POULTRY 



655 



disease and death, due it is thought, to 

 a too rapid or too nearly complete nu- 

 tralization of necessary acids in some of 

 the digestive fluids of the stomach. The 

 feeding of ground rock phosphate or 

 bone ash resulted also in more rapid 

 growth. Meat meals and scraps when 

 of good quality can safely be fed to 

 young chicks in small amounts, say 2 

 to 5 per cent of tbe ration. Finely 

 chopped green food should be provided 

 daily. For the first few days four or 

 five feeds daily should be given. When 

 three weeks old three feeds daily will be 

 sufficient. They require a supply of 

 clean water before them all the time, 

 and should be kept free from insects by 

 the liberal use of insect powders. To 

 grow them successfully without much 

 attention, plenty of room out of doors 

 should be provided. The larger the 

 range the less care will be necessary. 

 Normally they are weaned when four to 

 six weeks old. The use of boxes, bar- 

 rels and the making of coops for hens 

 with chicks has been described so often 

 as to scarce need repetition here. After 

 the first 10 days the chicks will thrive 

 better on free range with the hen than 

 if kept confined in pens. They should 

 not be let out of the yard mornings un- 

 til the dew is off the grass. 



INCUBATORS FOR HATCHING EGGS 



The poultry industry on a large scale 

 is now carried on almost entirely by 

 means of incubators in which the eggs 

 are hatched and brooders in which the 

 chicks are kept warm after hatching. 

 The advantage of the incubator is that 

 chicks can be brought off early in the 

 season before hens are inclined, to set, 

 and advantage thus taken of the higher 

 price paid for early broilers and roast- 

 ers. A large number of eggs can be 

 hatched at one time, lice can be en- 

 tirely avoided and the work of caring 

 for a large number of chicks in brooders 

 is much less than that required to care 

 for an equal number of chicks running 

 with hens. 



Under farm conditions where only 60 

 to 80 chicks are raised per season, an in- 

 cubator and brooder are more trouble 

 and expense than the old method of set- 

 ting hens, but when 100 or 200 chicks or 

 more are raised, an incubator will be a 

 profitable investment. A 50 to 100-egg 

 incubator is as large as the amateur 

 should start with and one is enough. 



There are a great variety of makes on the 

 market; nearly all are heated by lamps 

 burning kerosene. Secure a machine 

 with double walls having one or two 

 dead air spaces between. 



Operating incubator^The operation 

 of the machine is simple, requiring only 

 regularity in attendance and exactness 

 in observation. The lamps should be 

 cleaned and filled regularly each day 

 and the temperature in the egg chamber 

 noted morning, noon and night. From 

 about the second to the nineteenth day, 

 the eggs will require turning once daily. 

 At this time those in the center of the 

 egg chamber should be changed to the 

 outside, since in the best machines there 

 is likely to be a difference of at least a 

 degree in temperature in the different 

 parts of the chamber. 



The incubator may be operated in 

 most any building, but the more uni- 

 form exterior temperature is likely to be 

 found in cellars and hence this is the 

 favorite place for the incubator. The 

 room should be clean, dry and free from 

 dust and drafts of air. No stove or 

 other artificial heat in the room is de- 

 sirable. When the incubator comes, 

 study the directions carefully and fol- 

 low them. Run the machines 24 hours 

 at a temperature of 100° F. before 

 placing any eggs in them. Fill the 

 tray completely, with every egg lying 

 on its side. Place the thermometer 

 against and between two fertile eggs in 

 the central part of the egg chamber. On 

 the second day after the eggs are put in, 

 the temperature should be 102° F. As 

 the germ in the egg begins to develop, it 

 generates a small amount of heat. The 

 temperature from now on should be 

 held regularly between 102 and 103° F. 



Turning the eggs_When the eggs 

 are turned each day the tray should be 

 removed from the machine and the door 

 closed. Three or four minutes is suf- 

 ficient to turn and rearrange the eggs, 

 and this is all the cooling they require. 

 In turning the eggs, man is following 

 the practice of the hen, which turns and 

 changes the position of the eggs under 

 her daily. Unless this is done the de- 

 veloping chick would stick fast to one 

 side of the egg and many cripple and 

 monstrosities be produced. 



Supplying moisture_D ur i ng . incuba- 

 tion the eggs lose moisture. If they are 

 incubated in a damp cellar no other 

 moisture need be supplied, but if in a 



