CHAPTER III. 



Incubation 



WHEN TO HATCH 



There is a time for all things, it has been wisely 

 said, and this is particularly true of hatching 

 chickens. You can set a hen in California any 

 month of the year, but it is not always wise to do it. 



It is generally considered that the hatching sea- 

 son begins in January and ends in May or June, 

 but many poultrymen hatch broilers in the fall, and 

 many hatcheries run from November till July. 

 Theoretically there is little reason for not hatching 

 in June and July, for our summer is nearly always 

 late. Practically it is likely to be time wasted, for 

 these late hatched chicks do not grow as fast as the 

 earlier ones, the cockerels, when marketed bring 

 considerably less, and the pullets will not lay until 

 January when the price of eggs is on the decline. 

 The labor of caring for summer chicks is also 

 greater, or seems so, and green feed is less abundant 

 than in winter and spring. 



In general the main thing to consider in hatching 

 is that the stock be hatched in order to reach laying 

 maturity at the right time. Pullets for winter 

 layers must be hatched early enough to reach lay- 

 ing maturity by the first of November, and yet not 

 so early that they will molt in the fall. Leghorns 

 can usually be counted on to lay at six months of 

 age; so April is the best month for hatching Leg- 

 horns. Rocks and Orpingtons, on the other hand, 

 will not settle down to -steady laying under seven 



