch, 12 feet long for rafters. 

 750 board feet of matched siding.. 



600 board feet of Ix6-inch sheathing (also used for corner 

 boards and other finish lumber.) . 



4 M cedar shingles. 



320 board feet of matched flooring. 

 320 board feet of match'ed ceiling. 



1 door 2 ft. 8 in. x 6 ft. 8 in. 



4 window sashes 12xl6-inch, 4-light. 

 To construct the inner hatching room: 



22 pieces 2x3-inch, 9 feet long. 

 1200 board feet of matched ceiling. 



1 door 2 ft. 8 in. x 6 ft. 8 in. 



..c. 



D 



2.0--- - 



FIG. 158 FLOOR RLAN OF ABOVE-GROUND INCUBATOR HOUSE 

 Reproduced from Bui. 4, West. Washington Exp. Station. 



"The building is constructed on the ground, with a 

 wooden floor (concrete is recommended), and stands on 

 cedar blocks resting on flat rocks projecting above the 

 surface of the ground. The three pieces, 4x4-in.x20-ft, 

 provided in the bill of materials, are used as sills, one on 

 either side and one in the middle. Eleven pieces, 2x4-in. 

 by 16-ft, are nailed to the sills on their edges, two feet 

 apart, and covered with Ix6-in. tongue-and-groove floor- 

 ing. For studding for the outer walls use 2x4-in.x9-ft, set 

 two feet apart center to center. For plates use 2x4-in. by 

 20-ft. For ceiling joist use 11 pieces 2x4-in.xl6-ft, and for 

 rafters, 22 pieces 2x4-in.xl2-ft. Ceil with Ix4-in. tongue- 

 and-groove ceiling. Enclose the building with IxlO-inch 

 shiplap. Cover the rafters with Ix6-in. sheathing laid two 

 inches apart, and shingle. Put in on either side two 3x3- 

 ft. windows, placed five feet above the floor. Build the 

 frames for the windows to admit opening them by slid- 

 ing. These windows cannot be hung on hinges, since the 

 inner room would interfere in opening .them. Now, draw 

 a line around the entire room two feet from the wall. On 

 this line at intervals of four feet place 2x3-in.x9-ft. stud- 

 ding. Ceil both sides of the studding with Ix4-in. ceiling. 

 Put in two ventilator windows, 2x2-ft., 5-in., in each side 

 directly opposite the outer windows and close them with 



doors made of matched ceiling. Hang these ventilators 

 with 4-inch strap hinges at the lower edge. To open 

 them, tip them back from the top by means of a cord. 



"The door is in the north end and leads into an air 

 space (A) two feet in width, extending around the inner 

 room (D), which is entered through the door (F), which 

 is directly opposite the outer door. The inner room (D) 

 contains six 250-egg incubators (EEE). CC are the win- 

 dows in the outer wall and are directly opposite and at the 

 same height as the ventilator windows (BBB) in the 

 inner double wall. 



"We regard this incubator house a success, securing 

 as it does an even temperature and purest air, both of 

 which are indispensable in the hatching of chicks or tur- 

 keys by artificial methods." 



It will be noticed that this house is described as be- 

 ing 16 by 20 feet, though in the floor plan the width is in- 

 dicated as 18 feet, which no doubt is an oversight, as the 

 proportions correspond to the printed descriptions. In 

 the bill of materials the amount of flooring, ceiling, etc., 

 as specified, represents only the surface to be 

 covered, and about one-fourth should be added 

 to the estimates to cover matching and other 

 shrinkage. 



The original house built as here described was 

 found to be too warm wh-en all the incubators 

 were running and it is necessary to keep the 

 windows open most of the time. It also was nec- 

 essary to install a King ventilating system (see 

 page 23) to carry off the lamp fumes and kep 

 the air fresh and pure. With this change the 

 house gives good satisfaction and certairJy is 

 more convenient than a cellar. 



In considering this plan it should be remem- 

 bered that the climate of Western Washington 

 is comparatively mild and less provision need be 

 made for warmth than will be found necessary in 

 many sections of the country. The plan of hav- 

 ing the entrance door on the north side is de- 

 sirable in warm climates, but where severe win- 

 ters are the rule it will be better to have it on 

 the south side. Under such conditions also, 

 building the house with a single board floor will 

 not be satisfactory. If a board floor is used at 

 all, it should be doubled, with heavy insulating 

 material between top floor and sub-floor, and the space 

 between floor and ground should be tightly enclosed by 

 banking up around the building with earth. A concrete 

 floor will be much better for use in cold climates, and 

 probably will be no more expensive. 



MAMMOTH INCUBATOR HOUSES 



Houses for "Mammoths" Should Be Planned Expressly 



for the Type of Machine That is to Be 



Installed in Them. 



Sectional, hot water heated incubators, commonly 

 called "mammoths", have come into extensive use in all 

 parts of the country in recent years. These machines 

 make it possible to reduce the labor cost of operating incu- 

 bators, which is a serious item where tens and even hun- 

 dreds of thousands of eggs are incubated at one time. 

 Small-sized mammoths, that is, machines consisting of 

 only a few sections, may. be successfully installed in any 

 large cellar, and where the method of construction or 

 heating permits, the sections may be carried around 

 corners or arranged in two or more rows, facing each 

 other, or back to back, thus making it possible to install 

 such machines when the cellar is not long enough to take 

 all the sections in. one straight line. 



