Practical Management of the Incubator. 6i 



At this stage the progress of incubation varies very much, some eggs appearing nearly half opaque 

 and others with only a discernible spot. The novice must expect to sacrifice some eggs in 

 acquiring this knack, and to that end it were better to put in twenty or twenty-five eggs expressly 

 for experimenting upon.* 



"This is the most precarious time during the whole process of incubation — the fifth, sixth, and 

 seventh days. At this stage a heat of io6° will sometimes spoil a whole batch of eggs; while on 

 the seventeenth day I have held the heat at ii'^°for over two hours, and yet hatched out seventeen 

 chicks from twenty eggs. All fluctuation must be avoided if possible, the heat should be steady 

 at 102° to 103° ; the eggs aired twice a day, from fifteen to twenty minutes each time ; and a slight 

 but perceptible moisture maintained in the drawer. A dry heat is much more difficult to regulate, 

 and much more dangerous to the life of the unhatched chick. 



" After the seventh day a little more latitude may be allowed in the temperature without 

 fatal results, but I would not be understood as advising it until after the tenth day, at which time 

 the heat should be slightly increased, say to 103° to I03i°. From this time forth air the eggs 

 once a day, leaving them exposed from twenty minutes to half an hour. During this period the 

 moisture must be kept up, and if anything slightly increased ; the object being now to keep 

 the little prisoner in a healthy growing state, which cannot be done without moisture. Very many 

 persons fail at the eleventh hour — the eighteenth or nineteenth day — from this cause. I will 

 mention one case in illustration : — A gentleman living some eight miles from me, after seeing my 

 incubator, constructed one himself from ideas of his own. It was made to hatch chickens on a 

 large scale, holding about 1,000 eggs. He started with 500 eggs, and everything progressed finely 

 until the sixteenth day ; at that time he called on me and stated how well he was getting along, 

 saying that he thought my practice of keeping a constant moisture tinder the eggs was a fallacy. 

 He had commenced with it, but after the first week had given it up as too much trouble. 

 I cautioned him about the result, but he expressed so much confidence, saying he had broken 

 several eggs that morning, and all contained live chicks, that I concluded there was perhaps a show 

 for success, and so told him. But on the twenty-second day he visited me again : he had not 

 hatched a single chicken ; all were dead in the shell, and all seemed to be full formed. A few of 

 the eggs were pipped, but the outer skin was as dry and tough as a piece of parchment, and the 

 poor chick was as hopelessly immured as if it had been enclosed in sheet iron. He was positive 

 that the heat had not exceeded 104° nor been less than 100° ; so the failure was attributable to no 

 other cause (apparently) than lack of moisture. I can cite a number of just such instances which 

 have come to my notice, and in all of them the failure was due to the same cause. 



" One of the most essential requisites for success is cleanliness. One bad egg in the drawer 

 will sometimes .spoil every one in its vicinity during the second week of incubation ; after that there 

 is not so much danger. It will frequently happen that eggs will upon first examination be passed 

 as fertile and yet prove bad. After the tenth or twelfth day examine the eggs closely every day, 

 and if any exudation in the shape of drops of fluid or gummy matter be discovered on the eggs, 

 remove the affected one at once. 



" To show the variation of temperature the eggs will bear during the third week, I will give 

 my experience at the fair of the American Institute, held at Empire Rink, New York City, in 

 September and October, 1870. The place assigned me was on the north side of a room some 300 

 by 500 feet in size, and within about twenty feet of the receiving door. It was a great risk to 

 attempt to hatch chickens in such an exposed place, but I accomplished it. Night after night the 



* We have treated more fully on this part of the subject in the preceding chapter. 



