224 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



Temperature.— The tciuperatnre should be hehl at 101° 

 to 102° F. (hirino- the first week, 102° the second week, 103° 

 tlie tliird week until the eggs began to pip, when it may be 

 allowed to go to 104° Under no circumstances should it be 

 allowed to run al)o\e 105° and 104° is a safer upward lunit. 



Moisture. — At the same time that the eggs are put in, 

 moisture should be supplied. The amount depends upon 

 local climatic conditions. In dry sections or during a drouth, 

 a shallow pan, the size of the floor of the nursery, filled with 

 sand and puddled with water, should be used. Such an 

 arrangement is usually referred to as a sand tray. 



Where there is a fair amount of moisture in the air a sand 

 tray half as large may be used, and in damp sections, or 

 during a wet season, the sand may be left out and only 

 water put in. In any case the water should never be warmed 

 more than is barely necessary to take off the dull. 



The common means of gauging the amount of moisture to 

 be supplied as the period advances is the size of the air cell. 

 A more reliable means is weighing the eggs, as suggested 

 by Atwood,' and comparing the evaporation loss with the 

 calculated normal loss for the same number of fertile eggs. 

 The ordinary person usually does not judge the relative 

 size of the air cell very accurately. It is an excellent plan to 

 use a hygrometer or wet-bulb thermometer in connection 

 with the weighing. Where their relationship in a given 

 locality is once established the weighing maj' be dispensed 

 with and the wet-bulb temperature used as a guide. 



Turning.— After the second day the eggs sliordd be turned 

 three to fi\e times daily. Turning may easily be accom- 

 plished by shuffling the eggs gently with the hands. It is a 

 good practice to remove about two rows of eggs from the 

 front of the egg tray, roll all the eggs forward, and place those 

 removed in the back. This, in combination with turning 

 the tray a cjuarter of the way around each time it is remo\'cd, 

 tends to eciualize any differences in temperature there may l)e 

 between different sides or corners of the egg chamber. In 



' West Virginia Bulletin No. 98. 



