40 



LE55ON5 IN POULTRY KEEPING SECOND 5ERIES. 



Goslings at Pasture. 



their shells. Goslings under hens are also much slower getting out than those under geese. 

 Sometimes they remain for a whole day after pipping the shell, with bill protruding through 

 the opening, gaining strength before making a final effort. When in such a state, if the air in 

 the egg chamber of the machine, or the air surrounding the nest of the hen is not moist, the 

 membranes of the egg will adhere to the gosling so that it cannot get out. After the first week, 

 whether under hens or in incubators, they need moisture. If in nests they should be sprinkled 

 every two or three days or put in water from thirty seconds to a minute. With goose eggs in 

 incubators, especially in ordinary hot air incubators, it is very important to soak the eggs dur- 

 ing the latter part of the hatch. They may be soaked every two or three days after the fifteenth 

 day, or daily during the last ten days. 



" The temperature required for the incubation of goose eggs is lower than for hens' eggs, but 

 the machine need not on that account be run at a lower temperature. Required conditions are 

 met by running machine at usual temperature, and cooling eggs more, thus giving them a lower 

 mean temperature. Toward the last the heat will naturally run up, and it is best to allow it to 

 do so. Some of the best hatches were obtained when the thermometer registered 106 and 107. 

 To furnish the required moisture while the eggs are hatching pans of hot water are put for 

 short periods beneath the trays. Under such conditions the largest percent hatches were 

 obtained. This process, however, must be conducted with caution, for it is easy to overdo it, 

 and then the dried matter within the shell seems to dissolve and glue over the gosling. What 

 is wanted at the period of exclusion is a high degree of heat not too long continued, and just 

 moisture enough to prevent the membrane drying and sticking while the goslings are working 

 their way out. 



"The cooling in the incubators should begin at the tenth day. It need not at first be very care- 

 fully done, a slight cooling sufficing; but as the animal heat in the fertile eggs increases more 

 care must be taken, and after the eighteenth day cooling and moistening should be very care- 

 fully attended to until the eggs pip. Moistening the eggs cools them rapidly by evaporation of 

 the water on the shells, and it is possible that the dipping in water is more beneficial in cooling 

 the eggs than in furnishing the required moisture, for the cooling effect is always pronounced, 

 while the moisture effect of a single application of water is imperceptible. When cooled dry, 

 the cooling toward the close of the hatch should continue until temperature has been reduced to 

 80 to 85." 



