SUCCESS WITH POULTRt 



6S 



INCUBATOR POINTERS— THIRTY-TWO OF THEM. 



BY P. H. JACOBS. 



1. Hatching chicks with an , incubator is a winter 

 pursuit. 



2. Then hen seldom sits in winter, hence she and the 

 incubator do not conflict. 



3. Hens that lay in winter can not produce as fertile 

 eggs at that time as in the spring, for the cold season pre- 

 vents exercise, the hens become fat and the pullets are not 

 as fully matured, while the male, if he has a frosted comb, 

 suffers from cold, or becomes too fat, and is unserviceable. 



4. Do not use extra large eggs, or small eggs. Have all 

 eggs of normal sise, and of perfect shape. 



5. Do not be afraid to watch your incubator. It pays 

 as well to keep awake at night to watch a hundred chicks 

 hatch out as it does to keep awake to save a $5 calf from 

 loss when it is dropped, and the chicks are worth more than ' 

 the calf. . I t_sJ 



6. No incubator has brains. It will regulate, but can 

 not think. ij ^ ^^ 



7. When chicks die in the shell the chances are "that 

 too much of a draft of air passed over them. When a hen is 

 hatching she will fight if even a feather is lifted from her. 

 She will not allow the slightest change of , temperature, and 

 she will hatch as well in a dry place as in a moist location, ' 

 Pure air is not injurious, but draughts of air cause rapid 

 evaporation and loss of heat. 



8. Dry, warm nests, in winter, and moist nests in sum- 

 mer is an old proverb, hence the moisture depends on the 

 season. Less is required in the incubator in winter. 



9. As the chicks progress in the eggs they give off heat, 

 hence be careful of the lamp, hot weather, or whatever the , 

 source of heat may be. 



10. Too much moisture covers the eggs and excludes 

 the air from the chicks within the eggs. 



11. No currents of air can pass through an incubator 

 without a plentiful supply of moisture, but in incubators 

 that have no currents but little moisture is needed. 



12. Do not take out the chicks until you believe all 

 are hatched. Leave the chicks in the incubator. If you 

 take them out the heat will suddenly drop, and you will 

 also let in the cold air on the eggs. Never disturb the eggs 

 when chicks are hatching. Better lose a chick or two by 

 trampling than all. 



13. Test your incubator with moisture, no moisture, 

 plenty of air, and air shut off, as each incubator may differ 

 from the others. 



14. Eggs will be aired sufficiently when they are 

 turned. It is of no consequence to cool them. 



15. If the chicks do not hatch out by the twenty-first 

 day your heat was too low. 



16. If the chicks begin to hatch on the eighteenth day 

 your heat was rather high. 



17. Do not put eggs in at different periods during the 

 batch, and. do not hatch ducklings and chicks together. 



18. The same rules apply to the eggs' of hens, dueks, 

 turkeys and guineas, as regard heat and moisture. 



19. Never sprinkle eggs. It lowers the heat instantly 

 (due to rapid evaporation), and sometimes kills the chicks 

 in' the shells. 



20. If the incubator shows moisture on the glass do not 

 open the egg drawer until it is dry. C6ld air and dampness 

 kill the cnicks, the heat being lowered by rapid evap- 

 oration. 



21. The reason the hen that steals her nest hatches so 

 well is because you do not give her all sorts of eggs, such as 

 large eggs, small eggs, and eggs from old hens and imma- 

 ture pullets such as you put in the incubator. 



22. Send away the curious visitor just when your eggs 

 are natehing. 



23. Keep the incubator in a place of moderate tempera- 

 ture. A window on one side will make that side cooler 

 than the other. 



24. Do not expect to hatch without work. The man 

 who expects to get chicks by trusting to the regulator to 

 keep the heat regular does not deserve success. Work is 

 required for othe? stock that need winter care, and the 

 artificial hen is no exception. 



25. Begin with one incubator, and learn, before you try 

 more than one. 



26. No matter how much you read, experience will be 

 the best teacher. 



27. Have your incubator warni before you put in 

 the eggs. 



28. A child can not manage an incubator, all claims 

 to tne contrary notwithstanding. Incubators are not toys. 

 Do not turn over a man's work to a boy. 



29. Let the bulb of the thermometer touch a fertile egg. 



30. In winter the hen will not hatch over one-half of 

 her eggs nor raise over one-half of her chicks. The incuba- 

 tor and brooder, if skilfully managed, will do better 

 than tb'is. 



31. In a majority of cases the failure is due to the 

 eggs and not the incubator. 



32. Above all, follow the directions you get with your 

 incubator. Do not try any bf your ' ' ideas, ' ' as it may be 

 costly experience. P. H. JACOBS. 



TSEDlNOr AKD FOIbCING BUOIIJiRS. 



Second Article by Mr. Arthur G. Duston— Tbe Facts He 



Presents Have Cost Him Many Dollars in 



the School of Experience. 



We will say that we have decided on the variety that 

 we will run; our eggs are as fresh as possible and of uni- 

 form size; we have put them into a well-made incubator and 

 with proper care have gotten out a good hatch which came 

 along promptly, so that the morning of the twenty-second 

 day we find the chicks nicely dried off. We now get our 



warmed, cloth-lined- basket, with a heavy cover or shawl 

 to prevent them getting chilled. 



Eight here I want to say, I believe more chicks "pass 

 out," as our Chirstian science brethren would say, to the' 

 land whence no wanderer returns, from getting chilled in 

 moving them from a warm, moist incuba,tor on a cold day 

 into the brooder than most folks are aware of, and those lit- 

 tle fellows you had such fond hopes of, but lost last winter 

 with what you called bowel trouble or diarrhoea, was really 

 chilled in being changed from their birthplace to their tem- 

 porary home. 



Well, we have got them safely, we hope, into the brood- 



