ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION 69 



caused many chicks to die in their shells. " Hands 

 off" until the machine has finished its work is good 

 advice to follow. 



Incubators which have been stored away during 

 the off season need special inspection. It often hap- 

 pens mice will find an inviting place in some part of 

 the machine, and in some cases will fill the heating 

 tubes with nesting material, causing lots of trouble 

 to the operator when the lamp is lit for the first run. 



The lamp should also be tested; the bowl may 

 have sprung a leak, or a new burner may be neces- 

 sary. The regulator should be carefully gone over, 

 it might need some balancing or possibly a little 

 repairing in order to make it work perfectly. 



From an economical standpoint the incubator is 

 preferable to the hen. Hens when hatching and 

 brooding the chicks do not lay, and it takes from 

 ten to a dozen hens to take care of as many eggs 

 as one 150 egg incubator, whereas such an incubator 

 can be operated for about $i for the three weeks' 

 run. The loss of eggs from ten hens would exceed 

 this amount, not figuring the difference in the labor 

 of taking care of ten broody hens and one good 

 incubator. 



If the eggs are all right and the machine is run 

 right, most any one can hatch chicks " the artificial 

 way." 



