104 INCUBATION 



egg tray. These pads are saturated with hot water, 

 v, rung out almost dry, and then placed under the egg 

 tray. Pieces of outing cloth or cotton flannel of suffi- 

 cient size to cover the top of all eggs may be soaked 

 in hot water, wrung out until they are almost dry, 

 placed on top of the eggs, and left there. This is an 

 excellent method of providing moisture for the eggs 

 from the twelfth to the eighteenth day. 



The rules sent out with each incubator should always 

 be strictly followed; yet it must be remembered that in 

 some latitudes the air is much drier than in others. 

 Sometimes, therefore, it is necessary to supply moisture, 

 a need indicated by the size of the air cell. If this cell 

 is larger than normal, moisture must be supplied and the 

 rate of air change must be reduced. The water pan, sand 

 tray, or the moistened felt, or the wet outing flannel 

 should be used when it is necessary to supply moisture. 



Turning and Cooling. It is necessary that the eggs in 

 the incubator tray should be turned and cooled at reg- 

 ular intervals. Turning every 12 hr. is practiced by 

 some; turning once in 24 hr. when the eggs are cooled 

 is practiced by others. Some experts insist that eggs 

 will hatch better if turned and cooled more frequently. 

 They advise that the trays of eggs be taken from the 

 machine and cooled for a short time, three or four times 

 a day, and each time the eggs are turned they will be 

 cooled slightly. This practice has not yet been tested 

 sufficiently to warrant its acceptance; however, it might 

 be experimented with to advantage. 



Some operators of considerable experience insist that 

 the cooling of eggs is useless. The common practice is 

 to cool and turn the eggs twice a day, never turning 

 them over entirely, but just moving them slightly in 

 the egg tray so that each egg will be moved a little. 

 When the weather is cool, the eggs need not be kept 

 out of the egg chamber longer than 4 or 5 min.; when 

 the weather is warm and the incubator room is at a 

 temperature of 70 F. or more, the eggs should be cooled 

 fully 30 min. 



