INCUBATION 105 



Chicks Dead in the Shell. The prevailing question as 

 to artificial incubation is, "Why do chicks die in the 

 shell?" In answer to this, one of the most expert in 

 incubating says: "The best of incubators add nothing 

 to the vitality of the developed embryo. When the 

 vitality of the embryo is impaired or the eggs are old, 

 the hen will not hatch a higher percentage than any 

 incubator ever constructed, yet to find dead chicks in 

 the shell is a very common experience, even when the 

 most faithful hens are employed." This would indicate 

 that we must look beyond the hatching machine for the 

 cause of the dead chicks in the shell. The causes for 

 chicks dying in the shell are several. The most prev- 

 alent of all is inexperience in the handling of the 

 incubator; another is lack of vitality in the eggs. This, 

 being due to low vitality in the hen that laid the eggs, 

 can be remedied only through several years of careful 

 breeding of the parent stock for greater vigor. 



Another writer has said that a successful hatch begins 

 with the fowls that lay the eggs. Immature pullets will 

 not furnish eggs desirable for incubation. The best eggs 

 for this purpose will be laid by hens in their second year 

 that have great vigor and have been fed and cared for 

 with the object of procuring eggs for hatching. There 

 will be no dead chicks in the shell when the hens laying 

 the eggs are full of vitality and when the person that 

 handles the incubator has had sufficient experience to 

 act quickly and properly as each emergency comes. 



Rules for Hatching. The manufacturers of incubators 

 assume that the treatment of eggs during incubation is 

 an exact science, and that the directions that they have 

 formulated are faultless. One of the largest manufac- 

 turers of incubators has printed a bulletin on the han- 

 dling of incubators to get the best results. In this 

 bulletin he says that the eggs should be turned every 

 12 hr. beginning on the third day and ending on the 

 night of the eighteenth day. It is better, however, to 

 keep on changing the position of the trays as usual until 

 the eggs begin to pip. Never turn the eggs with oily 



